In life.
We are constantly in a relationship with things that reflect back to us who we perceive ourselves to be.
So these are the things that create our identity.
Our career,
Our role in our family,
Our role in our community,
The hobbies that we are interested in,
The beliefs that we hold,
Et cetera.
And we create this vision of ourselves to feel comfortable and to feel like we have a direction for how we operate and move in the world.
The thing is,
Too often this effort is unbalanced towards upholding a facade,
And often not so balanced in our effort to question and challenge this image.
This limitation of being unwilling to let go of habits,
Beliefs,
Actions,
Et cetera,
Is what starts to cause disease and discomfort in our lives.
Just take a moment to reflect on how in the past an expectation for how things should be has maybe let you down.
Or how an opinion of how something should go.
Let you down.
By choosing to hold on to a previous expectation or opinion,
You've set yourself up for disappointment and limited the capacity to truly take in whatever infinite potential a moment had to offer.
But I don't think many of us are moving through this world purposefully intending to uphold a facade.
Often this script has just been running.
In the background of our minds without our conscious awareness knowing that it's there and affecting how we are perceiving every single moment in front of us and choosing what to think about it.
Imagine this natural visual metaphor.
You are on a walk.
There is soft,
Sandy earth beneath your feet.
Green grass sprouts up from the edges of the path around you.
A tree canopy of seemingly every variety dances over your head.
You can hear that there is water flowing nearby,
But you can't quite see it yet.
You continue on down the path until you start to see something sparkling in the distance as the sound grows louder.
Finally,
As you continue forward,
The bank drops off and in front of you,
There's a spring.
The water flows clear and smooth over the river rock below.
You can feel the movement of the water is both effortless and something of immense power.
It might bend or break at the edges of the bank,
But it continues to flow,
Always willing to adapt to the environment in which it finds itself.
You can't help but find yourself caught up in this effortless rhythm as you walk along tracing the spring bank.
You find there are places where the water flows swiftly,
Rapids going downstream,
And then it levels out,
And there are places where the water slows to an easeful drift.
Finally you come upon a spot where the rocks and tree roots along the edge of the water have created a small pool.
Suddenly here,
The rhythm and flowing nature of the water has been blocked.
The spring only a few feet away still moves clear,
But in this spot the water has become muddy,
And flies and mosquitoes find this stale,
Murky place attractive.
Each thing in life that you attach to becomes like one of these rocks or roots,
Blocking the natural flow of the spring.
Each belief becomes a boulder.
Blocking the view for new insight.
Each expectation or opinion is the root of disappointment.
Water is never attached to staying in one place and holding one identity in a small container.
It's willing to constantly flow and change and adapt.
And in this expression is when you see water flowing in its truest,
Most clear,
Most pristine,
Most powerful way.
And for ourselves,
This is no different.
Although this might not be the flow of water,
It is the flow of our spirit,
And the flow and the energy behind our spirit,
The degree to which it is clear and pristine,
And the degree to which it has perhaps become muddled.
By the external things it has found itself attached to.
This is of course something to be felt individually.
It can't be known to ourselves to be real until we've had the experience of where we're at.
But we can't experience where we're at if we feel ignorant to what the reality is truly around us and to what is creating it.
And so let's transition into what it truly feels like to release in the body,
To release in the mind,
To let go of these narratives and things we might have found ourselves attached to.
May this be a small moment to begin to train letting go.
Rather than holding on.
So if you aren't there already,
Maybe take a moment to pause and find your way to a comfortable spot.
And that could be seated or lying down.
And once you're there,
You can close your eyes.
And start to notice the support beneath you.
Notice what you feel your body in contact with.
Where do you feel your body touching the surface beneath you?
And can you feel your clothing?
What is the texture of your clothing?
Thank you very much.
Are there places on your body that maybe feel a little bit warmer because they are covered?
And how about bare skin that's exposed to the air?
It might feel just a little bit cooler.
And recognize the point where your eyelids rest against one another.
Notice if you could soften the muscles around your eyes,
Your eyes themselves,
Just a little bit more.
And what about the muscles of your face?
What does it feel like?
When the muscles of your eyes or the muscles of your face let go.
What does it feel like when you let go through the shoulders?
What if you let go in the belly?
Now start to notice.
Is your mind active?
Are any thoughts coming in?
Are you trying to go back to something that happened earlier today?
Or to return to a specific thought.
Or a specific series of thoughts.
But just as you released the muscles of your face and your shoulders.
Can you feel this letting go inside the mind?
Can you let go?
Of the mind's attachment to thinking.
And can it simply?
Be okay here.
The mind starts to play a visual experience for you.
Can you release it in the same way?
Can you simply be here in presence with yourself?
Without the need to identify the border of your container.
But rather can you expand beyond.
The belief that there can be a limited container.
And perhaps instead.
There is only infinite.
And if the mind comes in again.
There's no need to get frustrated.
Or upset.
And you haven't done anything wrong.
This is just another opportunity for you to show a willingness to let go.
Another opportunity to practice and to strengthen this muscle of letting go.
And you are welcome to stay here in this.
In this infinite space.
As long as you would like.
Or you can come back.
But know that no matter what you choose,
Nothing has changed.
And as you move forward into the day,
Continue to be open to change.
To the ways in which you can let go.
And start to be open.
To all of the possibilities that are out there.
