This is meditation for assholes.
This is the L and Aloha meditation as part of the go from a Hola to Aloha series.
The L in Aloha is Lokahi.
That's unity.
So grab a seat.
Shit,
Grab a friend if you want to since it's a unity meditation.
Before you go into any deep breaths,
We're going to get into a space of just kind of appreciating what's around us,
The sounds.
Maybe you have a hum of an air conditioner or furnace.
Maybe it's your co-workers outside your office or cubicle or dump truck.
Maybe it's your kids quietly coloring in the room next door,
Also known as running around and screaming.
Just notate those sounds,
Where you feel them in your body.
They cause you any tension or anxiety.
Then return to the next mindful exercise,
Which is mindful of any sights around you in the room,
Your sitting,
Colors,
Glancing from one thing to the next.
Now just gently close your eyes.
If you're sitting,
Try to uncross your legs.
Uncross,
Unfold your arms,
Unclench your hands.
Go ahead and take a breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Another breath in and exhale.
We're still mindful of those sounds around us,
Of the chair or the ground or the seat beneath us.
Bringing awareness to the sounds in the room,
The sound of your breath.
And exhaling and exhaling.
This meditation is a bit of a visualization meditation,
So just take another slightly deeper inhale and exhale again.
I want you to envision standing outside in front of a tree.
It's a bright sunny day,
The trees in a park or at the beach.
Kind of wherever your happy place is,
Your chill place.
So just bring that into your awareness.
Because this lokahi is unity,
It's actually very much unity with nature,
Which is such a great way for us to express unity.
This tree here that you're visualizing.
When you take an inhale,
That was essentially given to you by that tree and when you exhale,
You're giving life to that tree.
So just inhale the life that's given to you and exhale the life that you're giving off.
You're inhaling life and exhaling life.
It's a simple exchange.
You benefit from the tree and the tree benefits from you.
Now that tree,
That park or beach or wherever is part of a bigger community or island.
So on the next inhale just imagine that you're taking in all of the energy from that island that's positive and good and giving you life and then exhale.
You're simply giving that off too.
You're a channel,
You're the exchange of energy.
So just inhale to receive and exhale to give.
Inhale to receive the good.
Exhale to give off the goods.
Now envision that all of the people on that island or in that community are collectively practicing the same pattern.
Inhaling and taking in life.
Exhale,
Giving off life.
Nobody's trying to breathe in more life.
No tree is trying to take more life from you and your fellows.
They're all simply exchanging energy.
Now just envision that that community is part of a bigger country or continent.
And envision that everybody in that continent is inhaling,
Taking in not more than anybody else,
Not less than anybody else.
They're exhaling and giving off,
Not more than anybody else,
And not less than anybody else.
Collectively unified.
We're all just receiving and giving.
Nobody breathes better than anybody else.
Just as nobody inherently receives,
Gives off more or better at our root.
And on the next inhale,
Take that to the whole universe,
The world,
Everything around us,
We're just receiving.
And by our receiving we're able to give.
It's a simple exchange of energy.
Receiving and giving.
Receiving and giving.
And just as we connected with nature,
We can carry this with us to the people that we pass on the streets,
To the people who have a different opinion than us,
To the people who share our same goals,
Even if we don't know that they do.
Inhaling once again.
Exhaling,
Letting go of this part of the meditation.
Inhaling,
Coming a little bit more into the physical state,
Filling up your body,
Moving side to side,
Roll your head side to side,
Exhale,
Let go.
Just let go of everything that you're holding on to.
And on the next inhale,
Just take a big deep inhale and on the exhale,
Push it all out.
Open your eyes and remember,
You can take this with you throughout your day,
But you can also just access this unity by starting with you and then with your surroundings and then with the people who enjoy your surroundings.
Look for the similarities and not the differences in the people that you encounter.
Aloha.
