In this seven-day reset,
We're going to be talking about duality,
The idea of there being a flip side to everything.
As humans,
We need to be active,
Move our bodies,
Step out into the world.
And we need to rest,
Process,
Recharge.
In a conversation or a relationship,
We say things,
We express ourselves,
We give outwardly to the other person.
And we listen,
We pay attention,
We receive inwardly.
We can feel lit up,
Excited,
Energetic.
We can feel heavy,
Tired,
Slow.
We can be motivated.
We can be relieved.
We can push things away.
We can pull things inward.
We can take action and make things happen.
We can surrender and allow things to unfold.
We can clench our fists tight and use them to hold on,
Punch through,
Press forward.
Or we can open our hands,
Turn them upward to catch and feel and touch what's around us.
Outward energy,
Inward energy.
As we move through life,
We toss these energies back and forth in everything we do.
We wake up,
We move throughout our days,
We return home,
We rest and digest,
We sleep.
We make choices.
We experience and react to the results.
We play offense when we're moving forward.
We play defense when we're reacting.
In a conversation,
We talk to someone and we listen and process what they say back.
Outward energy,
Expansion.
Inward energy,
Receiving.
Now imagine if we were to start leaning more often into one side of those energies only,
Instead of going back and forth.
If we were to be awake and moving without ever really allowing ourselves to rest.
If we were to be only talking at someone,
Never pausing to listen and absorb what they have to say.
If we were only reacting to life,
Rarely making any decisions or choices for ourselves.
If we only ever played defense without really any opportunity to play offense,
Things would feel uncomfortable.
Things would start to feel unbearable,
Like something's got to give here.
A desire to reset,
To get things back into motion,
Of give and take,
Move and rest.
Being strong and also allowing things to pass through.
On day one,
We started observing our inner worlds and our outer worlds,
Taking note of where we're currently standing and what we're surrounded by.
The landmarks of our lives,
How we spend the majority of our time,
Who's in our company,
Who we're connected to,
Our physical bodies,
Our conditions,
The present moment.
The thoughts we have most often,
Our personal spaces,
The ways we're showing up in the world,
How we are feeling.
Today,
On day two,
We'll take those observations,
Perhaps categorizing them or however you want to organize them in your mind.
Whatever areas of your life are knocking loudest for your attention right now.
Whatever places you want to circle as spots on the map that you'd like to focus on.
And we'll start holding them up and filtering them through this idea of duality.
Is this charging my battery or draining my battery?
Have I been putting energy into this,
Giving it my attention,
Taking action?
Have I been receiving anything from this?
Have I sat back and listened?
Have I processed and taken something away from this?
Have I given myself a chance to rest?
Have I been mostly holding on?
Have I been mostly avoiding doing something?
Today is for doing a little pattern spotting in each area of our lives.
Are we mostly in active,
Solid,
Strong,
Forceful energy?
Or are we mostly in inward,
Receiving,
Surrender energy?
Or perhaps we have a good flow back and forth between both.
Neither one is quote better or worse than the other.
Life requires us to move with and embrace both.
And every little variation on the spectrum in between.
To be able to adjust as needed,
Sometimes allowing a little more bend,
Sometimes standing a little more strong.
Just like the tides,
Which push inward and retract back out throughout each day.
Let's take a few minutes to breathe into this idea,
To really experience the inward and outward motions inside our bodies,
Using our breath as the example.
Afterwards,
Settle in for some quiet reflection.
Listen to the music,
Consider the questions,
Perhaps write for a little while.
If you're ready to begin,
Get into a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
This breathing exercise is not intended to be done while driving.
If you're able to,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Place your right hand on your chest,
Anywhere you like,
And place your left hand on your stomach.
We'll start out by turning our awareness to our breath.
Breathing in and out through the nose,
With the mouth closed,
If possible.
Notice the air going inward,
And notice it going back out.
Notice your left hand rising on your stomach as you inhale deeply.
Notice your right hand lowering as your body sinks down as you exhale.
Breathe in,
Bringing some movement to your left hand as you do,
Perhaps tapping or massaging your stomach lightly.
And breathe out,
Bringing some movement to only your right hand as you do,
Tapping that heart space,
Bringing your awareness to the center of your chest.
Breathe in,
Left hand and stomach rising.
Breathe out,
Right hand lowering as the body settles back down.
A few more rounds here.
Breathe in,
Pulling the air down with action using the stomach muscles.
Breathe out,
No effort needed,
Just a surrender,
A letting go of the air.
Breathe in,
Left hand and stomach rising.
Breathe out,
Right hand and heart space lowers back down.
Continue to breathe.
Go ahead and shake out your hands now and place them at your sides or on your lap.
As we breathe in and out here over the next couple minutes,
Focus on taking action on each inhale,
Just like pushing off from the starting line,
And releasing the air with each exhale,
Just letting go,
Almost like a sigh.
We're going to be moving back and forth through that duality of doing the work,
Inhaling and surrendering,
Resting,
Letting go,
Exhaling.
With each breath in,
If it feels comfortable to do so,
Squeeze your fist tight as though you're holding onto a rope.
And then with each breath out,
Release your hands,
Opening them,
Palms upward as though you're ready to receive.
Breathing in with strength,
Strong fists.
Breathing out with surrender,
Releasing and receiving.
If you're ready,
Let's begin.
Breathe in with action,
Making fists.
Breathe out,
Let it go,
Shake them out.
Breathe in with strength,
Making fists.
Breathe out,
Release the air and the hands.
Breathe in,
Do the work,
Take action.
Breathe out,
Let it go,
Reset.
Breathe in,
Do the work,
Take action.
Breathe out,
Let it go,
Reset.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Do the work,
Take action.
Breathe out,
Let it go,
Reset.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in and squeeze.
Breathe out,
Release.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Go ahead and switch to normal breathing.
You can keep your eyes closed if you like or perhaps settle into your space with your journal if you'd like to use this time to write.
Continue to breathe.
Notice any sensations you might have in your body.
Notice how you might feel a little lighter,
More relaxed.
Take a few moments now to listen,
Giving your mind an opportunity to pause its constant outward chatter and to receive whatever emotion or idea or spark of truth that you possibly have been mentally talking over for too long.
Perhaps listen for what comes up when you ask the question,
Where in my life is it time to put forth some effort?
And where is it time to set down what I'm carrying and rest?
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and open your eyes.
Continue to move about your day today,
Spotting the outward and inward energy and the beautiful blend of both all around you.
