Hello everyone and welcome to today's practice.
My name is Zhou Yu,
And I will be guiding you through this simple practice that you can do before.
Opening up your Bible,
Doing a devotional work.
Simply during your busy day when you want to find a little pocket of time to sit down and be silent.
And renew your mind and heart and turn yourself towards God.
Let's find a comfortable spot to sit down.
A little space where you will be uninterrupted for the next 10 to 20 minutes.
This time is for us to be still and be silent.
To turn inward from the world around us that we are constantly holding on to.
This is the time to take a break.
From everything that may be going on around you in your life.
All the things that are.
Occupying your mind.
All the things that you're ruminating on,
All the things that are making it hard to find peace.
Let's open up with a prayer.
Father God.
Please allow the space.
To be the resting place for the seeker.
Pour your spirit into us.
Empty us.
And renew us with your grace.
Come all who are weary.
And may they find peace here.
May all open up their hearts and come home to you.
And may all find beauty,
Acceptance,
Joy,
And hope.
In a life filled with you.
Please allow our hearts to remember.
That you are here and you will always be here,
Lord.
Now let's turn our attention to our breath.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nostrils.
And then let out a deep,
Long sigh.
Allow everything else to simply fall away.
And start to center yourself and bring yourself to this moment.
And this moment alone be present with your breath.
Slowly start to become more still.
Breathe in again.
Feel your breath travel all the way down to the depth of your belly.
And slowly let it go.
Feel your shoulders soften.
Feel your breath creating a little bit more space.
In your body.
Breathe in again.
Feel into the tight spaces in your body,
The spaces that you're still holding on to something,
The spaces that are still clenching and resisting.
Breathe into these spaces and then.
.
.
Exhale.
See if you can relax just a little bit more.
Let yourself be here without judgment.
Without criticism,
Without shame or guilt or fears.
Just be with your breath.
And remember that with every breath,
We are not separate from God.
This breath comes from God.
It is a gift from God.
And it's a reminder that He is with us.
That He is sustaining our life.
Every single breath in.
A note.
Be reminded of our relationship with God.
Or reliance on God.
The solidarity and the faithfulness from God in every single breath.
Breathe in again.
And let it go.
Now let's tune into the heart.
The heart is the place where all of our desires come up,
All of our feelings and emotions It comes from the heart and sometimes it can be overwhelming and taking over our whole body,
Our will,
Our mind.
And it may seem uncontrollable.
There are all kinds of circumstances that happen every day that stimulate our emotions,
That stimulate our heart.
This is also the place that stores our burdens,
Our fears.
So as you breathe in again,
Just become aware of your heart.
Recognize what you're holding on to recognize what is occupying your heart.
And as you breathe out,
Gently let it go.
Breathe in again,
Become aware of.
.
.
Something that holds joy in your heart.
And as you breathe out,
Let it go.
Breathe in again.
Recognize the fear that is carried in your heart.
And as you breathe out Let that go too.
Breathe in and out.
And with every single awareness.
We're softening the resistance towards the fears that we carry,
The burdens that we carry.
The good and the bad,
And we're slowly emptying our hearts.
Returning our focus.
From all of our circumstances around us,
All the things that we can or cannot control.
And turning our focus back to the vertical,
To our creator.
As we let go.
We're taking the focus off of ourselves.
Breathe in.
Gently inquire how you're feeling at this moment.
Without judgment,
Without pushing against it.
And as you breathe out,
Let that go too.
Continue to breathe.
Continue to remind yourself that no matter what you're feeling and what you're going through,
Every single breath reminds us that we are not separate from God.
Soften your resistance towards the feelings,
Towards the fears,
The burdens.
Breathe in and see if you can soften just a little bit more.
Recognize if your body is clenching or pushing against.
A certain feeling,
A certain fear.
A certain thought.
Breathe into that part.
Gently recognize it,
And as you breathe out,
Let it go too.
Allow it to relax just a little bit more.
Notice if your mind is trying to construct stories.
Images.
Perceptions.
If your mind is trying to hold on to a story.
Remember that God is so big and so vast.
And our stories are often so small,
Limited.
A single facet of many.
So if you notice a thought,
Notice a perspective,
A story that is circling around your mind.
As you breathe in and out.
Allow that to go too.
Breathe in again.
And breathe out.
Feel into any differences in your body,
Any differences in your mind.
Maybe you feel emptier.
Maybe you feel lighter.
Maybe you feel just a little bit more relaxed.
Without putting any meaning to it,
Without associating these new feelings and these new sensations with a new story.
Simply recognize the difference.
And as you breathe out,
Allow this new sensation to settle into the body.
Without holding on to it.
Breathe in again and out.
Bring yourself back into this spot,
Into your body,
Into the place that you're seated.
Bring your awareness back to this space.
And as we get ready to re-enter into our busy lives,
Re-enter into our daily tasks,
Remember that we are picking up our cross,
But we're not imprisoned.
Or now shackled.
We're not picking up the burden again.
But every single action.
Every single service that we offer.
Every single interaction.
Every single conversation with somebody else.
We are on a mission that is entrusted unto us.
We're being formed into the version that God has designed us to be.
As we go back into the ordinary places,
The ordinary things that we do every single day.
Remember that we can meet God.
Wherever we are at.
With every single breath that you breathe.
We can meet God.
Let's close today's practice with a prayer.
Here we offer gratitude for all who are gathered here today.
Thank you for showing up.
Thank you for taking the time to be here.
And I hope that by the end of this,
Your heart feels a little bit more at ease.
And I hope that whatever you're going through,
That you feel a little bit more supported.
That you have a little bit more room to breathe.
And your responses to all of these life circumstances will be filled with a little bit more love and joy.
We offer thanks to our Lord Jesus who watches over this space.
Who helps us to renew our mind.
Who can fill our heart with so much security or shortness.
Hope and confidence.
Who we can turn to for mercy.
When things are so difficult.
After this practice,
You can follow it with a devotional sitting with scripture.
Or just continuing to be in silence with your focus turned towards God.
You can also choose to return to your daily activities.
Have a beautiful day,
And thank you for joining me.
