Welcome to this guided meditation on receptiveness.
Being mindfully receptive is something that we do naturally at times,
But it can be quite difficult in situations where we've developed a habit of being resistant.
Before we go any further with that idea,
Let's spend a little bit of time with our breath.
Go ahead and find a comfortable position that you can settle into.
Now gently bring your attention to your breath.
Settle into a comfortable rhythm.
For this exercise,
We're going to count our exhales as a way to help us keep our attention on the breath.
You can just count silently as you exhale,
Keeping track in your mind.
In a moment,
We're going to do seven breaths like that together.
If your mind wanders,
That's okay.
Just release the distracting thoughts into the air like a balloon,
And let them drift away as you return to your breath.
We all breathe at different paces,
So if you finish before I do,
Or if you get distracted along the way and forget where you're at,
Just maintain that rhythm of breath and start counting back at one.
I'll sound a bell to get us started,
And again to signal the close of the exercise.
Wonderful.
Now if you're new to meditation,
You may need to play around with your breath a bit and figure out what works best for you.
Maybe you like to breathe slowly and deeply,
Or maybe you just like to let your breath follow a natural rhythm.
Either way is fine.
The important thing is to gently focus your attention on the breath.
Distractions will always come sooner or later,
And in those moments of realizing that we are distracted,
We make use of the opportunity to return to the breath once again.
Let's come back to the idea of being receptive.
Imagine that you're at a concert at a beautiful outdoor venue.
Your favorite band is warming up on stage.
They've just finished tuning their instruments,
And everything is quiet for a moment.
And then they start playing.
It's one of your favorite songs.
You've listened to it hundreds of times in your headphones,
But this is your first time hearing it live.
The music washes over you,
Although it sounds a bit different than you expected,
But you enjoy it even more than the studio version that you already know and love.
In a setting like that,
Our receptiveness comes easily.
It's natural.
At other times,
It can be quite challenging.
Have you ever become frustrated during meditation by external noises?
Maybe a neighbor's dog barking,
Or a car alarm going off?
Or perhaps you tend to distract yourself with internal thoughts.
Next time you find yourself distracted during meditation,
See if you can make use of that moment to shift your mindset.
In a receptive mindset,
Distractions are a gift that we can make use of.
The moment you realize you are distracted can be turned into a reminder,
And that reminder can help you come back to your breath and continue to cultivate peace within yourself.
I encourage you to try to apply this idea of receptiveness in a way that is unique to your own needs.
In my case,
I'm trying to work on being receptive to uncertainty.
How can I make use of the unknowns that the future holds for my own good and for the benefit of those around me?
How can I be open to that future and to that uncertainty?
How can I learn to be comfortable with it?
I invite you to apply this concept to your own life.
Trust your intuition as to how that may manifest.
Now let's do seven more slow breaths while we let that sink in,
Counting on the exhale just like before.
Once again,
I'll signal the start and the end of the exercise with the sound of a bell.
The bell is invited.
The bell is invited.
The bell is invited.
The bell is invited.
The bell is invited.
To close this meditation,
I want to invite you to try to be mindfully receptive again sometime later today or tomorrow during the regular course of your day.
You may already have an idea as to how that could happen.
You may already have thoughts on how being mindfully receptive can benefit you as well as other people around you.
Thank you for joining me today,
And I look forward to practicing with you again another time.
