Namaste dear ones.
Thank you for joining me today to explore change and our resistance to it.
It has been said that change is the one constant in life.
Many of us want things to stay the same even when we are not completely happy in our life.
We may have the belief that the devil we know is better than the scary unknown.
But what if all of our dreams are just outside of our comfort zone?
What if the fear of change is a way we keep ourselves trapped and asleep,
Never able to reach our full potential?
So take a moment to get really comfortable.
Finding a quiet place where you can escape the outside world and all of its distractions.
Retreating into yourself.
Discovering your inner resource.
The peace and calm at your center.
The essence of who you are beyond all of your labels and titles.
And make a commitment to yourself to stay fully present.
Giving yourself the gift of your total awareness for this little sliver of time.
Make any final adjustments to your body to rest even more comfortably into the support beneath you.
Invite the sensation of heaviness into your mind and body as you notice the rise and fall of your breath.
Allow each exhalation to assist your body in growing heavier and heavier.
Feel how the tension and tightness within begins to soften and melt.
Breathe out any stress from today and all worries of the future as we rest comfortably here in the peace and calm of the present moment.
And ask yourself,
Can I relax just 5% more?
Now let's dive deeper within,
Allowing the body to melt away from the mind.
As we begin to observe the rise and fall of our breath,
Notice the wave-like motion as the breath falls in and the breath falls out as an endless ebb and flow.
Become aware that the inhalation just naturally rounds into the exhalation without any pause in the flow.
And the exhalation rounds right back into the inhalation,
Like an infinity sign.
Watch or feel the inhalation rounding into the exhalation.
And then the exhalation rounding right back into the inhalation.
Ebb and flow,
No effort at all.
The breath fills you up and then empties out completely.
Now let go of the effort of following the breath as we trust our body to continue that slow easy rhythm.
No need to tell ourselves to breathe,
We can trust the body's wisdom to take the lead as we shift our attention into our mind.
Let's work through why we try so hard to stop the flow of change when we know that everything changes.
That's one of the few facts we can count on to stay true.
Together,
Let's explore a new belief.
How would it feel if you changed the thought that change is scary to the belief that resisting change is resisting reality?
It has been said that one of the roots of suffering is fighting the flow of change,
Wanting things to stay exactly the same.
Ask yourself,
Am I willing to look at change from a different perspective today?
Am I ready to set myself free from suffering?
Resistance is a normal reaction,
So acknowledge that it's ok.
Be easy with yourself.
Awareness of resistance is a step in the right direction.
We cannot change what we don't acknowledge,
So become curious,
What am I resisting?
Be specific,
Without judgment,
And be honest with yourself.
Many times we don't actually fear change,
Instead we fear the loss of what we know and are comfortable with.
We may experience a fear that the change is beyond our control.
When that is the case,
We can shift our awareness to focus on what we can control.
The change is coming,
And we have a choice to fight it tooth and nail,
To dig our heels in and feel sorry for ourselves.
Or we can embrace the change with ease.
Acknowledging what is ending with gratitude.
Navigate the uncertainty with grace.
And change the fear into excitement of what is possible in this new beginning.
Take a moment to remember a time when you were standing by a body of water with a strong current.
It could have been the ocean,
A river,
Or even a creek.
Reach back into your mind to a time you remember watching the flow of that current and admiring its strength.
Fully immerse yourself in this memory,
Feeling the warmth of the sun on your face.
The temperature of the air on your skin.
And imagine you can hear the power of the water as it brushes by.
Now imagine that strong current of water is change.
Resisting it would be like trying to row a boat against the current,
Trying to keep everything just the same.
But what if instead of working so hard to keep things the same,
We adopted a learning mindset?
We decide to relinquish control.
Instead of thinking that we always know what is in our best interest,
We decide to have faith that maybe there is something even greater out there waiting for us.
If we would simply trust and let go.
If we made the choice to embrace change instead of resisting it,
And allowed the current to take us into its flow.
No need to work.
No need to row.
Simply remain open and curious about where this new path may lead.
Allowing the current of change to take us in a whole new direction.
What if change really is a good thing?
What if change could be opening the door to a new opportunity that is even better than anything you ever dreamed of?
So practice welcoming the winds of change.
Begin to imagine with each inhalation that the body grows lighter and more buoyant.
Growing lighter and lighter.
As light as a feather.
And instead of remaining stuck where we are,
Allow the winds of change to safely pick you up and bring you higher and higher with each inhalation.
As light as a feather.
Just floating along on the winds of change.
Not steering our course,
But being open to our destiny.
These beliefs are choices and thoughts that we have created and repeated to ourselves over and over again.
If you think change is scary,
Hard,
Or difficult,
It will be.
By changing that belief to change is something that serves me,
You take your power back.
You regain your peace and a sense of balance.
So let's consciously change our thoughts.
Affirming that change is easy.
Change is fun.
Change brings me amazing opportunities.
When you choose your perspective,
You can easily rewire your internal system around change in a way that serves you.
Increasing self-compassion.
Self-love.
And acceptance.
Which will remind you of your strengths.
Begin to inhale gratitude and exhale fear.
As the next three breaths mentally repeat,
Inhaling change is easy.
Exhaling change is fun.
Change is easy.
Change is fun.
Change is easy.
Change is fun.
Then simply allow the breath to fall in and out once more.
Begin to cultivate a sense of gratitude for this whole new way of looking at change.
Gratitude for the ability to step out of fear and back into your power.
Gratitude for all of the many blessings in your life.
Choosing to welcome the winds of change.
In the words of my teacher,
Wishing for all of us a strong body,
A quiet mind,
And a gentle heart.
In deep gratitude to each other and all of our many teachers.
Namaste.
Kalyani.
