I had been reflecting on reactivity and then I came across these words by Victor Franco.
Between stimulus and response,
There is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
I find that often we respond really quickly and we respond emotionally to things people say or do to things we hear.
And sometimes we end up regretting this quick response.
It can be hurtful and harmful to others.
We can make the split second decisions that we later on regret and we wish we would have taken more time.
So the key here is time.
Taking a step back,
Taking a breath,
And another one,
And another one.
So I invite you to being present right now,
Present with yourself,
Present with your thoughts and your emotions.
Finding a way to get comfortable.
Sitting on a chair with the bottom of your feet connected to the ground or sitting on the floor on a cushion with your legs crossed.
Tucking into your breath,
Allowing your breath to flow in and flow out of your body.
Simply closing your eyes or keeping a soft gaze towards the ground.
Feeling the connection to the earth through your feet,
Through your pelvis that you're sitting on.
Having your pelvic bowl to relax,
To sink down,
To widen,
To open.
Giving space to the organs inside.
Being connected to the earth,
To the ground,
Gives us stability,
Security.
It makes us feel safe.
As you're breathing,
Softening your belly.
Letting your belly rise and fall in rhythm with your breath,
In rhythm with your inhale and exhale.
You can inhale through your nose and exhale either through your nose or through your lips.
Softening your rib cage.
Feeling the container your rib cage is creating,
The container to hold your organs safely,
Your heart,
Your lungs.
They're protected.
Feeling the muscles around your abdomen and back who do the same for your digestive organs.
Keeping them safe,
Protecting them.
From the base of your pelvis up to your neck,
Feeling your trunk as a container.
Keeping your inside safe,
Protected.
Feeling your three dimensionality,
Being aware of the front of your body.
Being aware of the back of your body.
Being aware of the left side of your body.
Being aware of the right side of your body.
Allowing your shoulders to drop and relax.
Allowing your arms to hang by your sides,
Your palms resting on your knees or anywhere they are comfortable.
Allowing your lower body,
Your legs,
Your feet,
Your toes to relax.
Feeling your spine in the back of your body aligning itself,
Moving up from the sacrum through your lower back,
Through your middle back,
Through your upper back,
And then through your neck,
Creating space between the vertebrae for your discs to spread out and feel free.
Relaxing the muscles of your neck and all the time allowing your breath to flow in and flow out of your body.
Allowing your head to float lightly on top of your spine.
Feeling the muscles in your face,
Relaxing your jaw,
And from the top of your head,
From your crown,
Reaching up to the sky.
Keeping your shoulders wide and your chest open.
Keeping your belly soft and keeping your breath flowing in and flowing out of your body with ease.
Being here in this very moment.
If you notice any thoughts,
Acknowledging them,
Allowing them to float by,
You can come back to them later.
Allowing your mind to let go.
Allowing your mind to widen,
To create space inside of your mind.
Creating space for your presence.
It might help you to focus on your breath more closely so that you can allow your mind to relax,
So that you can allow your mind to widen and open.
Maybe following your inhale every step of the way.
From the moment your breath enters your nose.
Following it all the way down until your inhale switches into your exhale.
And then following your exhale all the way up until the breath leaves your body.
Now bringing your attention to your navel,
To the area around your navel.
Especially to the area above your navel,
Between your navel and your sternum,
Your breastbone.
That's where your solar plexus is located.
The solar plexus,
A nerve center,
Often called our other brain.
The place from which we make our gut decisions,
From which we react quickly.
Let's strengthen this area.
If we strengthen our solar plexus,
Then we will have confidence in ourselves.
We will be in touch with our own power.
Our power to decide.
Our power to act or to sit back.
To observe and to feel comfortable about it.
Focusing your inhale onto the solar plexus area.
Drawing your inhale right there.
And when you exhale,
Exhaling from there.
And as you're inhaling air and energy into your solar plexus,
Feeling how it's getting stronger,
How it's filling up,
How it's widening.
It's growing and expanding.
And as you are exhaling,
Letting go of what you don't need right now.
Anything that would get in the way of your solar plexus coming to life.
Taking a few moments to sitting with your breath and the connection to your solar plexus and the feeling of letting it expand,
Letting it grow stronger.
When we feel our own power,
We also feel more secure and safe and grounded.
And when we feel safe and grounded,
We are able to open our hearts.
And when we open our heart,
We can connect to our higher self,
Our higher consciousness.
And when that happens,
The response to our surroundings will be very different.
It will come from a place of strength,
From a place of knowledge and calm,
From a comfort in being in the moment,
A comfort of being ourself.
Now,
Placing your palms over your heart and feeling that connection to your deep inner self.
You can offer that calmness to others.
You can offer your wisdom to others.
You can offer your compassion to others.
Now let's take some breaths together.
Bringing your palms together in front of your heart,
Taking three inhales and three exhales together.
Inhaling and exhaling.
And inhaling and exhaling.
And one more time,
Inhaling and bowing forward on your exhale.
Now allowing this meditation to move into the background.
Slowly opening your eyes,
Coming back into focus.
Seeing the light,
Noticing the room and your surroundings.
Bringing some light movement,
Maybe into your fingers,
Into your toes,
Into your neck and your head and allowing your body to stretch in any way it would like to right now.
