SRS Session 4 | Answers From Within

In session 4 we wonder what we can learn, what we can gain, what we can create and what can be solved for us when we talk less, listen more, and quietly open the ear of our hearts. This meditation includes an affirmation practice. The Spiritual Recalibration Series (SRS) is designed to help you expand your awareness into a new, more open, curious and expansive way of being in daily life. This impactful series comprises 33 sessions, each with a short topic (the recalibration) followed by guided meditation. Meditations include affirmations, visualizations, and brief periods of quiet, musical stillness.

Transcript

Okay,

Welcome back to the Spiritual Recalibration Series.

Thank you for embarking on this series and opening yourself to a new way of being.

My name is David,

And this is Session 4,

Answers from Within.

Find a comfortable seat in a space where you can allow yourself 20 minutes or so,

Undistracted,

To focus just on you.

A quick reminder,

To get the most out of this series,

Please be sure you've listened to the Welcome Session,

Session 0.

Here we go.

The first way to come up with listening,

Because we hear about this,

We've been hearing about this since we were kids,

Right?

You're a kid in school and you're supposed to be listening,

Right?

Pay attention.

And that whole idea of active listening.

And I think we mentioned it even recently about how so many times when we're supposed to be listening,

We're actually just waiting to talk.

And I gave that example of when I noticed that with my friend who was over at the Thanksgiving time,

Just noticing that something came up and I was waiting to talk.

So there's that.

But then we also mentioned previously the listening filters.

So just a little bit beyond the idea of active listening,

Just,

I think it becomes a bit more effective when we become aware of those filters that they bring up in the conscious leadership group.

They talk about those filters.

And so one of the ones I'm very familiar with is the filter of defending,

Where you listen to defend.

Especially this comes up,

Especially in the context of whether you're having some sort of conflict or even a full blown argument or just something where there's an exchange of opinions back and forth in your,

We defend.

So that's one way we do.

Another big one is that we listen to relate to ourselves.

So someone's saying something and really for the most part,

This is just such a,

One of the greatest gifts we can give anyone is just to hear them,

To allow them to speak and to allow them to be heard.

And so often what we do is we listen to relate to ourselves.

So one person saying something that is meaningful to them or telling a story,

And then what we do is we relate it right back to ourselves.

Oh,

That happened to me when I was,

That sort of thing.

And so we do that.

Let's not go into the place where we judge ourselves for the way that we listen or that we don't.

It's so easy to do that.

When we talk about something,

Oh,

I do that,

I'm such a bad person for the way I listen or don't listen.

Watch out for that.

Just treat yourself gently,

Always,

And kindly,

That all of this is just part of being human.

So watch out for that.

So there are those listening filters just to be aware of,

Defending,

Relating to yourself,

Fixing,

Diagnose someone saying something that's maybe a problem and we want to fix it.

And one of the things I became aware of is that we want to fix it sometimes for ourselves because we're uncomfortable with them having a problem.

So we want to fix it or make it better.

And there are certain personality types where that do that more often than other personality types.

So as you get to know yourself,

Paying attention to when you want to fix something or diagnose something as far as what that problem might be.

So there's all kinds of different ways that we filter in what we hear.

So there's that.

And then another thing is just the idea of talking less.

This was something that I was exploring this past week.

Just generally speaking less.

What would happen if you spent a day just quietly?

Just really listening.

So one of the things that happens with just looking at why we talk and politics or if you watch politics,

Which I don't recommend,

I'm not saying not to be informed and such,

But just like if you watch a political discussion,

It is so clearly an exchange of opinion.

And I was listening to a teacher this past week talking about how the ego mind just loves that.

What the ego mind loves almost nothing more than expressing an opinion.

Because when we express an opinion,

Then we're sure we're right about that opinion.

And of course,

When we're sure that we're right,

We're less open to learning and being curious.

So there's that exchange of opinion that happens.

And if one of the things that we're interested in is maybe chipping away at that ego mind and quieting it down a little bit so that we can spend more time in this space of being,

Then certainly the idea of spending a bit less time talking seems in line with that.

Now know that this same teacher who was speaking mentioned that,

And I resonated with this,

I was having,

I've had conversations with my wife and just the idea of like,

Sometimes I appear aloof and maybe some of you have experienced that as well.

And sometimes I am,

I'm sure,

But aloof or maybe disinterested when I'm actively making an effort to spend less time talking and more time listening.

So just be aware if you play with this,

Those around you could perceive you.

Now you very well may be disengaged and disinterested and distracted and aloof and all those things that may be true and that's okay.

But if you play with this idea of spending,

Just experimenting even with a little less time talking and more time listening,

That those around you who aren't used to that may wonder if there's something wrong or that you're not paying attention.

So there is that.

And then the last thing that came up that I wanted to share with you is the idea of listening as far as listening as meditation.

So one of the ways when I was doing my meditation teacher training,

It talked about the difference between meditation and prayer.

And so a nice,

Easy way to think about this without getting too down into this aspect of it,

Too much into prayer and what that is and such is just meditation is listening and prayer is speaking or a loose association there.

But just the idea of listening,

Listening within.

And so we're going to do and do practice a short affirmation with our practice here in just a minute or two about just listening within,

Quieting our mind enough to where we can hear our truth.

And you've all heard of this before,

Living,

Living from the heart space,

Listening to your heart,

Listening to your truth,

Knowing your truth.

That's kind of what we're talking about here.

And so it takes practice to do that and to play with that.

Just a short example for you,

When we can get quiet and there's a listening,

I think it's important to say that it's a listening without an attachment to needing to hear the answer or know the answer right then and there.

It's more about asking the question and being open to where an answer might come.

I remember when I first finished,

Again,

My meditation teacher training,

I was curious about where I was going to teach first.

And so I thought that I might find a place to teach,

Offer a class.

And that was something I was thinking about and thinking about and thinking about.

And I offered one and a few people showed up and I had put up a little poster at a local health food store for that class.

And that was just a one-time thing.

And then so I was thinking and trying to figure out where am I going to do this?

I'm really excited to try this and do this and meet some people and see what happens.

And then I realized that I was spending a lot of time trying to figure it out.

And this is what we do.

We think we use our brains and our minds and we think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think about how to figure something out.

And when I actively said,

Okay,

I'm going to take some space from this,

I'm just going to sit quietly.

I'm going to put the question out there and say,

I wonder where I'm going to end up teaching my first meditation sessions.

And just that bit of letting go,

I'm not sure how long after,

But it was not long after I happened to be in that same health food store.

And I went over to the restroom because that's near the restroom is where all the signs are posted.

And I glanced up,

I was looking to see if the sign I had put up for that previous class was still there.

And I glanced up and I saw it and covering up the right corner of that same sign was the business card for a local yoga studio.

And I thought,

Oh,

That's interesting because that same yoga student had come into my mind as a possibility,

Just kind of as a fleeting thought recently in that time.

And sure enough,

That's where I ended up practicing.

And that led to several things on this path here.

So just a little example for how things kind of come up that way when we're open.

Okay.

So just a short bit here,

Short practice.

If your eyes are open,

Let's close them gently.

Let's let your feet be flat on the ground,

Sitting up nice and straight,

Nice straight spine,

Drawing the shoulder blades together gently.

Place your hands on your thighs,

Palms up or palms down,

Your choice at the juncture of thighs and abdomen.

If there's a more comfortable position for your hands,

Feel free to play with that.

And for just a few moments now,

Let's focus on the natural breath.

See if you can notice the spot in your nostrils where you can feel the air passing.

If you are ever not quite sure,

You can take your right index finger,

Place it underneath your nostrils like you're making a pretend mustache and you'll feel it.

You'll feel the air cool as you inhale through the nose and warm as you exhale through the nose.

If you tried that,

You can lower your finger now.

Sometimes the easiest place to feel the breath is at the edges of the nostrils.

If you can feel it a little bit higher,

That's good.

The higher we can notice the breath in the nostrils,

The closer it gets to noticing it near that spot between the eyebrows.

So if we gently draw our gaze upward toward that point,

We can see that in time with practice,

You may be able to notice the breath higher.

There's no hurry,

Nothing to try and do,

But if you begin to notice your breath a bit higher,

Then you can draw a bit more of a singular focus with the gaze gently drawn upward to the point between the eyebrows and noticing the breath high up in the nose.

But allow yourself to feel it right where you feel it.

Good.

Relax your jaw.

Allow your tongue to fall away from the roof of your mouth.

Check in with your posture,

Sitting up nice and straight,

Shoulder blades drawn together gently.

See if there's any tension in your shoulders,

In your neck,

In your head.

Allow that to relax,

To let the tension go.

Now,

Letting go of watching the breath and listening to the words of this affirmative statement,

Allowing your mind to go along with it.

And as you begin to memorize it,

You can say it to yourself out loud,

In a speaking voice,

In a whisper,

Or just follow along as you hear it.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

If you began saying this out loud,

Follow along just in your mind now.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

And one more time.

I trust the wisdom within.

I open my heart to listen.

I am patient,

Quiet,

Serene.

Allowing the feeling of these words,

Letting the words go,

But allowing the feeling of these words to stay for just a few moments now.

This feeling of the wisdom within,

Of being receptive,

Of trusting,

Being patient in the quiet.

Gently drawing the gaze upward toward the point between the eyebrows for just a few moments now.

Allow yourself to experience just being here,

Open,

Receptive,

Trusting,

Patient,

Good.

Now take an intentional inhale through your nose and a gentle exhale through your mouth.

I'll end the video here.

You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like and when you're ready to gently flutter open your eyes.