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 9,
Attention,
Acceptance,
And Approval.
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.
There's something here that maybe some of you can relate to.
Just I wanted to just share a little story,
Something that came into my awareness a while back and it's just kind of interesting.
This is also a good time to practice,
You know,
Having compassion for yourself,
Because it is the way when we.
.
.
So the topic here is attention.
I guess there are two different ways to talk about this.
So the first is a story,
There was a time in my past where I would travel and speak to groups of people on a certain topic.
And so I'm bringing to mind one particular time where the group was quite big.
For me,
It was,
I don't know,
60,
70,
Maybe 80 people.
And it went great.
It was a good talk.
But there's something about attention.
So what was I.
.
.
So the talk went well and I got good feedback.
Oh,
That was great.
Thank you for that.
I'm so glad you came and did that.
There's attention there.
There's attention that I'm having come to me that feels good.
And so the question becomes,
As I go and do this talk,
How much of this is about me?
And this is that ego mind.
How much of that is gathering attention?
Now,
This is.
.
.
We can go all the way back to childhood.
And if we were blessed with parents who paid attention to us,
That was great.
And I can even remember thinking about,
I was.
.
.
So I have a younger brother and I have a couple of older siblings as well,
But I have a younger brother who is about four years younger than me.
So when he was born and man,
Cutest baby ever,
My younger brother.
So when he was born,
I was four years old.
So how much attention from mom goes to that little baby from that four-year-old?
So I can actually remember being.
.
.
I loved going to my cousin's house and I can remember a time going to my cousin's house.
I don't know how old I was,
But I remember everyone just loving this little baby.
And so I don't have specific memories of feelings at that time,
But it would make sense that I wasn't getting attention and maybe that made me feel a certain way.
And for those of us who have kids now,
What's the greatest gift we can give our kids?
What's really what they want?
I mean,
Yeah,
They want us to take them and to do stuff they want to play and that sort of thing.
But the main thing is the gift of attention,
Giving them attention.
So I come back to that conference and that talk,
And that's a natural thing to come.
So there's this attention that we get that feeds kind of our ego mind,
That feeds that part of us that wants to be boosted up,
That wants to be separate.
I came and did this for you.
There's that separation there.
And so that kind of reinforces,
And then there's the attention to that part of our personality that kind of just wants attention.
What a gift.
So there's that kind,
And this is where the compassion comes in,
Right?
So if we're simply aware of that,
And maybe we can check it,
Like right now,
Can I check it just enough so that I share something and say something that's helpful,
That's of benefit,
That's of service,
Even just one thing,
It's the awareness.
That's all we're always talking about here is the awareness.
Because the other kind of attention involves some letting go.
Yeah.
So the other example,
I heard a wonderful teacher talking the other day,
Just about the attention you give to a plant.
I've been surrounding myself with plants.
You can see them around me if you're for a while then.
What he was citing is a scientific study where they just showed that plants that are treated the same with water and light and that sort of thing,
The ones that are paid attention to,
Like given that time that someone is aware of the plant,
They grow,
They thrive versus the other ones that are kind of ignored.
So I thought that was interesting.
But I think we've mentioned this before,
The gift of paying attention,
Of your attention to someone else,
That attention to that place of being,
Going back to the exercise that we began with,
Where we are aware,
Not just of the words that the person is saying,
We're aware of those too,
We hear them,
But aware of that something that is more,
Yeah,
That is beneath that is that space,
That connection,
Paying attention to that,
That's a different kind of attention.
We were talking just last time or a few times ago about worry.
We're talking about allowing that worry and saying hello to that worry,
But also allowing it there because maybe there's a part of us that wants attention.
So can we pay attention to ourselves?
Because that stuff,
That attention that I was talking about when my baby brother was born,
That's attention from an external source.
And there'll never be enough of that.
All of the attention and all the approval and all the acceptance is all available within.
It's all here.
It's a bit of what we're up to here.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's leave it there.
Let's do a short little practice here along these lines.
So let's return the eyes to closed if you had them open.
Gently close the eyes.
The eyelids gently have the eyes soft behind the eyelids,
Sitting upright with a straight spine,
Feet flat on the ground.
If you're sitting in a chair,
Palms face up or face down your choice on the thighs at the juncture of thighs and abdomen or a little bit further forward.
If that's more comfortable for you,
You want to make sure that your position of your hands allows your shoulders to be relaxed.
So it's the length of your arms that determines that.
Tuck in your chin slightly,
Just slightly so that your neck is nice and straight.
Draw your gaze gently upward toward the point between your eyebrows and allow the breath to flow naturally and draw your attention to it.
See if you can find the spot in your nostrils where the air is passing.
Now as you notice yourself inhale,
Say in your mind,
I am.
And as you notice yourself exhale,
Say in your mind,
Peace.
I am on the inhale.
Peace on the exhale.
This I am peace mantra,
Saying something that's true,
Allowing your mind to do that.
Don't use the mantra to control the breath.
Simply accompany the natural breath with the mantra.
As you notice your mind wander,
Celebrate that you noticed.
And then gently but firmly draw it back to your breath and your mantra.
In time,
An extended time of a meditation technique like this,
Where you're focusing on the breath and the mantra,
The breath will slow down.
That's natural.
That's good.
As the breath slows down,
The mind can slow down.
As the mind slows down,
The breath grows ever more quiet.
And as the breath grows quiet,
The mind can grow quiet.
And then there is some space.
Some space that you can embrace.
Some space that you can enjoy.
Some space that you can embrace.
Some space that you can enjoy.
Now take an intentional inhale through the nose and then exhale through the mouth.
You can let the breath go.
You don't have to watch it anymore or say the mantra anymore.
Good.
Just draw your gaze again gently upward toward the point between the eyebrows.
And draw your attention to your heart.
And there in your heart is an embrace.
An embrace that is available to you anytime,
All the time,
Forever.
All the attention.
All the approval.
All the acceptance.
An unconditional embrace of love.
It's here.
It's now.
It's always now and always here.
And always here.
Allow this embrace to grow from your heart.
Fully around every aspect of you.
Now let this visual go.
Again drawing your gaze upward gently.
Allow yourself to spend just another moment or two here now in this space.
Enjoy this.
Good.
Now take a normal breath in and out.
Prepare to come back to the space where you are.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes or you're welcome to stay here with your eyes open or closed for as long as you like.
