Good morning everyone,
Or good afternoon,
Or good evening,
Wherever and whenever you're listening to this.
I'm recording this on Sunday,
August 30th.
I'm currently in Calgary,
Alberta in Canada.
And we had a very,
Very cool evening and the leaves here,
Believe it or not,
Are already starting to turn yellow.
I've noticed and had some interesting conversations and listened to some things that all seem to really be sending me and maybe those around me and maybe the greater world similar messages.
There's two things,
Being a mirror and meditation.
And so,
Same thing.
Meditation is a reflection.
It's a reflection of you.
A lot of us have perspectives of what meditation needs to look like,
Certain expectations that it's done a certain way.
It has to look a certain way.
A guided meditation has to be a certain thing.
And I just ask you to look at some of those things,
Those beliefs you have,
And recognize that what you see is a mirror to yourself.
What we refuse,
What we like.
What is it showing us about ourselves?
Even other people,
Right?
We like what we like because it reflects us.
We dislike those and what because it triggers something within us maybe that we don't like,
That we judge.
So however you find this meditation and whatever you do,
I encourage to not always have an always.
To have a sometimes.
Sometimes it's a walking meditation.
Sometimes it's a stillness.
Sometimes it's sitting.
Sometimes it's in nature.
And sometimes it's in the eye of the storm and the noise of the city,
The chaos.
Wherever and whatever it looks like right now at this moment for you,
Just pause just for a moment even if you're out walking.
If you could,
Could you close your eyes just for a moment?
And notice the cool air as it enters the tips of your nostrils and feel it move deep into your belly,
Expanding your belly fully.
And then feeling that same inhale come all the way up into your chest,
Feeling your lungs,
Your ribs,
Your upper back expand.
And then just for a moment can you hold onto it at the very top,
Just pause.
Notice what comes up if there's any panic,
Any rush,
Any fear.
See if you could sip in just a little more cool fresh oxygen.
And then really slow with your mouth still closed,
Exhale,
Slow as you can through your nose and empty your belly.
Get rid of all the carbon dioxide,
All of the stale energy,
All of the fears.
Just let it go,
Gut out your belly.
Try to hold empty and know the more that you empty,
The more that you can fill.
And then one last time together,
Breathe in slow through your nose,
Mouth closed,
Feeling the cool air enter into your body,
All that vitality,
Prana,
Life force coming into you,
Filling you up right into your lungs,
Your chest,
The crown of your head,
Pausing.
And then a long slow exhale,
Feeling the warm air leave your body,
Willingly giving everything away,
Knowing that the more you give,
The more you release,
The more that floods to you.
This reading I share with you,
It really speaks to me.
I recognize this year how low my self worth is,
That I've often thought in the beginning of my yoga teaching career 20 years ago that I wasn't a yoga teacher,
That a yoga teacher looked a certain way and did a certain thing and was a certain way and I wasn't that.
And I've questioned my abilities so often and I continue to always comparing my worst to other people's best,
Thinking everyone is having such an easy time and why is it so hard for me.
And so you see these situations are mirrors,
Mirrors to my triggers,
To my low self worth.
There's the common biblical phrase of love thy neighbor like thyself.
But we have often a lot of us so low love for ourselves and so much self hate.
So could we truly love ourselves as we love our neighbors,
As we love those that we love the most.
Could we recognize it starts with us?
And I wonder,
Just wonder,
If those that we dislike are parts of ourselves that we dislike and criticize as well.
So I leave you with this in our last few minutes together.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear for I wear a thousand masks and none of them are me.
I give you the impression I'm secure.
The confidence is my name and coolness is my game and that I need no one.
But don't believe me.
Beneath dwells the real me in confusion,
In aloneness,
In fear.
That's why I create a mask to hide behind,
To shield me from the glance that knows.
But such a glance is precisely my salvation if it's followed by acceptance,
If it's followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from my own self built prison walls.
I'm afraid that deep down I'm nothing and that I'm just no good and that you will reject me.
And so begins the parade of masks.
I idly chatter to you.
I tell you everything that's really nothing and nothing of what's everything,
Of what's crying within me.
Please listen carefully and try to hear that I'm not what I'm not saying.
I'd really like to be genuine and spontaneous and me.
But you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand.
Each time you are kind and gentle and encouraging,
Each time you try to understand because you really care,
My heart begins to grow wings.
Theable wings,
But wings.
With your sensitivity and sympathy and your power of understanding,
You alone can release me from my world of uncertainty.
It will not be easy for you.
The nearer you approach me,
The blinder and bolder I may strike back.
But I'm told that love is stronger than strong walls.
And in this lies my only hope.
Please try to beat down these walls with firm but gentle hands.
Who am I,
You wonder?
I am everyone.
Every person you meet.
And I am also you.
Again,
Wherever you are,
Just in a moment,
If you can,
Pause.
Your eyes aren't softly closed,
Let them be shut.
Feel just your body breathing.
Feel that it doesn't take you to breathe.
Doesn't take your mind to breathe.
Your body pumps blood.
It pumps your heart.
Your body digests,
Breathes,
Heals,
All without your interruption.
You are magnificent.
As I ask you to pause for a moment of gratitude,
To fill your heart and mind,
Today I encourage you to be grateful for all that you are,
Everything about you.
Your perfect laugh,
Your incredible smile,
Your glorious eyes,
Your kind and generous and loving heart.
If you are not you,
If I'm not me,
If we don't be ourselves,
We shortchange the world and the people around us.
They miss out on our greatness and all that we are in our own flawed and yet perfectly us way.
I encourage you today to take off your mask,
To let your heart be seen,
To let your voice be heard and know that you are loved.
Namaste.
Have a beautiful,
Beautiful day.
