Everything Happens For A Reason

An uplifting practice that will help you find hope in the midst of struggle. Through body awareness and insightful imagery, you will learn to create new meaning from discomfort and trust that resistance is a necessary part of growth. You will learn how to let go of what you can't control and surrender to life's flow. You leave with a restored faith in yourself and your journey.

In the beginning, Lou shares the inspiration for the practice.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

My name is Lou Redman and I thank you for being here and for practicing with me.

Today's practice is inspired by a very difficult and challenging mistake that I made recently.

Let me backtrack and explain the reason why this was so challenging.

Over the past seven or eight months,

I had really been working on cultivating and growing an email list.

I would send about twice a month an email sharing a story and sharing a meditation.

It was just a beautiful way to connect with someone in their inbox,

Something that I cherish because that is something that I hold with great regard.

I love the people that I follow and I get their emails and their newsletters.

It's something that I really love to read as a student or as a person who follows other people.

So to connect with people in their journey was something I really enjoyed doing.

Fast forward,

I had been planning to switch my email service provider and I'll save you the story on how this happened.

But long story short,

In switching it,

I accidentally deleted all of my emails.

So I had about 700 or so,

So nothing crazy as far as the standards of what a lot is.

But to me,

That email list was everything.

It was something I so cherished and loved doing.

And by my foolishness,

I let go and deleted all of them from 700 to zero.

And it was an intense moment that I went through in that moment.

It was just like this deep sense of loss and,

Oh my gosh,

Did I really just do that?

And it was so,

So difficult and so,

So challenging.

And ironically,

The day before I had sent an email called A Star is Born,

Which is based on a practice that you can find here as well,

Where I talk about that sometimes life crumbles the ground beneath us and it forces us to find the star.

It forces us to find that silver lining from what we experienced.

And it was almost as if life was asking me,

Lou,

You say this stuff to other people,

But can you truly live it?

Can you truly live that everything happens for a reason?

And this is something that I really do believe because it's really the way that we start to create meaning out of our lives.

I know that there are some terrible things that happen and I don't have answers to everything,

But I know that what other choice do we have than to choose to see life in a supportive way?

And I do believe this and it was like life was asking me to live that.

And I think most of spiritual traditions are pointing us to the fact that we don't get to change our circumstances.

But if we are aware enough,

We can choose to change the way that we look at it.

We can see it with a new perspective.

And so that's what I was forced to do.

And I have found new meaning and trust that I was meant to clear out my list so that I can let go of those people maybe that needed to be let go of and cultivate a new people who are meant to find me and grow with me and connect in that way.

So it's been challenging,

But something that I've learned from.

So I thank you again.

That's going to move to our practice today and really see and trust in the perfectness of our lives and try and find that faith for us as well.

Let's go ahead and allow yourself to close down the eyes if they aren't.

And start to feel and connect with your floor,

Feet,

Sits bones,

And you're feeling the cushion beneath you.

And allowing your body to fall and to relax and get a sense of the heaviness of the body moving down.

And from that support,

Starting to find a little lengthening through the upper body,

Lengthening through the sides of the waist,

Broadening through your shoulders.

Noticing if there's any tension in your face and starting to relax the muscles around the eyelids and the jaw.

And begin to find your natural rhythm of breathing.

So feeling with each inhale that light,

Expansive space that's created.

And now with each exhale,

See if you can allow yourself to root down and ground just a little bit more.

And now we're going to move into just simply noticing an area of our body.

So I'll give you to scan your body and see if you can find any part of your body that is feeling a little tense or there's just some discomfort there.

Maybe it's in your hips or your neck or just something that just feels so light,

Discomfort.

Maybe it's an old injury that sometimes comes back.

Go ahead and bring your awareness to this part and notice if there's any initial wanting to change it.

And often when things happen in our life that we don't want,

We have this initial resistance of no,

No,

No,

Go away.

And I can't handle this.

And sometimes what we learn and we can practice just through our bodies is simply moving away from the narrative or the feeling to change it right away.

And just be with it for a moment without judging it good or bad.

So finding this space in your body and seeing if you can just notice and breathe and be with it.

Not needing it to go either way.

Notice as you just be with it,

If there's any change in the feeling or the intensity or the meaning that you're putting onto it.

And there might and might not.

We're just practicing here,

Just becoming aware of sensation without labeling and judging it as we often do with many things in our life.

And then Let's go ahead and take a full conscious breath in.

And let that go.

I'm going to move into a little bit of a guided visualization.

Like you to imagine that you are sitting just as you are here,

But imagine that you're sitting in front of a garden.

Your mind's eye can bring to mind any garden that either you know,

Maybe it's your own garden in your backyard,

Maybe it's one that you've visited.

Or maybe you're creating one in your mind that might not be anywhere.

And first noticing all that you see.

Noticing the trees and the landscape that's around it.

Noticing the wildlife that might be around it or the types of flowers or vegetables or whatever the garden is growing.

Just anything that you can see the sun shining the clouds.

And then moving into the feeling that it feels like to be sitting in front of this garden,

Maybe imagining that your feet are on blades of grass.

Maybe you can feel the wind in your face or the warmth of the sun's rays.

Any other feeling sense that is coming out of this picture in your mind.

And then noticing anything that you can hear.

The chirping of birds.

The branches rustling in the wind.

Maybe there's other people around.

And then lastly anything you can smell or taste.

Any other senses kind of bringing this full picture into your awareness.

And from here I'd like you to notice and see if you can find and pick just one flower that is growing out of the ground.

Whenever a flower comes to mind,

See if you can just look and find one.

And we're just going to contemplate on a question for a moment or reflect on a question.

And that is when is this flower perfect?

When is this flower perfect?

Is it perfect when it's a seed?

Is it perfect when it's mid-growth and it's at its strongest energy?

Is it perfect when it's blossomed and we can see the fruits of its work?

When is it perfect?

And as we sit with that question we find that the flower in one way of looking at it is perfect at each stage.

Because each stage is necessary for its growth.

It has to go to the dirt.

It has to face the resistance to get the strength to move upwards.

And it needs the water and the rays of the sun.

All these things to come together for it to blossom.

And we see that the flower is simply living its nature.

Its nature is to grow.

And it's such a wonderful metaphor for our life,

Right?

That we have some same nature within us.

And we have a nature that has to move through the muck and the dirt,

The resistance in order to grow.

And we have some flowers,

Some blossoming that as we work to grow that we see that there is some beauty and some purpose and some nature.

If we can trust in the perfectness of our journey and where we're at.

So I'd like you to imagine that you are a seed.

And that you are being planted in the ground,

Maybe next to where this flower was.

And asking yourself what is embedded in this seed?

And what is your nature?

And what is that energy?

The energy that grows us?

And maybe this is where your purpose lies.

This is where all those good qualities that you're working to cultivate,

And all the best of you is embedded in this seed.

Maybe this is some of the values that you are looking to live by,

Working on living by.

Hope,

Peace,

Love,

Compassion.

You can breathe in whatever those values represent for you.

It helps to grow our nature by watering it,

By giving it some encouragement.

And one way we do that is just through these intentions that we can give to ourself.

So imagining,

As you say this to yourself,

Imagining it's like watering the seed to grow.

May I live purposefully.

May I be happy.

May I be loving.

And may I be peaceful.

Anything else that you want to share with yourself to grow this seed.

Maybe it's just a feeling,

Maybe it's words.

And then letting that go.

And then recognizing that these seeds need water,

But they also need dirt,

And they need resistance.

They need it to strengthen the roots and intentions.

And that's what we need as well.

So think about somewhere in your life where you are facing resistance.

And resistance can happen any time that we want our reality to be different than it is.

So maybe there's something that's coming up for you now,

Or maybe you can think of somewhere recently or in the past where you've faced some resistance on your path.

And imagining the resistance as this muck that we must go through,

That it has its purpose,

Even if we might not see it in the moment.

So even as we're feeling this resistance,

See if you can surrender to it.

See if you can trust that we must move through this to live our nature.

And if it helps you,

Maybe repeating some of these words.

I trust the process.

I surrender to the flow.

I am right where I need to be.

I trust.

I surrender.

I trust.

I surrender.

And maybe just repeating those last two.

And thinking about any other resistance that needs to be let go of or eased into.

I think it's similar to how we just did with our bodies and noticing the discomfort and just being with it.

In a sense,

Surrendering our judgments of it,

The same thing that we can do with any of the resistance we face in our life,

Whether it's relationships,

Whether it's a circumstance.

I trust.

I surrender into it.

It's okay that this can be here.

And each time you surrender,

Imagining that your seed is growing,

The roots are going deeper and you imagine that the starting to move out of the dirt.

Into the sunlight.

And with each trusting breath,

Start to feel the expansiveness and the lightness as we let go of needing to force and control every little moment of our life.

It's not that we are passive,

But we set the intentions.

We do our best and then we let go.

So feel as you surrender,

Starting to go into the sun,

Starting to go even higher and higher until finally you feel your flower blossoming.

And whatever that might mean for you,

Maybe you bring to mind a goal that you've been working on.

Maybe you can just feel a sense of peace and lightness in your body,

Feeling the warmth of the sun,

Knowing that this is part of our growth.

This is part of maybe a smaller journey,

A bigger journey.

So feel your flower blossoming for just another moment.

And knowing that eventually the flower will run its course,

A new seed will be planted,

And then we'll have to go through that next stage of development.

These little mini heroes journeys that we go through as we grow,

We blossom,

And then it's time to get back into the dirt and grow again.

Come into another cycle.

So beginning to come back into your body,

Back into your room,

Letting go of the visualization.

And whenever you are ready,

You can open your eyes and come back into your death.

I thank you so much again for practicing with me.

If you were on my email list and haven't heard from me in a while,

It's probably because you were one of those that got deleted.

So if you'd like to get back on,

Please just go through my profile and I'd love to connect with you again.

And possibly maybe I was meant to delete it,

To do a practice like this where if you're listening and you weren't on or didn't know that I had one,

Maybe you'd like to join me in that list and receive some of the things that I share.

And I would really deeply care and appreciate that.

So please do follow that link as well.

And as always,

I look forward to supporting your journey wherever that finds you,

Whether it's through these practices or through other avenues,

Because I deeply,

Deeply hope that you do find value and I love doing this.

So I thank you as always.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you.

Just wonderful and exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you very much ❤️❤️🙏🧘‍♀️

Enriching as always 🤍
Exactly what I needed today... as if prescribed for me 🙏

Just what I needed today as going through a rough time at work. Lou you always have the perfect most healing words 🙏

The real life experience and how meaning was given to it makes this session so very useful. I don’t believe the blanket statement that everything happens for a reason. I am convinced that, for whatever happens, it is the meaning that we find that will determine how we respond to life. We ourselves assign the reason and we can judge ourselves and life harshly and with fear. Or, we can use life’s “soil crumbling” moments to rebalance and respond with fresh vulnerability, compassion, curiosity and kindness. Life happens *for* us rather than *to* us. Thank you, Lou, for your candid kindness in the content you share.

Another wonderful meditation, Lou 💗.
I love the honesty, and how we’ve all had devastating events happen to us or around us. Your message is clear and very helpful. Thank you for sharing 🙏💖

This was just what I needed as I’m recovering from a severe injury and was needing some motivation to move forward through the pain. Thank you 💕

Very thought provoking. I am very resistance to change and always think it’s going to be terrible ( I am talking major life events ) and it’s given me a bit of a different perspective. It was and is needed.
Thank you 🙏

Love your voice. It's truly calming and easing. Thank you for doing this 💫

Such a wonderful practice for me to learn to trust and surrender to what happens in daily life and enjoy the day as it comes! 🙏 thank you!

I just discovered you.
It is a special moment in my life and hearing you has been so rich for me.
Thank you for your light 🙏🏼

Wow that was amazing! I was able to feel the sun and the light surrounding me, I felt an incredible sense of calm and peace! Thank you I needed that

Thank you. This is what I am beginning to realize. I learn much more about who I am when there is something I am resisting. Also great lessons for me when I go through some tough times. Thank you 🙏🏾

I did the same thing, Lou, with 5 years of teaching plans and perfected teaching resources for chemistry, physics, Algebra, Geometry, AP Calculus...yeah. why did I think an external hard drive was safer than my overstuffed Dropbox? Ha ha. Oh, well. Life happens!

It’s such a strong reminder especially when the purpose seems too blurred to see

Thank you 🙏🏾 and no I didn’t know you have an email list 🙃 gonna join 12/7/20

Thank you Lou. Your tone, your words, your message bring me peace in the troubled times. 🙏🏻

Words and their timing fit wonderful and guide me perfectly good in a great meditation. Grow 🌱Thank you

I always try to believe everything happens for a reason, but sometimes it is tough. I love your comparison to that belief with the flower. Thank you.

I agree. Lovely meditation.