Hello,
Welcome,
My name is Lou Redmond.
This today is a talk and meditation on the value of committing to some sort of practice.
I won't define what I mean when I say practice and how by developing a practice that we are actually preparing ourselves for the opportunities that are waiting to enter our lives.
And I was reminded of this just recently I had an opportunity to be a speaker at the University of Oregon's Mindfulness Conference,
And it was a really reaffirming experience for me because,
I don't know if you know this,
But at my core,
I'm an inspirational speaker.
Maybe that comes through in a lot of the things that I share,
But that was where I started my journey pursuing.
It unfolded into sharing meditations,
And inspiration has been just a big North Star of my life.
Opportunity and a reminder to live that.
And as I got on stage and as I felt all those feelings that one feels in giving a talk,
It was just like,
Yeah,
Man,
This is so good.
This is so my stuff.
And the whole week preparing for it was beautiful.
And,
And yeah,
I could say a lot,
But I'll pause on that piece because what I want to highlight for you is what happened before that.
So in the couple months before that,
I had started this new offering that I've been doing for free,
Where I'm showing up weekly on a zoom call and I'm sharing inspirational talks and meditations with people.
And a lot of the opportunity that I got very last minute,
The speaking gig was like with four days left,
I had to prepare,
But it was because I had a practice that I was showing up for doing these free calls that I was able to take some of what I had already done and was able to bring that into this opportunity.
So it was a beautiful experience that I was preparing for something that I didn't even realize was coming.
And there's so many times in my life where a practice,
When I say practice,
What I mean is something that we commit to,
That we do,
Even if we don't feel like doing it.
And we do it because we've made a commitment.
And the best way to make a commitment is to bring other people along where we have other people showing up so we have to show up.
The greatest example of this that I love,
Seth Godin always talks about this,
Is Saturday Night Live,
The great comedy show.
It doesn't happen because the cast is ready.
It happens because it's Saturday night.
And the show goes on.
And whether you're ready or not,
You go up and you make the best thing.
And that's a practice.
The value in,
I'm not that ready.
I don't know,
But we're doing this thing.
This is what I've committed to.
And so I'm going to show up because I've made a commitment.
I've made a practice.
And that is how we prepare.
So many good things have happened in my life because of that.
When I first started teaching in a meditation studio,
I had a practice where I had to show up every week and teach a meditation class.
And it was because of that,
That I then recorded those meditations And that became the bedrock of how I started growing on Insight Timer in the early days is just having a practice where I was recording a meditation every week because I was forced to create one based on doing it at the studio.
And so there's this great quote by Cynthia Bergeau,
How you get there is where you arrive.
How you get there is where you arrive.
And what surrendering into a practice does,
It allows us to fall in love with the process.
It allows us to see that the work,
The practice,
That's what's fulfilling.
That's what's fulfilling.
The results come from that.
The more present we are,
The more committed we are,
The more enjoying the process we are,
That's also where we're arriving is because even when the thing happens,
We have to come back to continuing to do,
To show up for whatever our practice is.
This is.
And Seth Godin has a great book called The Practice where some of these ideas come from.
And he has a line that he says,
Commitment to the process is an alternative to getting picked by the universe.
And so I'm a big believer in God's timing and trusting God's timing.
And we have to do our part and we have to choose ourselves that the universe is not gonna pick us.
And so the alternative to waiting to get picked is to commit to our practice,
To commit to our process.
And then the beautiful thing,
As I got to experience during this talk,
Is that when preparation meets opportunity,
Then that's where the magic can happen.
That's where flow can happen.
That's where something otherworldly can come in,
Where maybe we have a moment that is just so deep and powerful and beautiful,
That just reminds us that we're all connected,
That reminds us of the great creative spirit in this world.
And so in this practice,
I might have you explore maybe times when you already accessed some of that magic in your work,
In your life,
And yeah,
Hope to explore and cultivate and just see where,
What practice are you needing to commit to right now?
And of course it should be said,
Meditation as a practice,
Showing up for our cushion,
Not seeking some sort of blissful or transcendent state,
Being unattached to that.
But when we show up,
We keep showing up that we might,
We might have moments of magic,
But have moments of,
Of openness and spaciousness and vastness and oh my goodness,
Beautiful,
Beautiful moments that can happen from committing to our practice.
But again,
It's not about those moments.
It's about the practice.
All right,
So speaking of meditation,
Go ahead,
Close your eyes,
Come into your body.
Come into your chair,
Your cushion.
And welcome yourself to your practice.
Take a few breaths into your belly.
And right away can you sense the enoughness?
Being in practice.
That each exhale,
Each moment,
Each muscle you relax.
Each time you come back to your breath.
How you get there is where you arrive,
That you're already here.
And this is all there is.
So as you continue to slow down,
Connect with a moment where you got to experience the fruits of a practice.
Maybe it was an experience in meditation.
Maybe it was a work opportunity that you got from your diligence and commitment to a craft.
Maybe you're a musician and there was a time that you were jamming with friends or on stage with a band and there was this magic that was happening.
There was this attunement to each other that was otherworldly.
So feel into a moment that you may have had in your life where some of that energy was there.
A creative flow.
Something that I didn't mention in the talk was how these moments often happen when we practice enough,
We also practice going a little bit more to our edge,
Getting a little bit more uncomfortable,
Trying out new things,
Taking risks,
That that's actually a part of the growth.
And why showing up and doing new things,
You can take the analogy of weightlifting,
And when you start,
You're not gonna be able to lift a lot,
But you show up to a practice to lifting,
And you'll see that you can put on more weight,
You stretch yourself,
You stretch your muscles and the same thing happens whether you're a pianist trying out more elaborate compositions.
Or whether,
Like me,
A speaker,
Being on bigger stages.
And what might that be for you?
That stretching.
And so just connecting to that,
That we are always trying to find that edge and not go too far,
But just expand that zone a little bit more.
That's how we grow.
But again,
It comes back to committing to our process.
And so let's take a breath in together.
And letting that go.
We're going to do a little bit of a visualization.
So imagine that you see a structure that represents your practice.
So you might see like a dojo or a church,
A temple,
A yurt.
You might be in a forest or desert or your backyard.
It doesn't matter.
Just notice seeing a structure that represents your practice.
And ideally,
Your practice is sacred.
It's sacred,
It's done for its own sake,
Just like a meditation practice.
We show up,
We sit,
We surrender the fruits,
We let go of the outcomes and just focus on the practice.
And so whatever you see,
Go ahead and walk into the building.
And sit in a meditation cushion or a chair,
Whatever you might be sitting in right now,
Just imagine that it's in the center of this building.
And just taking in how it feels to sit.
In the center of your practice and what is on the walls?
What do you see?
What is this representing?
You might have a very clear idea what this room is and you might be curious.
And so as you sit,
Asking yourself a few questions.
First is,
What is it that you want to commit to?
Or maybe it's recommit to.
What's worth doing for its own sake.
What is your practice right now at this point in your life?
Maybe it's writing a weekly newsletter.
Maybe it's committing to your meditation practice.
Maybe it's not having your phone when you're with your children.
What is something that you can show up for on a daily or weekly basis?
Maybe it's learning an instrument.
And you might sense that there's multiple practices that we could be engaged in in our life.
And start to really see that your practice represented in this room.
If you're like me and you have a practice of recording guided meditations,
Maybe you see a recording studio.
Or your writing corner,
If writing is your practice.
And just see what is in this room.
And as you notice it,
Can you really.
.
.
With your breath,
With your energy,
Bless this room,
Or ask for blessedness,
Ask for guidance,
Ask for Great Spirit God to be in this room with you,
To support your practice,
Where this is a devotion,
Where you're actually devoting yourself to something greater.
Those are the deepest and often the most long-standing practices.
In devotion.
So feel that.
Sacredness if it's here.
And I believe that God is preparing us for opportunities that we can't see yet.
And it's by our commitment,
Us showing up.
Paying attention.
Letting go.
That we put ourselves in the field of preparation.
And so one more time,
Honoring this room,
Honoring your practice.
And then go ahead and get up from your chair,
Your cushion,
And you're gonna walk to the other side of the building where there's another door.
And just standing before that door.
And outside this door represents you going to your edge.
What would it mean to show up for your practice in a way that stretches you?
In ways that put you at your edge.
Maybe that's being more visible,
Making a public commitment,
Trying something completely new,
Taking a risk.
Feel into what that is,
Because that's what's on the other side of this door.
And when you're ready,
You can open the door,
See that edge,
See what that looks like.
And then take a breath.
And then go ahead and step out.
Leaning into your edge and let your nervous system feel what it's like to be at your edge.
And as you breathe,
As you regulate,
What we're telling our nervous system is that it's safe here.
It's we can be a little uncomfortable and we can find our center.
And that's training our bodies to find comfort and more comfort in what it once was uncomfortable in.
So yeah,
Walk out,
Walk out,
Be in your edge,
Feel what that's like.
And then taking one final breath in.
Letting it go.
And opening your eyes.
And I'd love to hear what is your practice.
Feel free to share it in the comments.
And I mentioned this as we went through,
I said these words of showing up,
Paying attention and letting go.
There's one other word that I didn't share,
But tell the truth,
Show up,
Pay attention,
Tell the truth,
Let go.
These are the four rules for life as shared by Angelus Arrien's book,
The Fourfold Way.
And I share that because if you need help staying committed to your practice and just a lot of the essence of what we share today,
I have a course called The Four Rules for Life.
It's a short five-day course where we explore each of those rules to help you stay in your journey,
To stay committed to showing up,
And to learn how to go through your days with more beauty and more openness and more trust.
So,
If that resonates with you,
Go ahead,
Check out that course,
The Four Rules for Life,
And I look forward to practicing with you again soon.
Take care.
