Hello.
Good morning from my home in the Pacific Northwest.
My name is Lew Redmond and I'm really excited to share this practice with you today in your home,
Wherever that might be.
This is a practice to help you start your day relaxed,
Grounded,
And also set up your day to bring forth how you want to show up and give you some tools and anchors that you can take with you throughout your day to come back to when you need to reset.
So let's begin.
And since we get to be on video together here,
We're actually going to begin with some gentle movement and touch.
And so keeping your eyes open,
You're welcome to be standing,
Sitting,
Whatever you're comfortable with.
We're just going to begin with some gentle shoulder rolls,
Starting up to the ear,
Down the back,
And you're welcome to find a steady breath throughout this.
And start to go the other direction.
And letting the shoulder settle,
Notice the impact of some gentle movement.
And now bringing your palms and place one hand on the forehead and the other directly behind it on the back of the head and keep your eyes open or close them if you'd like.
And feel as if you're offering a gentle,
Loving contact to your body with your hands.
Moving your hands,
Bringing them back down.
And noticing the impact of that touch.
And again,
Taking your hands,
Bringing them just above your ears,
A little bit in front.
And feeling that loving contact.
And then very slowly removing your hands from your head,
Letting your arms slowly drop down.
Noticing the impact of that.
And then you're going to take one hand,
Doesn't matter right or left,
And place it to the opposite side of your neck.
And feeling the warmth of your hand as you breathe.
And then slowly lifting your hand,
Bringing it back down,
Noticing how the sides might feel different.
And then taking the other hand and bringing it to the opposite side of your neck.
And then slowly,
Gently bringing it off.
And you can let everything settle.
Notice the impact of that movement and that touch.
And then we're going to move into our meditation.
So closing the eyes if that's comfortable,
Finding the seat that you want to be in,
Letting everything slow down.
And right away,
Bringing awareness into your body,
Noticing any area in your body that you might be feeling tension or tightness.
And you're welcome to bring a few breaths into this area,
Imagining everything relaxing.
You also might notice what happens if you bring your shoulders down,
Sometimes you don't even realize the tightness that we're holding in our shoulders,
Even though we just brought some movement into them.
You might relax your belly.
And if you'd like,
You can bring that gentle,
Loving contact to a different area of your body that maybe could use a little bit more care to settle and relax.
Really letting your weight move down into the earth,
While at the same time keeping an alert,
Open posture.
And then to help the body relax even more,
Let's take a conscious breath in through your nose,
Filling up the belly,
The ribs,
The chest,
Holding the breath at the top.
And then slow sigh the breath out.
Let's do that one more time fully in belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Holding at the top.
And sigh,
Slow,
Long breath out.
And then let your breath be natural.
As we continue to ground,
Invitation to bring your awareness down into your feet.
And see if you can bring gratitude to all that your feet both help you get through your day and all that it carries,
That it literally carries and holds you,
And it is your connecting point to the earth,
To the ground.
And if for whatever reason you aren't able to use your feet,
Maybe you have a disability or maybe an injury,
Invitation here is to bring gratitude to whatever gets you through your day,
However you are able to move,
And that might even be someone else helping you.
Our feet can be sources of strength and a reminder of our ability to find groundedness with whatever life is throwing our way.
And so invitation here to bring up something that is bothering you or that you're challenged by in your life.
It could be an emotional pain that you're going through,
Or it could be just something that you're frustrated about.
Doesn't have to be profound.
Whatever comes into your awareness,
Just notice how that experience lands in your body.
If you can breathe and be with it for a moment.
And then notice what happens if you imagine that you bring that challenge and breathe it down into your feet,
Almost as if you're giving it to your feet and giving it to the ground,
Knowing that it can hold it for you.
And you both might feel like it's holding it,
But it's also a way for you to,
When you're going through something challenging,
Remember to breathe into your feet.
Find your groundedness and centeredness.
Notice how that changes the relationship or feeling tone of what you might be going through.
And as you go through your day,
Let this be a reminder when things maybe don't go your way or you have something that frustrates you to breathe into your feet,
To give it your feet,
To remember your connection to the earth and to come back to a grounded center.
And then letting that go for now.
And this last portion of setting up our day is about how we want to show up.
One of my favorite teachers,
Richard Rohr,
Was asked,
What is it that makes a good life?
And I loved the word that he used to describe it.
He said,
A good life is generative,
Meaning that it leaves places better off.
It leaves people better off than they found them.
It has a quality and energy that when someone walks into a room,
That there's a ripple,
There's an impact that spreads out into the world.
So the generative life starts with a generative day.
And so the invitation for you today is to connect with what is it that you want to generate in your day.
And a simple way to do that is to connect with some quality or energy.
Maybe it's love,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Care.
Bringing your awareness to your heart and feeling into what is it that you want to generate today.
And as you connect with that energy,
Imagine that it's growing,
It's coming outside of your body,
Your whole body,
Almost as if you were to walk next to someone,
They would feel this energy.
It would be in your field.
So take a few moments to breathe and really cultivate and generate this quality from within.
And then let's take one final breath together.
And letting that go.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and open your eyes.
Come back to your morning.
Thank you for practicing with me.
I hope that you take with you the intention today that if things get challenging,
Remember to breathe,
Come back into your feet,
Feel your groundedness,
Let that anchor you back during all the things that might happen today.
And also to think of,
That's a way to respond,
But how do we then show up in our day?
And that's to stay connected to your heart.
Maybe use both of those together.
Ground into your feet,
Connect to your heart.
What am I generating before I walk into this room?
What am I generating before I talk to this person?
To know that your energy,
That it has impact wherever you show up.
And so being a bit more conscious of how you show up and leaving wherever you go better than you found it.
So thank you so much.
I hope we practice again soon.
Deep bows to you and have a great day.
