Hello,
Good morning.
My name is Lou Redmond.
Welcome to my home in the Pacific Northwest.
As a born and raised Jersey boy,
There wasn't a lot of talk of the power of meeting your day with the morning light.
I was fortunate,
I actually grew up right outside New York City,
So you could see the sunrise coming over the skyline of Manhattan,
Which is its own kind of beauty.
But out here,
There's much more nature and I'm fortunate to be in a men's group where one of the men organizes a weekly hike to meet the sunrise.
And so we all get together really early,
We hike up this butte and we get to the top and we take in the sunrise together.
And what I love about sunrise is that you have to work for it.
Different than a sunset,
Often everyone gets the sunset,
There's not effort.
Either there's not effort in waking up earlier than we normally would,
Or effort in getting to the top of something to witness the light coming in.
And we just went on one of these hikes recently and I thought I'd bring this into our meditation for this morning to give you a sense of connecting with the morning light as a guide for your day,
As a guide for your life without the effort of having to wake up early or go on a hike.
So this meditation really is to help you work through,
To find strength in change and learn to follow your own light,
Whatever that might be for you.
And so let's get into our practice.
And what I love about getting to connect here on video is really tuning into our posture.
So let's,
Before we close our eyes and get into it,
You're welcome to find where your posture sits straight.
And a way that I want to invite you to do that is whether you are sitting on a chair,
Whether you're cross-legged like me,
Is start to sway.
So swaying your body left and right.
And then start to do a little bit less movement,
Still moving left and right.
And see if you can find where is center.
So you're not left,
You're not right,
Where is center?
And then you're going to do that also front and back.
So the same thing,
Moving front,
Moving backwards,
Exaggerated at first.
And then maybe a little less movement front and back,
Finding where is center.
And so in a meditation posture,
We want to feel like gravity is doing all the work,
That we are completely aligned,
Where we're not efforting.
Because if we were a little right,
Our left side has to effort to keep us up.
For a little front,
Our back has to effort.
And so finding where our center is allows gravity,
Allows our posture to feel effortless.
And this could take time,
And you could have different injuries or things happening in your body that make this a little bit difficult.
But I find sometimes when I'm trying to really drop into a practice,
A little bit of movement right and left,
Front and back,
Helps me find that center point.
So hopefully you're there,
And you're welcome now to close your eyes.
And start to tune in to your breath,
Letting everything relax,
Really letting your legs get heavy.
Now that we found that center posture,
It can do all the work.
So releasing any tension that you're holding.
And greeting this day with a few deep breaths and some sighs.
So really getting some energy out from the stale energy of the last night.
And so taking a deep breath in.
And give a sound,
Maybe an ah.
Again,
Breath in.
And then let your breath be natural.
And we're really going to work with the nature metaphor today.
And so the invitation is to imagine that your body was a mountain,
Or is a mountain.
And starting to feel the solidity of your base connected to the ground,
Whether that's your feet,
Your legs.
And just as if you were a mountain outside,
Just before sunlight.
Imagine that as you breathe,
You're taking in the cool mountain air.
And start to feel what you're able to notice as you connect with your body as a mountain.
What shifts?
Do you feel that sense of strength or groundedness?
And maybe you notice in your body,
Do you feel the texture of the ground?
The mountain?
Maybe there's a smoothness.
Maybe there's a kind of a crag.
Or do you notice some trees on your mountain?
This feeling what might be happening in your body metaphorically.
And what's beautiful about nature is its perfection in its imperfection.
And so no mountain,
No tree is the same.
If you look up close,
There's probably a bunch of missing bark,
Or things that maybe just seem a little bit ruffled.
And we see it as all beautiful.
And dare I say that you too are perfect in your imperfection.
And so as you ground into this mountain,
As this mountain,
As you feel your body,
Can you accept,
Use this moment to really find full acceptance of all your imperfections?
And if you can,
Go in a layer deeper,
Breathing in and feeling that actually,
Whoa,
I'm perfect in my imperfection.
And if you notice a judgment that comes from that,
Imagine it like a through hiker on the mountain.
Just passing by.
You see them,
You wave.
You wish them a good hike.
There's no animosity.
There's actually the opposite.
There's care,
There's connection.
And so just noticing any judgments here,
Anywhere your mind might be going.
And saying,
Yeah,
I welcome you.
I see you.
Enjoy your hike.
We'll see you later.
And coming back and just being the strength and the steadiness of this mountain.
And then as this strong mountain starts to see in the distance,
The dawn,
The light starting to gently come.
Again,
Feel the sense of the air.
And notice what you're looking out at.
Are you looking out at a vast sea of nature?
Or maybe you are on a mountain outside of a big city looking over the skyline to the east.
And allow yourself to take in as the light starts to come.
And what I always find fascinating,
To remind myself that it's not the sun that is rising,
That actually we are moving.
This earth is rotating.
But we are in this ever-changing energy,
This ever-moving energy.
The sun is just staying exactly where it's been for eons.
And so we don't actually realize how comfortable we are with change inherently.
And just even the essence of our world that is constantly rotating and shifting and going through cycles and patterns and experiencing new growth.
And so I share this as a way for you to reflect and to maybe bring in a place in your life that you are going through change.
And using this energy of the mountain to feel strong,
To feel stable amidst whatever you might be going through.
Breathe down into the earth.
That you were born to move through change.
And that it is as natural as the sunrise.
And so see if there's any resistances to the change that you might be going through.
Welcoming them and finding strength as the mountain.
And to help you embrace this change.
And start to notice the sunrise going a little higher.
Now you can really start to see the sun.
And connecting with its light.
Maybe as the light comes up,
It actually starts to warm the cool air,
Feeling the rays on your face on the side of the mountain.
Enjoying its glow.
And what this light is also representing is your light.
Both the inner light that guides you and the outer light that supports you.
And so taking in this connect where is your inner light in your body?
And the deepest,
Wisest part of you that always knows where your path is meant to go.
How change is actually for you,
For your highest good.
Connect with that light.
And as the sun rises,
Let it reflect into that light and let that inner light grow even brighter.
And if you'd like,
Maybe asking this light a question about how you're meant to navigate this change.
And there might be an answer and there might not be.
But just know that whatever happens,
Again,
This light is for you.
We'll be here to guide you and support you.
And to remind you that change,
That darkness is a natural part of the cycle and the patterns of our life.
Really staying connected to this light,
Reminding yourself to come back here today,
Maybe when you need.
Notice the sun start to get fully up,
Really taking in this expanse for one last moment.
Whatever you see,
How it connects into your body,
Still being this strong mountain.
And then take one last full breath together.
And letting it go.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead,
Open your eyes and come back here to this morning.
Thank you so much for going along this little,
Well,
I guess it wasn't a hike,
But we got to be on the mountain.
We got to be the mountain anyway.
So thank you so much for practicing with me.
I encourage you today,
If you need to find that strength,
Reconnect with that feeling of what it's like to be the mountain in your body.
And then also to notice what decisions that you've made.
How you can navigate whatever change that you might be going through from that inner light within,
Knowing that whatever decision you make,
That inner light is always going to redirect us,
That we can't actually get it wrong.
So thank you so much again for being here.
And I look forward to practicing with you again soon.
Take care.
