This is a meditation.
To get the most from it,
It's best to listen when you won't be disturbed,
When you can give all of your attention to the messages,
When you can completely relax.
So before we get into the depths of the subject of letting go,
Let's start by focusing on the breath,
The gentle in and out that happens all by itself,
A physical thing which is controlled by your unconscious and every now and then you can override the automation and take in a long purposeful breath,
Feeling the air entering your body through the nostril drawn in as those lungs expand,
Taking the air into the very ends of the lung where the magical gaseous exchange happens as your beautiful body extracts the life-giving oxygen and sends it round your body and on the out-breath releasing all the things you don't need and we've discovered that consciously breathing,
Breathing in a long and steady breath like this,
Aware of the physicality of breathing,
Focusing on breathing to the exclusion of everything else is a very quick way to calm an anxious mind and when you make it a daily practice to consciously,
Mindfully breathe long steady breaths,
You can begin to feel differently,
To think differently,
To behave differently.
So take a moment to enjoy a couple of calming breaths now,
Knowing that with each breath you will become more and more relaxed and when you are more relaxed you can be more receptive to helpful ideas.
There was a woman sitting on a bench in a park blowing bubbles.
When I say woman I want you to be able to imagine her.
She was late 50s in age,
Long dark hair flecked with grey,
Loosely tied in a ponytail.
She wore dark jeans and a red sweat top with the letters N-O-W on the front.
Now she had a small leather satchel next to her and she was blowing bubbles.
A little tube of bubbles with one of those wands with a hoop on the end.
Sometimes as she blew slowly a large bubble would appear.
Other times with faster blows a whole trail of smaller bubbles would be emitted and float on the currents.
But the thing about this scene was the pure joy in her face.
No self-consciousness,
No hesitation,
Just joy of a woman in her 50s and the passers-by,
The other park users.
They too seemed joyful just watching her.
They stopped and watched as the glinting bubbles floated and danced.
The little kids were even less self-conscious than the woman and they would run after the bubbles and try and catch them.
Then giggle uncontrollably when the bubble burst.
I tried to remember when I last blew bubbles like that.
Many,
Many years ago.
But the sight of this lovely woman filled with such happiness took me straight back to a happy childhood time.
I later discovered that the woman was often seen in the park with her bubbles and would happily explain her behavior to anyone who was interested.
Not surprisingly it was the little ones who wanted to know why she was there.
She'd tell them that she used to feel sad about things and blowing bubbles made her feel better.
Children being children always have a follow-up question and it's usually why?
Why?
And the woman would explain that it's fun to blow bubbles for sure and it's also fun to think of a thing that makes you sad and blow it into a bubble and then allow that sadness to drift away and burst.
Or sometimes,
Said the woman,
If I have a headache I imagine the headache swirling in my head and I blow it into a bubble and watch it bobble along and burst.
Or if someone has hurt me and I feel bad I can blow my bad feelings into the bubble and imagine it drifting away and you can feel so much happier.
And when people heard about this they'd try it for themselves.
So instead of lying awake at night thinking about a problem or a person or an ache,
Imagine what it will feel like to get a little tube of dishwashing soap and a little hoop and just blow some bubbles.
And you don't even have to do it for real,
Though that is so much more fun.
You can vividly imagine that person or the hurtful thing someone has said or anything else that takes up an inordinate amount of your thinking space and blow it into a bubble.
Remember slow and steady for a big bubble,
Or a little faster for a series of smaller bubbles.
And know that as they float into the air they can leave your life forever as they burst in the air.
Vividly create this in your mind's eye now.
See what you see and hear what you'll hear.
Smelling the soapy cleanness.
Taking a long breath dip the little hoop in the liquid soap.
See the colorful film rainbowing across the hoop and blow.
Remembering to fill your breath with a thing you no longer choose to have in your life.
Hearing your out-breath.
Seeing the bubble grow until the physics of surface tension creates that bubble and it floats off glinting,
Rising on the wind.
Imagining the problem leaving you forever and feel your face breaking into a smile.
And as you feel that good feeling remind yourself to try this for real.
When you come back to a waking state in three,
Two,
One.
