On this episode of stillness,
I invite you to meet yourself where you are.
Have a seat or lie down.
Get comfortable.
And once you've lied down or once you've found your seat,
See if there's something you can do to be a little bit more comfortable.
Move around,
Squirm.
Do whatever you need to do to settle in,
To be as comfortable and not distracted as you can be.
Take a big breath in.
Take a big exhale.
Take another big breath in and breathe in to connect your mind and your body.
And exhale,
Let it go.
Take another big breath in,
Breathe in,
And when you exhale,
Release the weight of your body into whatever is supporting you.
Just let go.
Notice the weight of your feet,
Of your heels.
Notice the backs of your legs,
The back of your knees.
Let your legs be heavy,
Let your hip bones be heavy.
Relax your fingertips and the weight of your palms.
Relax your elbows,
Your shoulders,
And even move your ribs back into your shoulder blades.
Relax your sternum,
Your breastbone.
Maybe even allow the muscles to relax around your breastbone so that it's a little bit easier to breathe.
Relax your belly,
The back of your belly,
Your kidneys,
Your low back.
Now bring your awareness to your head.
Find the hinge of your jaw and relax that.
Follow that relaxation to your gums and your teeth and your tongue.
Even relax the back of your throat.
Relax the spaces around your eyes and your nostrils.
Soften your eyelids.
Notice how choosing to soften your eyelids might even soften the space between your brow.
Relax your hairline.
And then all the little hairs on your head.
And then bring your awareness back to your breath.
Pull your breath in slowly,
Delicately.
And exhale your breath.
As you pull your breath in,
Find the spaces in your body where you may still be holding on to tension.
Where you may still be clinging or clenching.
Ask them to release.
Ask those muscles to let go.
Ask those little bits of pieces of you that you might be holding on to for a sense of control to let go.
Maybe even imagine those spaces spreading out like water,
Relaxing,
Melting open,
Melting into relaxation.
You might be on a journey or in a discipline for self-improvement or self-realization.
And those spaces that we clench,
That we hold on to tension,
That we grip,
Those can sometimes be spaces where we're holding on to things that may have hurt us in the past or scared us.
So just ask them to relax.
Ask those bits and pieces,
Those tiny or huge areas,
For just a moment to relax and let go.
Remind yourself that you have chosen to be still.
You have chosen to sit in a place that is likely pretty safe,
If not very safe.
And play with the idea of being tender in those spaces as if they could open up and begin to heal.
If you are on a journey,
A spiritual journey,
A journey to yourself,
To self-realization or a journey to healing,
It's not something that we are able to force.
We just can't force it.
You cannot force a wound to heal just like you can't force a blossom to open fully and completely.
If you tried to open up a blossom,
A bloom,
Manually with your hands,
You would only rip the petals or tear the petals.
It takes time.
And different flowers open at different rates,
Different speeds.
They date different grades of sunshine,
Water,
Different types of earth,
Just as we do.
We are all so unique.
Every single one of us is individual of each other in our uniqueness.
We all need different things.
We need different teachings.
We need different methods of healing.
We are not comparable to one another.
And just as though we cannot force a bloom to open,
Again,
We cannot force ourselves into realization,
Into healing.
But what we can do,
What you can do,
Is you can take care of the soil from which you grow.
You can water it as you need.
You can give it nutrients as you need.
You can work it,
Strengthen it,
Enrich it.
You can do the work in improving the dirt so that your flower,
You,
Open in the best way that you can,
In the best speed that you can,
In the greatest capacity that you have.
Allowing isn't usually easy.
Allowing yourself to be not okay isn't usually easy.
Allowing yourself to be as you are,
Where you are,
And still working on the soil of your growth isn't usually easy.
But it works.
It works.
And if you do the work,
You sit with yourself and you ask yourself,
What do I need?
And you listen.
You will be taking a step in the right direction.
You will be doing the work.
So right now,
As you sit or lie in the space you have created,
As you have the awareness in your breath,
Notice your fingertips again.
Notice the tingle or the hum in your palms and fingertips.
Maybe even notice the beating of your heart.
Find your pulse somewhere in your body,
In your chest,
In your ears.
And as if everything in the universe could respond,
Ask,
What do I need?
What do I need?
What do I need?
And then listen.
Listen.
Here.
Here,
The very center of who you are.
Answer.
What do I need?
The answer might come to you in visual representation,
Or as if you were answering your own question,
Or an inspiration.
But if you ask and you listen,
You will hear.
And you can keep working on that soil.
Keep enriching your body,
Your life,
To reach for that full bloom,
That full expression of who you are,
Your authentic self.
Let it be okay.
Let it can take time.
Thank you.
Namaste.
Thank you.
