Welcome.
Today's podcast is to help us remember and feel a hope for the future.
So please find a comfortable seat,
Whether you're on a chair,
On the ground,
Or even laying down.
Make sure you feel your spine straight,
Strong,
At attention,
Without tension in it.
You might choose to close your eyes,
Or you can of course keep your eyes open with a soft gaze.
Let's begin with a nice deep inhale through the nose.
Long exhale through the mouth.
Full inhale through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
Inhale through the nose.
Last exhale through the mouth.
And then begin to breathe in and out through the nose.
See if you can feel the same length to the breath when breathing in and out through the nose,
Just as you did when you were breathing out through the mouth.
Teachers talk about this feeling like you're being breathed,
Rather than you actively breathing.
Perhaps you feel this breath connected to the entire body.
When you're being breathed,
You don't have to push or try to breathe,
You just notice how each breath comes one after the other.
Maybe there's not even a pause between the inhale and the exhale,
You just keep flowing in to out to in.
Notice the future flowing towards us just like our inhales and exhales.
After we exhale,
We don't have to ask what's going to come next,
We know that an inhale will start again.
In the same way,
Let the future evenly,
Steadily,
With ease flow to you one moment at a time.
And perhaps there's some trepidation,
Some fear of what is going to come.
You don't know what the future will bring,
Or we don't trust that it will be positive.
But as you breathe here,
As each inhale follows each exhale,
Follows each inhale,
Can you find within the rhythm,
A little one layer deeper than this rhythm,
A sense of hope?
Maybe it's just this little feeling or sensation of sweetness or ease,
The tiniest smile.
Notice where you see that and feel that sweetness in the body.
And if at any point you feel or find yourself rejecting the sweetness,
Rejecting the thought that it can be positive,
Just allow that fear to drift off with the next exhale.
Stay connected,
Noticing the sweetness on the inside,
Right below this layer of inhale flowing to exhale,
Flowing to inhale.
The future flowing to you one moment at a time.
Amy said,
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival,
A joy,
A depression,
A meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all.
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
Still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought,
The shame,
The malice,
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
If we don't fear whatever will come,
Then we can stay connected to the sweetness of hope.
To allow the future to come slowly,
Steadily with ease one moment at a time,
Just as our breath comes.
Inhale after exhale after inhale.
Welcoming each inhale and each exhale equally.
Each future moment equally.
As we close,
Let a smile,
Just the smallest smile come to your lips or maybe even just the sensation of smiling in the face.
A greeting,
A welcoming of whatever is to come next.
As you are ready,
You can slowly open your eyes,
Stretch your fingers,
Return back to the room to feel and notice the space around you.
And be ready to go on with your day,
With your future.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
The light in me very humbly bows that same light in each one of you.
Namaste.
