Welcome.
Today,
We're practicing the ancient and sacred art of throwing your hands up in the air and letting things go.
This is your permission slip.
To laugh,
Move,
And let go,
Because sometimes freedom begins when we stop trying so hard.
Inner peace and inner freedom neither can be forced.
It's more of a softening,
Releasing,
And loosening the grip on ourselves,
And making a space for lightness.
Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is to laugh at how hard we've been trying.
So here are today's questions.
Can you stop trying to control everything?
Can you be okay with not judging everything?
Can you be okay with not judging yourself?
Can you be okay with not criticizing yourself?
Actually,
Let's sit with that one.
Can you stop criticizing yourself?
Can we stop criticizing ourselves?
I'm still recovering from years of non-stop self-criticism,
So let's do this together.
Sometimes you just need to throw your hands up and say,
Today I'm going to be a comic,
A comedian about everything.
I'm going to be Shakespeare's fool.
I'm going to look totally ridiculous to myself,
To others,
And I'm okay with that.
Okay,
So can we do this together?
You might feel totally silly doing this,
And that's okay.
It's just you and I right now.
We're training.
We're just going to take our arms up,
And you can say it with me.
You can just feel it.
Just be open to it.
Just hear it.
Today I'm going to be a comic,
A comedian about everything.
I'm going to be Shakespeare's fool.
I'm going to look totally ridiculous to myself,
To others,
And I'm okay with that.
Today I'm going to be a comic,
A comedian about everything.
I'm going to be Shakespeare's fool.
I'm going to look totally ridiculous to myself,
To others,
And I'm okay with that.
I know it started to sound like I was a little drunk,
But I really wanted to get loose and feel it.
So you can release the arms down if you want,
Or you can keep them up.
Now,
Some call that silly.
It is silly.
Some call it immature.
It is immature,
But today we're also going to call it freedom.
So let's begin.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Again,
Inhaling deeply.
This time,
Shrug your shoulders way up.
Exhale and drop them down with a satisfying thud.
And just for a moment,
Give yourself permission to not take any of this or even me too seriously.
Take any movement that feels good right now.
Loosen up,
Maybe shake your arms,
Shake your legs,
Maybe move the head side to side or drop it down,
And just release any tension that you're holding onto.
And with the head neutral again,
Draw a slow,
Steady breath in through the nose and exhale in short little bursts through the mouth like this.
So we'll do that a few more times.
And you can continue that sound as a as you exhale,
Or it might turn into a little bit of a laugh.
So breathing in.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Letting there be a gentle breath between each short burst exhale laugh.
Really feel that inhalation that follows that exhale,
That total emptying of the lungs,
That maybe laugh that comes out.
Just feel that inhale that responds to that exhale.
Maybe take another round or two.
Make sure that you're filling the lungs completely on the inhale,
Emptying them completely in those short little bursts on the exhale,
And taking time in between both that breath and the next burst breath to feel what happens to the breath naturally.
And then we'll just let the breath relax.
Just let the breath be natural.
Feel the effects of those breaths.
Now make small circles with the head,
Gently rolling it around the top of the spine two or more times in one direction.
Very small circles.
And then the other.
Lovely.
Now let's get weird.
Take short little inhales through the nose,
Like tiny sips of air.
And then let out a big ridiculous sigh through the mouth.
Make it weird,
Really weird.
Ah.
Again,
Tiny inhales.
And a dramatic,
Unnecessary,
Maybe slightly embarrassing sigh.
One more time.
See if you can make it so weird you make yourself laugh.
Okay,
How about one more time?
Ah,
This is it.
This is lovely.
You just activated the sacred,
It's okay either way,
Energy field.
Congratulations.
Okay,
Before we go any further,
Let's take a moment to welcome the spirit of the fool.
Not the foolishness of thoughtlessness,
But the deep wisdom that lives inside that sense of being light,
Not taking everything so seriously.
But the thing about it is,
It goes further than that.
Shakespeare's fool,
After all,
Could speak truths that no one else dared to say.
By playing,
Laughing,
And appearing a little silly,
The fool opened doors to real insight.
There's a freedom that comes when we stop worrying about how we look,
How others will perceive us,
When we allow ourselves to stumble,
To laugh at ourselves,
And to just be.
In that space,
Without pretense,
Something true can finally shine through.
So,
As we move forward,
Remember,
A little bit of silliness is not a weakness.
It's a kind of secret strength.
So,
I'm going to invite you to take your arms up like we did earlier,
Way earlier when we were talking about being a comic,
And we're just gonna let the arms stay up,
Or we're just gonna kind of shake the arms around,
Or maybe kind of shake the hands,
And let yourself really just let go of all the fears of how you'll be perceived by others,
And we'll kind of do some affirmations.
So,
You might say to yourself,
Or hear my voice and feel it,
Today I'm a comic.
Today I'm a comedian about everything.
I am Shakespeare's fool.
I look totally ridiculous.
To myself,
To others,
And I'm okay with that.
Release your arms down,
Take a breath in,
Take a breath out.
I don't know,
I really like this one.
You might think it's a little silly,
But I am a little silly.
I just don't always show it.
So,
This is for me.
This is also for you.
Let's do it again.
Take your arms up.
Today I am a comic.
Today I'm a comedian.
Today I am going to be funny about everything.
I am funny about everything.
Today I'm Shakespeare's fool.
I look totally ridiculous.
To myself,
Maybe to others,
I don't really care.
I'm totally okay with that.
And release your arms.
That is so silly.
That is so ridiculous that I am creating this meditation for you to feel ridiculous and silly.
It is preposterous even.
And I look like a complete fool doing it.
And I am totally okay with that.
Because I do believe from my own experience that when we let go and just forget it and just say,
You know,
It's not just people might see me a certain way that's undesirable.
It's I am actually happy if I look foolish.
I am actually happy if I look totally silly and ridiculous.
There's something in there that actually brings joy to yourself,
To others.
And whether we explain that secret or not,
It doesn't matter right now.
Let's go a little further and soften the eyelids.
Whether your eyes are open or closed,
It's okay either way.
Just soften the eyelids.
Soften the forehead.
The temples.
The ears.
The ears.
Take your awareness inside the ears.
And imagine the sound of laughter.
One voice at first.
Then another joins in.
And another voice laughing.
Three different laughs bubbling and blending together.
We don't know what they're laughing about.
And honestly,
It doesn't matter.
Just hear the laughter weaving in and out.
And then let more and more laughter join.
Growing laughter.
A joyful noise.
Laughter that fills the air.
Genuine laughter.
Free laughter.
Unstoppable laughter.
Some are laughing so hard,
Their cheeks hurt.
Others are laughing so hard,
They're crying.
Tears of pure joy.
Feel that joy.
Let it fill you.
Feel the laughter in every part of your body,
Every cell,
Laughing.
Joyful.
Stay here for a moment longer,
Soaking in the sound and the feeling of joyful release.
Start to come back by bringing your awareness to your temples,
The corners of the eyes,
The corners of the lips.
See them become light and form a smile.
Maybe a smile actually physically forms.
Take a few deep breaths.
And as you carry this feeling into the rest of your day,
Remember the words of Mark Twain,
Against the assault of laughter,
Nothing can stand.
Against the assault of laughter,
Nothing can stand.
Feel the strength of laughter.
You can be the source of laughter.
You can be Shakespeare's fool.
You could be the comic.
You could be the comedian.
You could be the one that doesn't care if it doesn't look so good.
So let your joy be unstoppable.
Let your laughter be your light and your strength.
Spread that laughter.
Spread the light.
Spread the strength.
Empower other people.
Inspire them to also be the fool,
To also be the comedian in the comic,
To also be the one that doesn't care how they look.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
Thank you so much for letting go with me.
Namaste.
