Welcome to today's practice,
Which is all about surrender.
Experiencing surrender has completely changed my world as it has created space for me to feel contentment,
Something I was searching for most of my life.
You might think surrender has to do with giving up,
Quitting or failing something.
But that's actually not what it's about.
In the words of David Hawkins,
Surrender is about releasing the inner resistance to what is.
It's about no longer fighting something within or outside of you.
Because it doesn't serve you anymore.
It's about letting go of beliefs,
Memories,
Attachments,
Control and emotions that are causing you harm.
Through the act of surrender,
We make more room for flow,
Something that all of us here truly want to experience.
I invite you to clench your hand into a fist as tight as you can.
Notice how challenging that is,
Especially after a few seconds,
To keep the grip so tight.
Notice how all your attention moves to your hand.
You can't think about the things that you love or do much else while clenching your fists.
Keep clenching tighter and tighter.
And now release the grip and open your hand.
Sweet Relief,
Right?
It feels so much more natural to have the palm open like this.
You can go about your day,
Do things that you want to do and not have to worry about holding on so tightly.
Surrender is just like this.
When we grip onto something that no longer serves us,
It often takes our entire focus.
It gets in the way of our day,
Or the things that we truly want to do,
Or who we want to be.
But surrender,
As a practice,
Isn't as easy as just opening your hand.
Otherwise,
We'd all be doing it right.
So today,
Let's experience surrender together.
If at any point in this practice you start to feel overwhelmed or like it's too much,
Stop the audio,
Open your eyes and take in the room around you.
Come back to deepening your breath and bring your awareness to the present moment.
Noticing what you can see,
Hear and feel.
You can come back to this practice another day.
Okay,
Let's begin.
Start by making sure that your body is feeling really comfortable and completely supported.
Allow your jaw to unclench,
Your tongue to be soft and relaxed.
And close down your eyes.
Intentionally lengthen and slow your breath,
Especially the exhale.
If it feels right for you,
You can inhale through the nose and exhale out of the mouth.
Take a few deep breaths like this,
Allowing your body to soften and relax on every exhale.
I invite you now to think about an emotion or a situation that you want to release.
Something that is holding you back and gets in the way of you being your full self.
Pick something that isn't too intense or painful for your first time doing this.
If it's a situation or memory,
Start to think about it and replay it in your mind.
As you do,
Notice the strongest emotion that comes up with it.
See if you can name that emotion.
It's okay if you can't label it.
Just try to feel it as though it's happening right now.
Notice where the emotion is located in the body.
Notice what it feels like,
Where it starts and where it ends.
If your mind wanders,
Bring it back to the emotion and the sensation.
It's important that you don't try to justify the feeling,
Change it,
Or think about it in any way.
We want to experience fully feeling it and allowing it to just be.
The more you allow,
The more it may grow at first.
Then at some point it will start to subside and dissolve.
I'm going to leave you in silence for a few minutes,
Feeling and allowing this emotion.
You need more time.
Pause this audio and keep going.
Remember to let go of thoughts and simply allow yourself to feel and surrender the emotion.
If you find this difficult,
You can also ask yourself,
Could I let this go?
Stay with it.
Taking a slow,
Deep breath in.
And a big sigh out.
Letting go of that experience and coming back to the here and now.
How was that practice for you?
Were you able to surrender?
Whatever happened for you is perfect.
No need to judge it or question whether it was right.
Scanning the body and noticing how it feels.
Feel the weight of your body being held by the surface beneath you Notice if anything has shifted either within your body or your mind Take three slow breaths in your own time.
And at some point today,
You might like to come back to the thought,
Situation or memory that was causing you discomfort and see if the emotion associated with it still shows up.
If it doesn't,
Perhaps you fully surrendered it today.
Starting to bring some gentle movement back into your fingers and toes shaking your head from side to side And before we finish,
You might like to set the intention for today,
I allow myself to let go.
You can repeat this silently to yourself throughout your day.
And now you can blink your eyes open.
