Hey everyone,
My name is Spencer and I was going to record a meditation out here because this is a beautiful area.
However,
Storm clouds are quickly approaching,
So instead I just wanted to do a really short message about life and storms,
The storms of life.
Sometimes things don't go as planned.
I really wanted to come out here and,
You know,
In my mind I had envisioned a really peaceful,
Meditation.
And as I got set up and everything these storm clouds started coming over and I mean,
They're not here yet,
But they're fast approaching.
I'm like,
Okay,
What?
What does this make possible,
As one of my mentors taught.
And instead of doing a longer meditation,
I just wanted to share a quick message that sometimes life brings you things that are unpleasant,
That you don't want,
That you resist,
Difficulties,
Challenges.
All kinds of facts.
And it ranges from minor discomforts to major issues.
And so how can mindfulness,
How does mindfulness meditation support us in walking those paths?
Well,
One thing is curiosity,
You know,
Stepping away from that judge your mind.
Or that uh.
.
.
Negativity bias as we can also call that negativity bias and judge your mind and Just breathe into,
Okay,
What's here right now?
And what is the present moment inviting us to look at,
To consider?
So for me too,
I think it's important to name here that meditation and mindfulness,
It's not always about relaxing and chilling out and being calm and that's all amazing.
And one of the great benefits of meditation and mindfulness is to help bring what I like to call just spaciousness or sometimes it's often called spacious loving awareness.
To your circumstance,
To your inner world and your outer world.
And so here I am.
I'm just going to take a moment to look at the sky.
I think I need to head out just for safety.
I just want to encourage you,
Wherever you are in your journey of learning about meditation and mindfulness,
And if you've been practicing for many years.
You know,
Keep going.
And of course,
There are times when Maybe it's not appropriate to meditate,
Like right now.
It's just not gonna work I can't really fully drop in because I'm you know a little bit nervous about the storm and just I just can't drop in so I'm using this opportunity to pivot and I think that's an important thing.
I've heard some of my students talk about they're in times of transition.
In reinventing themselves.
I heard one person comment that today on one of my courses is they're reinventing themselves.
And really the storms of life invite us.
To,
First of all,
Look within.
And so sometimes,
You know,
If we're so focused on.
.
.
Complaining and that judge your mind of what's happening in our external world,
The challenges.
You know,
Complaining's great,
I guess.
You can make other people miserable.
So if you want to go that way,
Totally fine.
So I'm not saying,
You know,
Don't just.
.
.
Shove it in and pretend everything's just amazing all the time.
Right like it's okay that you're frustrated like i'm kind of annoyed right now that i can't you know just drop in but maybe i'm realizing like this message feels more important to share than a calm nature meditation because I love coming out in nature.
I want to do this more.
Just record in nature,
Meditations,
Because I can drop in a lot deeper than I can inside a house or inside somewhere.
That didn't quite occur today.
But what's coming through really,
And this is actually another thing I want to do,
Is just share messages,
Share insights.
As I'm out in nature,
What's coming through?
What is the land speaking to right now?
I don't know if you notice the river behind me here,
That's a powerful analogy here.
As we have different storms of life and as we're in the flow of life.
Sometimes the river is going fast.
Sometimes it's going way too slow,
You know.
But how do we.
.
.
Guide our boat.
Our kayak.
Now and be in that flow in a way that is non-resistant but intentional at the same time.
Now I think it's not,
This idea about surrender isn't about giving up,
But I think for me it's about.
.
.
Well,
We could go into a lot about surrender,
But I'll just say for now.
In this message that's coming through is learning to pivot,
Learning to be with the different flows,
And see what wants to emerge.
And it may surprise you as you're navigating different challenges,
As we bring that spacious loving awareness to our inner world and what's maybe coming up,
The different emotions and energies that are there that are uncomfortable,
The doubts,
The fears,
The complaining,
All of that,
The anger,
Maybe even the grief.
Frustration,
All of that,
Right?
And then as we're tending to that,
Then what's under the surface there?
Like for me,
For example,
Today,
Just a real time share is that I am frustrated because I actually,
I got to the spot and I thought,
Wow,
This is a great spot.
I'd love to just to drop into a deeper meditation.
But I just didn't feel like I could,
And it just didn't feel like the right thing to do.
Uh.
.
.
And I decided just to talk and just to share a little message here about pivoting and about navigating the challenges of life.
So I think I'm about to head out because I think it's going to start raining soon.
And so I'm just going to close it up.
And so sometimes when that rain comes,
Sometimes you do,
You get back in your car and.
.
.
Go back home and you rest.
So there's times when we just we take a moment of pause.
Of non-doing.
And that's a powerful time to come into the body to meditate.
And go inward,
Right?
And there's times then to go out and to take action.
And as we're met with different challenges of life and relationships and work and just all the things.
For me,
Having those times of meditation and going inward.
And not trying to actually face the storm head-on.
Is actually okay.
So having,
I think for me,
What's coming through right now is this idea of or practice of self-compassion.
And grace.
In the storms when you can't fully embrace or Face the storms.
Can you have compassion for yourself?
When you need to take a break,
When you need to take a pause.
I think that's a powerful lesson to learn,
That we don't always have to be aggressively grasping,
Fighting against.
Trudging our way through the mud and the storms.
That just happens naturally.
That is part of our existence here,
Part of just being human.
And then can we at times?
Pause.
And go inward.
And take a break.
And bring self-compassion,
So knowing when to rest.
Knowing when and again this goes back to this analogy of of the stream of the river here and that surrender.
I'm just leaning back.
And allowing the current to take you.
Where it needs to take you,
And trusting in the bigger flow of life.
Trusting in the bigger magic.
The mystery.
I hope this finds you well.
And I just encourage you to keep walking your walk.
And keep taking time to meditate.
And take care of yourself.
Alright,
Bye for now.
