Surrendering To Awaken

When we try to control, we lose the magic. Surrender is letting go of the judgmental and controlling mind so that it cultivates playfulness and curiosity, opening to the beauty of the present moment as it unfolds. Some days this is harder than others, I know. Remembering the possibilities is a practice.
Learning to listen deeply so that you hear the subtle messages. A song that plays within your heart. The smells. A conversation with a passerby. Opening to the magic of the present moment.

Transcript

So welcome to our meditation together.

I hope that you're well wherever you are.

And it's always nice to come and sit each day.

Today I'm,

For myself anyway,

Whenever I start getting headaches or feeling overwhelmed,

I know that it's because I'm too much in my mind.

So today I wanted to focus on what it feels like to surrender.

And how we live in a culture and we've,

Anyway,

I've always been educated to try to work things out,

Try to fix things,

Try to find the solutions.

And I'm really noticing that when I do that,

It's not serving me.

It's not,

It's being too much in the mind trying to control and not allowing myself the space to simply be.

And possibly as I'm saying that,

You're also noticing how much you go into the mind and how often that was a safe place.

I know when we disconnect from feeling and experiencing our emotions,

The first place and the easiest place that we go is into our minds and intellectualizing,

Analyzing,

Judging.

So the practice of meditation is finding that sweet spot of surrender when you're present and you're noticing this freedom and unattachment to the thinking mind.

So disengagement from the thinking mind.

And that's the practice.

That's what we're doing here and cultivating.

And the best way to grow with this practice is noticing how much we do go into the mind and how difficult it is to surrender.

So today I will focus more on the mindfulness part.

So we're going to spend more time paying attention to our body and noticing how often we shift into thinking.

So please close your eyes.

And as we learn to listen deeply within and to hear subtle messages from our body and from our heart and from our intuition and our gut feeling,

We can realize that there's so much more than the mind.

But we each have to give ourselves permission to let go of thoughts.

So let's do this by beginning to focus on our breathing.

Inhaling deeply through your nose.

And exhale out your mouth with sound.

Really exhale all the air out,

Aligning to your breath and then squeeze the air out of your abdomen.

Ground your body.

Come into the present moment.

Inhaling deeply,

Feeling the air as it comes up your spine,

Lengthening your spine,

Inhaling all the way to the top.

Taking some more air in.

Suspend your breath.

And exhale.

Exhale,

Exhale,

Exhale.

Feel how good it is to release.

Letting go of the tension in your body.

Grounding yourself in the present moment.

And then breathe in again.

Following your inhalation all the way up,

Filling up the four corners of your lungs.

Some more air.

Suspend your breath.

Notice the stillness.

And exhale,

Releasing out your mouth with a sigh.

Exhale,

Exhale,

All the air out.

Let your body root into the ground.

Notice the stillness on the out breath.

Tuning into your body.

And then when you're ready,

Staying aligned to your breath,

But in and out through your nose.

No agenda.

Just to be present with your breath.

Give yourself permission to let go of the stories.

Allowing the clamp of the mind to gently release.

Feeling the weight of your body,

Gravity weighting you down.

Noticing the ground beneath you,

Supporting you.

Holding you up.

Allowing your body to soften.

And using your breath as your anchor.

Taking a moment to acknowledge the ground beneath us,

All here as we sit.

Thanking it,

Appreciating it.

Thank you for supporting and nourishing me another day.

And then let that stillness come up into your body.

Notice how it calms down your nervous system to feel grounded and anchored.

Notice the qualities of your breath.

Feel your breath.

And then bringing your attention to the top of your head,

Putting your awareness on your crown.

Noticing any sensations.

And allowing your scalp to gently soften.

Putting your awareness onto your eyes and letting them go down and back in the sockets.

Let the back of your eye sockets hold your eyes.

Taking the pressure off your eyes.

And then feel the back of your brain.

Noticing any sensations at the back of your head.

And feel a softening of the back of your head,

The back of your brain,

As you give it permission to rest.

Feeling the back of your neck,

Allowing your jaw to soften and open.

We hold so much tension in our face.

Let your tongue go down and back in your mouth.

Noticing the air as it comes in through your nose,

Touches the back of your throat,

Fills up your chest and your diaphragm.

And then out again.

Simply following that circle of air as it goes in through your nose,

Filling up your chest and belly.

And then out again.

So simple.

And then bring your attention into your heart and the back of your heart.

And giving yourself this opportunity to rest your heart.

Resting upon your breath.

What do I need to surrender today?

What do I need to let go of?

Or take in or accept?

And bringing your hand to your heart and another one to your belly.

Simply sensing into what it is that you need right now to feel more held,

More seen,

And more accepted.

And always remembering to stay aligned to your breath,

Knowing that the mind may also want to wander.

That's what the mind wants to do.

And just notice how often your mind is going into thought.

And then with a kind and gentle,

Loving awareness,

Bring your attention back to your body,

To how you're feeling,

And to your breath.

Tuning into the hundred trillion cells of your own body.

Tuning into this natural wisdom that we each have underneath the stories,

Underneath the pain,

Underneath the judgments.

And let's breathe deeply in through our nose,

Deep breaths three times.

Inhaling,

Filling up your chest,

Sitting up straight,

And exhale.

Exhale deeply,

Releasing,

Making sound,

Really letting go of the breath.

Feeling it drain out of your body,

Anything that no longer serves,

And then hold the air out.

Exhale,

Exhale,

Exhale.

And then breathe in again,

Lengthening your spine.

Take in some more air.

And exhale,

Exhale all the air out.

Squeeze the air out of your abdomen,

Grounding yourself,

Rooting yourself in the ground beneath you,

Letting go of that which no longer serves you.

One more time,

Inhaling deeply.

Inhale some more,

Suspend your breath,

And exhale,

Exhale.

What do you need to let go of right now?

Exhale,

Let go of tension,

Stress,

Worry,

Doubt.

And then relaxing your soft hands on your knees,

Tapping into this internal resonance,

This wisdom within your body,

Sweetly surrendering to your natural wisdom.

Letting yourself rest upon your breath,

Nothing to do,

Just to be.

Your breath is your tether to your body right now,

To your heart.

Am I listening within?

Am I connected to my heart?

Am I feeling supported within myself so that I can let go and trust in the wisdom of the uncertainty?

So stepping back and becoming the witness,

Resisting the urge to go into thoughts and staying in your body.

And if you do notice thoughts,

Just with a smile,

Bring yourself back to your cushion,

Your chair,

The ground beneath you.

Noticing the sensations in your body,

The contraction,

The expansion,

Numbness.

Remembering you're grounded,

You're present in the moment and you're connected to your heart.

So learn to listen deeply into that song that's playing within your own heart.

What message is there for you today?

Asking yourself,

What message do I need to hear?

And then listening into your authentic self.

And if an answer doesn't come,

Just sit with the question,

What is my message today?

So that I can stop trying to control and open to the magic all around us,

All of the beauty.

And then turn towards yourself with loving compassion,

Understanding that all of these mechanisms of the mind at once were there to protect us.

So thank them.

Thank you.

Thank you for keeping me safe.

But now I want to be free.

Now I let you go,

So that I can trust in this wholeness within my heart.

And let yourself feel held,

Bringing into your mind's eye an image of the divine above you.

And you might want to bring in a couple of beings that could be a caregiver when you were young,

That really gave you so much love.

Or it could be an image of the divine the divine Buddha or Jesus,

Allah,

Whoever,

Or the mother nature,

Just nature itself.

The importance is the feeling that I would like for you to open up to,

Inviting you to open your crown and allowing a shower of blessings,

A shower of loving awareness to wash over you like a wave.

Let yourself receive,

Opening your heart,

Trusting,

Remembering to stay aligned to your breath.

The more you stay out of your mind,

The more you can trust,

The more you can trust,

The more you can feel,

The more you will integrate pain,

Integrate frustration.

So let's breathe again,

Inhaling deeply and exhale,

Feeling that state of surrender,

Trust,

Gratitude,

And breathing in again,

Washing over your body,

Feeling that wave of awareness,

Letting go,

Letting go,

Breathing in again,

And exhale,

Feeling a smile at the corners of your mouth and allow that smile to turn inwards.

How does it feel to smile in your heart?

Smiling in your belly,

Smiling in your mind.

All of our challenges are here to teach us,

To evolve us,

And it's okay to cry,

It's okay to drop down and bow to your life,

Bow to your heart,

Bow to how hard you may have been trying,

And just accept.

So bringing your hands to your heart,

Holding your heart,

Remembering that we don't need anyone,

We don't need anything really.

This healing begins with loving yourself first and holding yourself and accepting.

So as you surrender,

Really surrender,

And if you're going to trust,

Remember that it's a moment-to-moment process.

It's not just,

Okay I trust,

It's remembering each moment to let go of the thinking mind and trust in this wisdom.

It's always there,

Just by connecting to your heart.

So commend yourself for showing up.

I know it's not easy to get to the mat or get to the cushion.

Some days it's really a struggle,

But I'm encouraging each of you to more than ever take the time to ground each day like this.

However,

Go for walks in nature,

Paint,

Draw,

Cook,

Garden.

I wish I could say that the chaos is going away,

But I I think that this is a preparation for us to really do this work,

To not fall asleep now because we are needed for your wherever you are and the people around you.

They need you to be this beacon of light.

It's not you're going to do the work and then feel good inside.

It's now we are needed to do this work so that you shine and you radiate from around you for your children,

For your partners.

And it's very subtle,

It's not like a big shebang.

On the contrary,

It's noticing the subtle changes and becoming less reactive,

Less overwhelmed.

And just reminding you that I'm also struggling.

It's not a state you achieve.

It is,

It's going to be more and more as we shift now frequencies and getting out of the 3D frequency,

Which is a fear and anger and the mind and shifting upwards into this awareness of the heart.

And it's a personal process and it's not something that it's an internal transformation.

It's not something that is going to be out there to,

You know,

Order or purchase.

It's like a,

It's by going through noticing your triggers,

Noticing your addictions,

Noticing your pain and shifting from within.

That's the root.

So I'll stop there but I will see you tomorrow and it's my commitment.

I encourage you to make a commitment to your practice,

To your highest good,

To your healing.

And we lose track,

We lose connection.

And when you do,

Just notice it and then bring yourself back.

And maybe it was a day you got went off and got totally,

You know,

Wasted or something.

But bring yourself back and notice,

You know,

Next time think before you do stuff like that,

I guess.

Anyway,

I could talk for eons about sobriety.

I encourage that.

If you feel a calling to that,

I encourage trying because it helps a lot for clarity.

And bye everybody because I know you have to go.

See you tomorrow.

Thank you and please share if you know anyone else would like some guidance.

And please talk with other people and continue the work throughout your day.

Reviews

Great meditation for my sobriety💯

Awesome experience! Thank you!🙏♥️

Thank you Stephanie. That was simple yet very liberating. 🙏

A powerful "back to basics" meditation. 🙏