Wake Up Aliveness Intro And Practice

Life is a process of coming alive and waking up to all of the parts of you. Here is a quote by Rev. Howard Thurman, the African-American Minister who met with Gandhi and was the mentor for Martin Luther King, and, not incidentally, was the minister for the Good Friday Experiment. He said, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Transcript

Hello,

Hello.

Welcome to your morning practice.

I encourage you to burn some incense or some sage or Palo Santo when you begin your meditation just to awaken your spirit to come alive.

And I read a friend of mine,

Rick Dublin,

Who I respect very much,

Who is,

Began many years ago a nonprofit organization called MAPS.

So he spearheads an organization that does research with psychedelic medicine and depression and eating disorders and all type of addictions,

Trauma.

Anyway,

He's an incredible man and he is a mentor of mine.

And he wrote this to me this morning because I have been speaking up about,

First of all,

I was able to face my addictions thanks to work of Gabor Mate,

Who's my mentor,

And Rick Dublin.

And I ended up microdosing to help with the anxiety when I did quit drinking,

Which was really helpful.

And so Rick said,

Stephanie,

I'm so glad to hear that you were stepping up with your own voice and that's needed now more than ever.

There's a great quote by Reverend Howard Thurman,

The African American minister who met with Gandhi and was the mentor for Martin Luther King.

He said,

Do not ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive.

And then go do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

So this is why we sit each day.

And it's an honor if you are beginning today with us,

But sitting in stillness is a practice of waking up to parts of yourself and to all of the parts of yourself,

Especially the parts of yourself that make you feel uncomfortable because it is within the parts that you feel uncomfortable.

And within the anger and the anxiety and the depression and the sadness and the extreme grief that many of us encounter,

That you can really find those roots of your authentic self and what it means to be alive,

What it means to live from your heart and not following the crowd,

Not feeling like you have to fit in to any mold or dream of I'm thinking of the American dream,

Which was something that I grew up with that didn't correspond to who I was.

And I didn't fit in to the people around me when I was born and growing up in Nebraska and then in New York City.

I was shamed a lot because I was different.

And those initial years really form us.

And if you grow up in a family and they are dealing with their own stress and don't really see or hear you,

You don't have that creative outlet.

I hope for each of you that you did.

But more often than not,

We didn't have those nurturing,

Loving relationships.

So then we create beliefs about ourselves.

And I'm not at all talking about having a lavish lifestyle because some of people that I know that have had the most abundance in the physical realm really are lacking that sense of purpose and understanding what they truly value within.

So it's really a feeling that I'm talking about of being heard and seen and cared for and loved.

So this is what we do here.

We create a safe space for us,

Each of us.

And through the realms of the heart,

We step into our aliveness.

So let's begin.

Simply find an uncomfortable seat that you can commit to for the next 25 minutes as we turn inwards.

Touching upon your own aliveness,

Your own strength and resilience that you have within.

And let's begin by breathing together as our breath is really the portal into these realms.

So breathe in deeply through your nose.

Breathing all the way to the top of your head as you lengthen your spine and take in some more air.

Suspend your breath.

And exhale out your mouth.

Exhale,

Exhale with sound.

Empty out the back of your throat,

Inhaling all the air out,

Letting your body ground.

And then hold the air out at the bottom of the exhale.

Tuning in to the stillness within your body.

Inhaling deeply,

Widening your shoulders.

Inhale.

All the way to the top of your head.

And exhale with sound.

Exhale all the way out.

Exhaling,

Emptying out the back of your throat,

Releasing stagnant energy.

Exhale all the air out,

Squeezing it out of your abdomen and then hold it out.

And then breathe in a nice deep breath as you fill up your chest all the way to the top of your head.

Connecting to your crown at the top of your head.

And exhale.

Exhaling,

Exhaling,

Letting go of tension,

Letting go of stress,

Feeling that drain out of your body,

Letting go of the stories and the narratives that might have been running through your mind as you bring the four corners of your mind down into your base,

Your root chakra,

Your tailbone.

Holding the air out.

And then breathing in and out of your nose,

Slowly,

Gently,

Naturally.

Just focusing on your breath.

Each inhalation,

Following the inhalation all the way to the top,

Taking in as much air as you can,

Noticing your lungs as they expand,

Pausing before following your exhalation,

Feeling as your body releases the air,

Exhaling all the air out of your abdomen,

And then holding the air out.

Lingering in that space between the inhale and the exhale.

Longer than you think you can.

Just really try to hold it as you anchor.

And then when you're ready,

Through your nose,

Breathing in again.

And throughout the meditation,

Always know that you have your breath to come back to.

So if you find yourself wandering into thought,

Please know that that is normal.

That is part of meditating.

What's really powerful is noticing that you've gone into thought.

Not judging yourself,

Not saying you're not doing it right,

But with a smile,

Bringing your attention back to focusing on your breath.

And doing that as many times as you need throughout the meditation.

And you can listen to my words or else you can go on your own internal journey.

It isn't about erasing the thoughts.

It's simply about turning down the volume enough that you can touch into your sensations within your body and become vulnerable.

Set your intention to awaken your heart.

To become alive.

Whatever it is that you would like for yourself,

Say it three times internally.

Letting it resonate all throughout your body.

And you can also simply say for my highest good,

I sit.

Sometimes we don't know what we need and that's okay.

Acknowledging the ground beneath you,

Either touching it with your hands or just visualizing where you are seated and underneath either the cushion,

There is the floor.

Underneath the floor,

There might be other floors,

Other levels.

Just imagine the soil,

The planet earth underneath each of us that reunites all of us together.

Feel the ground.

Take a moment to acknowledge it.

Thank you for providing a home for me and my family.

Thank you for nourishing us.

Thank you for giving us water and air to breathe.

And as you do that,

Feel the stability and the stillness of the ground come up through your spine as if you are plugging in and feel your system,

Your nervous system neutralizing,

Calming down.

And as the tallest trees in the world,

The redwood trees grow very tall.

It's because they have roots that grow into the ground and they grow tall because all of their roots are connected to all of the other trees,

Roots.

So feel our connection that we are here for each other and you are not alone.

So feeling that anchoring in the ground all the way to the center of the earth,

You might want to imagine a column as well of liquid white crystal light from your tailbone into the center of the earth and all the way up your spine through your brain coming out the top of your head,

The crown chakra extending into infinite space.

Just your breath going up and down that column.

Settling here within the stillness.

Inviting in your guides,

Angels,

Archangels,

The animal realms,

Your families of light.

And if you don't know them,

Just say,

May all of the benevolent beings for my highest good appear above me and just use your imagination.

See what they,

What do angels look like?

I encourage you to use and explore with your imagination the divine,

How you see that.

And let your body soften and receive that feeling of being seen and protected and loved because it is real.

The only thing between feeling it and believing it is the choice to open and trust.

Letting your body recharge and receive such an incredible shower of blessings.

You might want to imagine a waterfall pouring over you of the most beautiful crystalline water giving you what you need today.

Feeling the presence of your ancestors behind you.

Their wisdom and support along your path.

So often we feel that we need to know what is going on,

What we have to do.

But if we can tap into these sources,

We really can surrender the mind which is conditioned from the past,

From the narratives that are running through.

And tap into this internal source of infinite knowledge within you.

Inviting you to bring your attention to your heart.

So touching your heart and your abdomen.

Feeling what it feels like to hold.

You turning towards yourself with kindness and intention,

Inviting you to ask yourself what makes my heart come alive?

And let your heart respond.

Allowing the breath to go in and out of your heart.

Asking yourself what is holding me back these days?

Is it a belief about myself?

Is it fear?

Is it the fear of not being good enough?

Or worthy?

Inviting you to tune into your own challenges right now that you're facing.

Just become aware of them.

Because it's when we become aware of them is when we can really give them permission to be felt and to release.

So often we are our own worst enemy.

And I know this isn't easy so I'm really proud of you for staying with it.

And let's breathe three deep purging breaths here.

Inhaling through your nose.

Washing over your heart.

Touching into those areas of tightness,

The blockages.

And then feeling a deep sense of release now with your exhale.

Ahh.

Exhale letting go.

Ahh.

Letting go,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Releasing the tightness.

Turning towards yourself with compassion.

And then breathe in again.

Touching on those areas of darkness within.

And acknowledging them with a gentleness.

And then letting them go.

Ahh.

Exhale all the air out.

Squeeze the air out of your abdomen.

Drain down into the ground.

Releasing layers of repressed emotions,

Of frustration,

Irritation.

And then bring in again one more breath to the center of your heart.

And exhale.

Ahh.

Exhale.

Exhale all the air out.

Holding the air out.

Holding yourself now with compassion.

However you want to do that,

Both hands on your heart.

Put your arms around your shoulders.

No matter what you're going through right now.

Acknowledge it.

These are lessons for us to grow through.

The challenges are our teachers.

And it isn't what we want,

But it is what we need.

So how does it feel to hold?

Just imagine you're grabbing a friend and holding them,

Letting them know what would you say to your friend or to your child?

You are worthy.

Saying that to yourself.

Letting the words sink in.

You are loved.

How does it feel to be loved?

You are free.

Remember your freedom.

You are free to choose at every single moment of the day to go towards the fearful thoughts,

The fearful mind.

Or to go towards the joy,

The beauty,

The compassion.

Towards the truth of you.

So letting your whole body now fill up with this radiance,

Feeling it all throughout your body.

Letting your body fill up with light,

Warmth,

Presence.

If you stay present,

You will know where to go each moment of the day.

If you let it unfold.

If you think too much about the future,

It's all a.

.

.

The mind is 75% negative thinking.

So once you realize that,

You learn how to step into the heart and to walk from that space of the heart and not from the mind.

So this is the practice.

So really feeling alive as you step into your day.

Grateful to be here.

It's an incredible time to be on the planet.

It's a massive shift in consciousness.

It's amazing that we are here.

It's amazing.

It's incredible what is happening.

There are many narratives that are fearful and I invite you to notice that they're there,

But not believe in them.

Believe in this,

Which you touch inside.

Believe that this is why you're here.

If you're listening to this,

You are a warrior of light and we need you to be that light around your family,

Your community,

To be like an antenna of higher vibrations beyond.

So that's your.

.

.

My request to you is you walk out,

Be that light,

Be that holder of truth.

And then when you lose it,

When you notice you've gone off,

That's okay.

Bring yourself back.

It's a training.

This is training of your mind so that you can step into this incredible,

Vast,

Eternal space of the heart.

So this is all I ask of you to make a commitment to yourself today to stay present.

I commit to be present today.

Okie dokie.

Thank you.

I appreciate this time together and I'm so happy to see new friends joining and we're here every morning.

It's my commitment to my practice,

To myself and to you to remind you.

It's just reminding you that you have this within you,

But it's your process and your days.

May you walk this prayer.

So love you and I'll see you and please share these so we have more in our group together joining one another and I love you.