Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening,
So let's just sit quietly,
I might say a few words,
But let the silence speak for at least a minute or two.
So on a Wednesday we normally,
Whatever we call it,
Welcoming practice or self-compassion,
I'm not that fond of labels anymore,
Tends to,
But you know,
We need to use them,
So we will,
But tends to define things too much for me.
So without thinking,
What needs to change in your experience right now?
So that's what we do.
We don't try to change anything.
From one perspective,
Nothing needs to change.
From another,
Anything that's held will change of its own accord,
Not because you try to change it,
Or I try to change it.
Without thought,
Without thinking,
What needs adding to your experience?
It's full stop,
Period.
That's it,
That's what we're doing.
And if there is something held,
If there's a long held tension,
Or just a tightness,
Or a heaviness,
Just feel it.
You can label it to begin with if you wish,
But then take the labels away.
Be with it in an open and fresh way.
Because we keep labeling it the same thing,
So we have the same attitude and relationship to it.
This is anxiety.
So then the whole history we have,
The whole story about it is present there.
Take away the labels.
This is so direct.
It's so radical and direct.
It's beautiful.
It takes all the story,
Takes everything away,
All the assumptions,
Full of assumptions,
Full of beliefs.
And we don't realize it.
An assumption,
A belief is just a thought.
Have a belief without going into a thought.
The trouble is in belief thoughts.
That's the beginning and the end of it.
And when you start to see that,
And I know some of you are,
It's like the game's up.
We've been set up,
See,
We've been set up by mind,
Just call it that.
And don't get me wrong,
Mind is a beautiful tool,
But I'm on about one side of it.
We've been set up.
We don't realize it.
It's all to do with language.
So we come out of language,
That's why we sit in silence,
We come out of language,
And into presence,
Into awareness,
Into being.
It's silence and stillness that does the work,
That does the heavy lifting.
You just need to keep out the way.
Stop going to the bar.
And when you're at the bar,
It's fine.
It's kindness.
Come back.
Come back to this silent,
Still sound of the traffic,
The feeling of heaviness,
Or whatever it is,
Or sadness.
It's all you need to do.
Nothing else.
Anything else is too much.
So if you cut your finger,
All you need to do is to just a little plaster,
Or just take care of it.
It heals itself.
The body heals if we leave it alone.
So everything is welcomed.
See what wants your attention.
You notice what something feels like.
You may notice a heaviness,
Or maybe something like a clenched fist,
Or whatever.
What's going on here?
Going to the bar won't solve anything.
We're not analyzing.
Just feeling,
Experiencing without an agenda.
Checking that you're not tense,
Relaxed and soft.
And just listen.
Does this something want to reveal anything?
It doesn't have to.
It's not necessary.
Just remain open.
Take away all the labels.
And look at it afresh.
Because it is fresh every moment.
Everything's fresh and new.
And we constantly bring our old beliefs and assumptions to life.
Now if you wish you can relax that attention to include other parts of your experience.
And now just be the mirror.
The mirror reflects everything,
But nothing touches it.
Nothing disturbs it.
Where are you now?
Just relax.
Be soft.
Is this moment just unfolding?
And we're just part of that unfoldment.
We're not apart from it.
Okay.
Have a little stretch.
A little wiggle.
And thank you guys.
Bye.
