Pausing during moments of change can be a great way to reflect and feel the ground under our feet.
It helps us remember that we're still here,
We're still okay,
Even if we might feel a little wobbly.
To get started I'd like us to focus on our breath.
So on a scale of 1 to 10,
10 being the deepest,
Slowest breath you've ever taken,
Allow your breath to be at about a 7 or an 8.
This is a breath that you're aware of and one that you're consciously manipulating,
But you're not quite at the very top or bottom of your inhale or exhale.
Now you're a pretty smart person so you probably know this already,
But it is worth saying out loud.
Change is constant.
On a physical level your brain is constantly making new neural pathways.
Cells are dividing and dying.
Your nervous system is always assessing and adjusting to the stimuli you're receiving.
You may not be aware of it,
But it's always happening.
You were built to handle change because that's all you do.
Some changes we anticipate and others seem to come out of nowhere,
But once we get further away from the ground zero as it were of the big changes we experience and we take time to reflect,
We often see that the change had been building for a while.
It's sort of similar to the way we experience infection in our body.
We've all had that cold that seemed to come out of nowhere,
But once we're at the doctor and we're asked to reflect on the symptoms and when they started,
We become aware of the little things that led up to feeling not so great like a couple too many late nights or a stressful week at work,
Taking care of sick children,
And so on.
Over the next several minutes I will simply ask you questions to reflect upon while you sit.
So allow yourself to feel comfortable and open physically.
Give yourself some time to get the support you need either leaning your back up against something or laying down if that feels good.
Get yourself into a position that feels supported,
Receptive,
And so that you feel ready to be introspective.
Your first question is,
What is changing right now?
Just put it in simple,
Factual terms.
When did this change start?
Were you aware that the change was starting at that time?
Do you feel like there is more change or more stability or non-change,
More fixed things in your life right now?
Who would you say is most affected by this change that you're reflecting on?
How do you feel about the change?
Where in your body do you feel those feelings?
Where physically does the way you feel about the change show up in your body?
When you name the feeling and where it lives,
Does it change?
Does it grow?
Does it move?
Does it shrink?
Does it stay the same?
Now visualize these feelings you have about the change as a liquid that is raining down on you.
So your feelings are like a liquid.
And that rain,
That liquid,
It can only enter your body and need to be digested by your GI tract if you open your mouth.
Otherwise,
This liquid,
These feelings,
Will all just run off you and be absorbed by the earth.
This liquid is also finite.
It's not going to rain forever.
So as you sit here and explore this visual,
Take those feelings wherever they live in your body and visualize them in a cloud above you.
And allow them to rain down.
Don't try to stop the cloud or move out of the way because the feelings are there and we got to feel them.
But we don't have to become them.
We don't have to get lost in them.
We can observe them.
We can appreciate that these feelings are a part of being human and that our resistance or discomfort to change is normal.
It can be hard.
But to be present for all of that and allow all of that to be normal is very healing.
So you can sit here and stay in this visual until you feel like the rain is done falling.
Until it has come down and you can feel a little bit of light.
Where you feel maybe the earth underneath you is a little damp.
But you see visually in your mind the sun peeking out from behind the cloud.
And this doesn't change the change or change the feeling but maybe the way you associate to it.
Stay here as long as you need to and come back whenever you need to.
