I'm Tanya.
Today's theme is really an act of what we call surrender.
And you'll probably hear that in kind of a buzzword really in the meditation practice is an act of surrender.
And what this really means,
It doesn't mean that we give up.
It's really an act of receiving,
Letting what is arise,
And not attaching ourselves to whatever it is that arises or to a specific outcome.
So sometimes we come to our meditation practice expecting something.
And maybe many of you are showing up for that reason today is that you are expecting something.
You come to the practice sometimes setting an intention which can produce an outcome that maybe is totally unexpected.
And this is where we want to kind of sit in the seat today and is in the curiosity of what it is that arises.
So I'd like to introduce you to a hand mudra.
So those of you maybe not familiar with mudras,
Hand mudras are basically yoga postures for our hands.
And what the hand mudras do is they help to kind of activate the energy channels in our body.
And they also help to build strength in the hands.
So it's kind of twofold.
So the hand mudra today is called pranidhana mudra.
And this is a mudra that we're going to use today to help bring us into a place of surrender.
So what we're going to do is we're going to bring the,
You have your thumb fingers,
Your thumbs and then your middle finger and your ring finger touching the thumbs.
Okay,
Like that.
And so then you have these other two.
You have your pinkies and your,
Then you have your other fingers free.
And now we're going to bring the thumbs and the middle and the ring fingers together.
And then we're going to place them on our lap with those index fingers and the pinkies touching.
And if it bothers your fingers or hurts in any way,
You can just visualize this hand mudra.
And you don't have to be,
You know,
You don't have to put a lot of pressure on the hands and you can just relax those hands in the lap.
And you can have your eyes closed or open.
Let's take a couple of moments here.
And just breathing.
Just feeling the breath and again,
Sort of the resolution or the intention of today's practice is a surrender.
So both surrender what comes in and what leaves.
So the practice of letting go.
So in this practice of letting go,
First we just notice our breath.
Noticing the flow of our breath,
The in breath,
The out breath.
Noticing if we tend to hold.
It's okay to have a pause of holding between the breaths,
But that's just surrender even to the inhalation and the exhalation.
So in this,
There's no right or wrong whether your inhale is longer than the exhale.
Just let what is arrive.
Allowing thoughts,
Emotions,
Breath to flow naturally in and out.
And notice now if there's anything else that begins to arise.
Do you feel restless?
Do you feel at ease?
Are there specific words or emotions that are beginning to show up?
Our face is relaxed,
Our jaw is relaxed,
Our body is relaxed.
The flow of breath,
The flow of thought,
The flow of emotion arise and release.
So notice if there is a tendency,
If something does arise,
A thought,
An emotion,
An idea,
Do you follow it down sort of like a rabbit hole?
Chasing the tail of that thought or that emotion or that idea.
And if the mind does wander or if there's a really strong sensation,
Feel that strong sensation,
Allow the sensation to come naturally without judging it,
Without trying to change anything about it,
Receiving it,
Being curious about it.
And then like the out breath,
The word,
The idea,
The feeling exits.
And continuing as the mind might continue to wander or thoughts scatter about,
Strong sensations,
Loud thoughts,
Loud emotions.
If there's something that really needs attention,
Acknowledge it,
Thank it for arriving and arising and then place it to the side and let it exit with the out breath,
With the open door,
Letting the flow in and the flow out,
Without attachment,
Without judgment.
I am receptive to the flow.
I am receptive to the rise and fall.
I will receive naturally what comes in,
Accept,
And I will allow naturally to let it flow out.
I flow naturally in the current of life without attachment,
I see opportunities,
I see possibilities.
I am just noting what is.
She is that.
And if you're still holding that mudra,
You can release the mudra with the palms open,
Allowing the flow again to just sift through the fingers without grasping,
Without attaching,
Without holding tightly,
To stay open and receptive.
And if your eyes were closed,
I invite you now to lift your gaze.
Take a big breath in and a breath out,
Maybe audible sigh through the mouth,
Letting those shoulders relax.
Maybe a little bit of movement in the head,
Squeezing the fingers in and out into the palms,
Circling those wrists.
Namaste.
