Navigating Change

Our world is naturally full of change, and yet change can feel overwhelming when it is unexpected or unwanted. Building our resilience to change is essential to maintaining the strength to persevere through whatever comes, and adapting to opportunities in the moment. This guided meditation leads us through body sensing, breath counting, and welcoming opposites of emotion. We explore what is changing and unchanging in the body and center on the aliveness that connects all life on our planet.

Transcript

So just start to notice the air on your skin and the ground under you.

Any noises in the room around you,

Whether it's a loved one or a pet,

The fan.

It's all right.

They can be there along with us.

And make any final adjustments to make yourself just 1% more comfortable,

Whether it's moving your arm or your back or your toe.

Truly this is meant to be a luxurious experience.

And just open your senses.

Begin to notice the breath moving through you,

The air on your nostrils as you breathe in and out.

Just feel into your body and the breath as you hear my voice.

Today we'll be taking time to cultivate our resilience as we navigate stressors in our work and our life.

Our world is constantly full of change.

The seasons changing,

Animals migrating,

Ecosystem dynamics shifting.

And change is always present.

And yet change can feel overwhelming when it's unexpected or unwanted.

And so building our resilience to change is essential to maintaining the strength to persevere whatever comes in our work or our lives.

If we lose ourselves,

We lose our ability to help the world.

But if we can welcome in what comes,

We can adapt to direct our energy towards making a difference where we do have the ability to affect change.

So let's spend some time now developing the tools that you already have in yourself to strengthen your resilience to whatever comes.

In Yoga Nidra,

Our approach is to welcome the sensations,

Emotions,

And beliefs that arise.

And there's no one right or wrong experience,

Even if you drift off to sleep.

That's okay.

As thoughts and sensations do arise,

Ask yourself,

What is this experience telling me?

Is the knot in my stomach just from breakfast or is it a lingering emotion from yesterday?

These emotions and beliefs,

Of course,

Arise from a source within us.

And so as we become more attentive to our body's signals,

We have more opportunities to investigate and meet ourselves in new ways.

So as we begin our practice,

I invite you to reflect for a moment on an intention for today.

Perhaps considering again what it was that you wanted to take away or leave behind from this workshop.

Or maybe it's a sticky emotion or belief that's been calling your attention or something else entirely.

And as you form your intention,

Let it be an affirmation in the present tense,

A truth that's happening in this moment.

Like I am a witness to my thoughts.

I am welcoming anger or self judgment or joy.

I am a more resilient and mindful conservationist.

Now imagine for a moment a place of absolute security where you feel safe and fulfilled.

Welcome in an image or a memory of this inner oasis.

You could envision a favorite place in the world or maybe being with a loved one or with a pet or a wild animal that brings you comfort.

And as you focus on the image or the memory,

Open your sensations to the experience of being in that inner oasis.

Any details of the scene that you see,

Let that be vivid.

Are there certain sounds that you hear around you?

Any smells or tastes?

What does it feel like to be in your body when you're in your inner oasis?

Maybe a breeze or a warmth in your heart?

Seeing all these sensations simultaneously,

Feeling into that place of safety and fulfillment.

Now let go of the image and let the sensation of security linger in your body.

For a moment,

Just set the mind free and turn inward to this felt sense of your inner oasis,

That feeling of having everything you need.

Really feeling and acknowledging that your inner oasis is available to you at any time during or outside of this practice,

Including in at work or in your personal life.

And from this felt sense of your inner oasis,

Turn your attention to your physical body.

Start by bringing awareness to your jaw,

Feeling a tingle of aliveness there.

Notice your ears and your eyes,

Top of your head,

Almost like sand shifting between different parts of a beanbag as your attention moves.

Your shoulders.

Notice your abdomen.

Notice if there are any sensations of tension from your week,

Maybe.

No need to change these,

But just observing.

Noticing the body breathing itself.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Not trying to change the breath,

Just becoming aware of its presence.

Noticing the left arm,

The upper arm,

The elbow,

The forearm,

Down to the fingers,

Like a little wave of water,

Maybe lapping from part to part.

Noticing your right arm,

The upper arm and elbow,

Forearm,

Down to the fingers.

Noticing both the right arm and the left simultaneously.

And as thoughts arise,

As they surely will,

Just acknowledge them and invite them in to sit alongside you.

Then shift back to the sensation in your body.

Noticing your lower back,

Your upper back,

Bringing attention to the front of your torso and the space inside your torso.

Noticing your left hip and your knee and your ankle to the toes and your right hip and knee,

Ankle and toes,

And both your right and left leg simultaneously.

Not trying to change or judge.

Noticing your full body from toes to the top of your head,

All the surfaces,

Feeling attention in your body inside and even beyond the surfaces of your body.

And bring now attention to your breath flowing in and on the surfaces and beyond your body.

Simply observe its natural rhythm,

Not changing it,

Just bringing attention to the breath.

Now begin to count each pair of inhale and exhale,

Counting down from seven to one,

Like this.

Seven,

Inhale.

Seven,

Exhale.

Six,

Inhale.

Six,

Exhale.

Five,

Inhale.

Five,

Exhale.

Continue your own count at your own pace.

Continuing to count from seven down to one.

And if a thought arises and you lose count,

That's all right.

Just start again at seven.

And if you reach one,

Start again at seven,

Counting down to one.

No judgment if you lose count,

Recognizing that the mind's default state is to think and so giving it the freedom to think while you focus on counting.

Counting from seven to one.

When it feels right,

You can let the counting just drop away and rest in the quiet,

Just observing the natural rhythm of the breath once more.

Feeling the body relax to a deeper state,

That stress melting away,

Almost like a wash of sensation,

As though you are in a forest bathed in light and sound.

Maybe birds and primates singing,

Scent of vines and flowers wafting around you.

Notice that even as the breath is shifting within you and constantly changing,

There's a deeper sense of constant,

An unchanging aliveness that's present in your body and the earth.

Feeling that deep sense of relaxation.

Bringing awareness now to an emotion or a belief.

Maybe it's an emotion from an experience you had recently or a belief that you feel is true about yourself or another.

Or maybe there's nothing at all and that's perfect too.

Simply identify and welcome this emotion without judgment,

Without getting lost in its story that it wants to tell you.

Once you've identified it,

Sense if you can how this emotion feels in your body.

Where do you feel it?

Maybe your ankle,

Your forehead.

Does it have a shape?

Does it have a color,

A texture?

Really try to feel it in your body.

And know of course that if your emotion or belief starts to feel overwhelming,

You can always touch into your inner oasis,

That felt sense of ease and safety and just return there.

But if it feels safe,

Feeling into the sensation of that emotion or belief in your body.

Now if it feels okay,

See if you can invite in the opposite of that emotion or belief.

So if you're feeling resentment,

Maybe acceptance,

Just identify what opposite naturally arises.

Give it a name.

No need to overthink it.

In fact,

Don't do this with the thinking mind per se.

Just try to feel your way.

What opposite arises?

Now sense where in your body do you feel that opposite emotion or belief?

What does it look like?

Does it have a shape,

A color,

A texture?

Really take your time and try to feel that opposite emotion or belief in your body.

Now see if you can shift from the opposite back to the original emotion or belief.

And take your time with this,

Sitting with one for as long as you need to feel the felt sense in your body.

And then shift to the opposite emotion,

Alternating back and forth,

First sensing one and then the other.

Take your time,

Shift out of the thinking mind and really focusing on the sensation of each emotion or belief.

And then if it feels right,

You can try holding the two opposites simultaneously,

Feeling into both at the same time.

Might be helpful to focus on the sense of each emotion that feels strongest,

Maybe the color or the shape or just the general feeling.

Try to hold both,

Not as images per se,

But as feelings in your body at the same time.

Let your body guide you.

And then you can let go of both emotions and just rest and observe how this feels in your body.

Maybe noticing quiet of thought,

Maybe a sense of ease and presence,

A background of ever present awareness,

Unchanging even as emotions and thoughts rise and fall,

Like waves rising to the surface of a vast sea and then cresting and returning to where they came from.

You can just remain here in the quiet stillness or if it feels right,

You may even notice a quiet joy radiating out of your heart,

Like a sparkle of aliveness,

A boundless bliss from inside you,

Merging with the energy of our entire planet,

Whole and perfect,

That joy of living that connects all of life,

That connects us to our work of protecting the planet.

Just take a moment to really feel that joy running through your body.

Powerful force fueled by powerful energy,

Abundant,

Evergreen,

Charged and inspired to channel that joy into your own resilience,

Into the resilience of our earth.

And now as we begin to gradually transition back,

Start to sense the room around you once more,

The sounds,

Touch of air on your skin,

Sensing the breath flowing through you,

Energizing you,

Ready to meet whatever comes.

Notice that if anything has changed from how you felt at the beginning of our practice.

Then recall the tools that we just practiced,

The inner oasis,

Body sensing,

Breath counting,

Opposites of emotion,

And acknowledge that they're available to you at any time to use while you're seated at your desk or in the middle of a conversation or even while cooking dinner to regain balance and focus.

Take a moment to revisit the intention that you set for yourself at the beginning and consider if there might be a new intention that you wish to set for the next few days.

Feeling at your own pace,

Slowly starting to move your toes and your fingers,

Starting to deepen your breath,

Taking your time as you slowly open and close your eyes a few times just reorienting your body to the room.

But still feeling that sense of joy and clarity of tension.

And when you feel ready,

If you're lying down,

You might roll yourself over to one side and just pause for a moment and then slowly rise and rejoin us at the computer.

As you come back,

Still just noticing the present moment,

The breath,

The fullness of your heart.