Resistance Or Gratitude? Let's Flow With The Present Moment

We can walk around in resistance to the present moment, in discomfort, vaguely or acutely anxious, depending on the severity of it. It is not comfortable and takes huge amounts of energy to go against the current. So let’s notice when that happens and see if we can start to swim downstream, decide to allow this moment to be as it is. Feel more comfort and ease. And relax...
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Transcript

Let's find a comfortable place. We can put our body on a fidget and find somewhere we can be comfortable and still for a little while. Next time we inhale, Getting a little bit taller and exhaling, Softening into our seat, Our shoulders and the muscles of our face. Taking a few breaths as we take our attention away from the external world into the internal world. And noticing how that feels to do that. Let's see how we feel in the aspects of our being, Our physical body. How's that feeling? Just noticing, We don't want to judge, Good or even bad. Let's just notice whatever we notice. Our mind, How's that today, In this moment? And whether it's chaotic in there or quiet, Just notice as if we're looking through the window at someone else's house. See if we can allow it to be however we find it. Our emotional self, How's that bit of us, That aspect of us? Where do we feel that aspect of us? And whatever we find when we look at our emotional self, Let's see if we can do it without judgement, Let's see if we can allow it to be just as it is. Our energy, Motivation, Strength around our body and inside our body. Just noticing whatever we notice. Good, Bad or nothing much at all. So let's relax our physical body a little more. See if we can put our head on the top of our spine if we're sitting. And then we're going to let a wave of relaxation float from the top of us all the way down over our head and our face. And as it flows over us everything softens. A neutral expression, Our jaws soft and relaxed. Muscles of our neck in neutral, At ease. Can we release our shoulders further down so our arms are just hanging loose? Thinking of our back, Are we able to release as much tension as possible out of our back? Look at our back, Visualise, Feel. How little muscle power can we use in this moment? And the same with the front, Our chest and our belly. Allowing it to be soft as best we can. Our pelvis and our thighs becoming more relaxed, At ease. Our knees and our lower legs and our feet, All a bit more relaxed. Let's take a couple of deeper breaths and imagine them flowing through our heart space. Clearing out the cobwebs there, Giving it a refresh. And then we'll find a comfortable breath, Relaxed breath. And we'll imagine it flowing through our heart space, All the way through, Out the back and then the front. And each time that breath flows through, Let's imagine our heart, Our energetic heart, Opening, Becoming energised. We can imagine that any way we like. Becoming brighter, Opening like a flower, Whatever works for you. Maybe we imagine the petals opening to allow our heart a little more space and energy. And we're going to put a garden chair, Or some sort of chair in that heart space and we're going to sit there, Surrounded by the compassion, The love that is seated in that place. And as we sit, Our observer sitting, Observing. I invite you to observe your present moment. Specifically, Whether you're at ease or in discomfort in your present moment. And there may be a bit of both, Different aspects of our being. The question I will offer to you today is, Are you in resistance to the present moment? Or can we place ourselves in gratitude in the present moment? So if we find ourselves in resistance, There'll be discomfort. It'll feel like effort, Work. We need to be holding ourselves up. It's tiring. There may be pain or there may be tension, Vague discomfort. Gratitude, On the other hand, Is going with the flow. We're lifted. We may be warm, Expansive, Flowing downstream with the present moment. So resting as our observer self in our chair and noticing a state of resistance or otherwise. We're not talking about the rest of our lives, Even tomorrow or this afternoon. Just right now, This moment, This moment and this moment. And if we sense resistance somewhere, Do we choose to keep it? Do we want it? Is it justified? Maybe we just let it go. With a decision, We just choose. There may be a sense of release or relaxation as that happens. We allow ourselves to relax back into this present moment. So physically, Are we physically in tension, Discomfort? And are we able to turn around and start to swim downstream? And if there is physical tension, If it's been there a long time, We may need to release it and release it and release it because it might just creep back in. Particularly in those places, Often in our back or maybe our pelvis or anywhere else, Depending on the individual. They have a pocket for their stress somewhere and that may become physically very tense. So releasing if we notice. Let's look into our mind then. Looking with our compassionate observer self. Are we in resistance to our thoughts? There's a lot of noise in there. Are these thoughts about discomfort, Effort, Tension? And if we notice that, Let's try thanking the thoughts. They are trying to help us. Whether or not they do that is another matter. But they're trying to help us. So let's try a thank you and see if that helps us release our resistance. Thank you thought. Thank you. If they're thinking fearful thoughts, Stressful thoughts, We don't have to believe them. We can still thank them for their trying to alert us to something. In the present moment, Seeing if we can notice what our thoughts are up to. Noticing resistance in those thoughts. Maybe deciding we'd rather be in gratitude. It feels so much more comfortable. Just kind of getting the flavor or the frequency of the thoughts rather than their specifics. The theme. Let's look now at our emotional self. Wherever we feel our emotions in our body, Let's look now with a compassionate eye of our observer self. Feel wherever we feel our emotions. Is there stuckness? Rigidity? Grey fog? Our emotional resistance? If we notice that, We can do it with compassion. Can we offer those difficult feelings love? I want to be seen and heard. And allowing that loving gaze to melt any stiffness or stuckness. Love for the one who experienced the difficulty and stowed it away because they didn't know what else to do with it. No shame, No blame. Just love. And then in our present moment, Our whole being rests. Can we relax back into this present moment? Is there anything so important it can keep us from our peace in this moment? Can we allow ourselves to be held? Carried by a gentle current? Can we make peace with this present moment? As things come up, Thoughts, Feelings, Let's allow them some gratitude and allow them to flow into the current. Thanking ourselves, Thanking the present moment. Let's prepare to transition back to the state of consciousness with which we meet the external world. Is there resistance? Can we flow with it? And so taking a few energising breaths and starting to mobilise our body. Fingers and toes, Wrists and ankles. Having a little stretch. When you're ready, Let's notice the external world. Thank you for practising with me.