Welcome,
I'm so glad that you're joining me today.
We're going to start by finding a position that's comfortable.
Find a tall spine and something where you feel you can sink into your position but stay awake.
As you find your way to that position,
Take a few moments to bring yourself to practice.
Give yourself permission to enjoy practice fully and give yourself permission to be completely present.
Turn your focus away from the world and its responsibilities.
Not letting the outside world steal from this time,
From this practice.
Notice the breath coming into the body.
Follow its path in and follow its path back out.
Use this focus on each inhale and each exhale to bring you deeper into meditation,
Further from the outside world.
Begin to balance the inhale with the exhale.
Inhaling for maybe a count of three and exhaling for the same count of three.
Inhaling two,
Three,
Exhaling two,
Three.
If it's comfortable and you can,
Extend to a count of four for the inhale and the exhale.
Lengthen that breath and feel the balance of both parts of the breath.
Begin turning your mind's eye to your daily life.
How many opportunities do you have?
How many relationships do you enjoy?
How many activities can you participate in?
How much time and freedom do you have to be productive and to pursue your passions?
What abundance surrounds you daily?
Think about your home.
Think about your family.
Think about your community of friends.
Think about your neighborhood,
Your area,
Your world.
What abundance surrounds you?
What do we do with this abundance?
Do we honor this abundance?
Do we give back to these surroundings,
To this abundance?
Do we take it for granted?
Do we steal from each other,
From the earth,
From ourselves,
From the present,
From the future,
Maybe without even thinking about it?
Think about people who leave you feeling lighter and happy.
Allow their faces to come into the mind's eye.
What about their interactions leave you feeling lighter,
Feeling lifted and happy?
What do they bring you and give you?
And then consider how do they feel when they leave your interactions?
Are they similarly lifted and lighter?
And can we be sure that we are not stealing their light,
But reflecting it back to them,
Giving as well as receiving?
Do we steal from the earth,
From those who will come next?
Allow the mind's eye to see the beauty of your world.
Your favorite walking paths,
Trees,
Lakes and streams,
Mountains and oceans,
Flowers,
Grass,
Snow,
The sky.
How can we limit our own footprint,
Respecting Mother Nature and its gifts?
How can we plant more than we pick?
What do we steal from ourselves?
Do we self-sabotage,
Judge,
Critique,
Demand perfection?
Do we allow ourselves to steal in this way by thinking that it as less of a theft?
Would we allow others to steal like this from our loved ones?
How can we sit in truth,
Maintain our own worth,
And honor our energy and our work?
Honor who you are,
Your uniqueness,
As you are.
And vow to no longer steal that power,
That energy,
That which makes you an individual.
Do we steal from the present?
Are we fully enjoying what is around us?
Or stealing from our present moment to worry about the future or relive the past?
Do we steal from today,
Thinking about what cannot be changed or predicted?
Do we find ourselves reliving the past,
Remembering and regretting,
And rewriting what cannot be changed?
Do we let the darkness of the past seep into our present and shade its coloring?
Or do we spend time wanting,
Anticipating the future,
Both in excitement and in fear?
What might come next?
Will it be good?
Will it be sad?
These questions only drawing us away from what is right in front of us.
These views are dark.
The past is over and the future unknown.
What is around us each day is bright and in full view,
Vivid.
Engage but don't expect.
Cultivate but don't critique.
Enjoy but don't consume.
Honor but don't control.
Engage but don't expect.
Cultivate but don't critique.
Enjoy but don't consume.
Honor but don't control.
Enjoy a few more moments visualizing your world as someone who engages but doesn't expect,
Who cultivates but doesn't critique,
Who enjoys but doesn't consume,
And who honors but doesn't control.
Inhale in those qualities with each breath.
Begin to come back to that balanced breath.
Consciously aware of your breath again.
The inhale as it comes in,
The exhale as it moves back out.
Once again,
Inhaling for that count of three or four,
And that exhale for the same count of three or four.
And then gently returning to your natural breath,
Becoming aware of the body,
Maybe inviting some gentle movement.
Coming back into your space,
Taking your time returning back to the world,
And maybe drawing hands to heart center and thanking yourself first for this practice,
Just as I thank you so much for joining me today.
Namaste.
