Erika

Noemi

Balearic Islands, Spain

Alice

Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Marijo

QC, Canada

Leonie Odey

Qualicum Beach, Canada

Gill B

Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom

FairySarah ️

Brianna Fulginiti

jesse Phoenix

Dawn

Maryland

Steve Robison

Harbeson, DE, USA

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Jeff

Cambria, CA, USA

Jack

Massachusetts, USA

Lupe Langan

Stephen S

Sacramento, CA, United States

sarah

New Haven, CT, USA

Secular

Stress & Anxiety

Secular Mindfulness

Anxiety

English

It's normal to want to control everything around us... being in control makes us feel safe and secure. The reality however is that there is very little that we can actually control outside of ourselves. Learning how to trust ourselves, to trust in the process of our lives, and to trust in things to unfold as they should help us to let go of the fear or anxiety of the unknown. Enjoy this short meditation to help you start to cultivate trust.

Trusting The Process

 Welcome to today's meditation. In today's meditation we're going to be exploring the concept of trust, trusting ourselves, trusting the process of life and moving into a state of acceptance and allowance as opposed to resistance and constriction. Before we get started I invite you to take your meditation seat, ensuring that your sit bones feel heavy and connected to the earth and your spine is tall, crown of the head as always reaching towards the sky. Take a few moments to settle into your seat and allow the breath to become slow and deep in cleansing, focusing on extending the inhale, filling up the lungs and the belly and a long cleansing exhale, just letting go of any tension that the body or the mind may be holding. Just breathe for a few moments, settling in, allowing any constrictions from the day, any thoughts from the day, any frustrations from the day to settle and getting the body and the mind into a state of simply being. As we explore the topic of trust, I invite you to become curious about the body when you hear the word resistance. When we resist something, we do not accept it, we do not trust it, we often fight against it. Take a few moments to really feel into what that experience is like in your body. Maybe there is something in your life right now that you are resisting, denying its presence, not allowing it to be true, to be real. Think of anything in your life that you are resisting and reflect inward, do any other emotions arise when you think of this resistance? Is there a sense of desperation, frustration, a need for control, perhaps fear or worry? Simply recognize the emotions or the thoughts which come up when you notice what you are resisting. I now invite you to explore what that feels like in the physical body. Using your mind's eye to scan the body, exploring where does resistance sit for me within my body, what sensations arise for me and where is it present? Notice what's going on in your pelvis and your hips, in your womb space, in your stomach, your chest, your heart, your throat, tops of your shoulders and your neck, possibly even your jaw or the space behind your eyes. What does resistance feel like? Is there a constriction, an anxiety, a blocking, perhaps even a pressure? Learn to hold this and recognize it. We don't run away from it but we recognize what resistance brings us, what it makes us feel on multiple levels. Does resistance serve you? Does resistance align you to who you truly are? Does it help you or hinder you? Take a deep breath into this feeling of resistance. Let's inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth together, breathing in. Exhale through the mouth to release. I'm now going to introduce a new word and this word is trust. I trust. I trust in things to unfold as they should. I trust that this is what is supposed to be happening for me right now. I trust that there will be a resolution. I trust in divine timing. I trust in the path of my life. I trust in the purpose of roadblocks and difficulties. Notice when I use the word trust, what other thoughts or emotions come to your mind. I trust. When we trust, what do we feel? When we accept, what becomes easier? Perhaps there is a feeling of relief, maybe of hope. Perhaps there is a feeling of safety, kind of like a knowing that everything will be okay and everything will work out exactly as it's supposed to. Allow this feeling of trust to wash over your body. Try to apply it to the situation you had in mind and just observe what happens in your body when you stop resisting and you start trusting. Once again noticing the hips and the pelvis, the space of the womb, the belly, the chest, the heart, the throat, the tops of the shoulders, the jaw, the space behind the eyes. I trust. I accept. What happens to the feelings of tightness, constriction or anxiety? Where do they go? How do they feel? What happens to the nervous system? Does this feeling of relief and safety feel more comfortable for you? Does it feel more right, more purposeful, more useful? Take a deep breath in to trust, inhaling together through the nose, opening the mouth to exhale. I trust. I accept. Allow yourself a few more moments, a few more breaths to be with this feeling. Remember to call upon trust whenever you get stuck in resistance, to notice the choice between resistance and accepting, to follow the path of least resistance, to know that that is always available to you. Stay for as long as you need to in this meditation. Otherwise you can take a few more breaths and gently start to move the body, to awaken the body and to come back to present. The meditation practice is now complete. I invite you to journal on your experience of resistance versus trust and perhaps see what needs to be done, what needs to be remembered in order to live a life which feels more at peace.