Make a fist round the thing you are clinging to, then open your hand. Notice it does not fly off. That is the whole lesson.
About 11 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
It can be an object, a person, a habit, or just how you think things ought to go. First you feel the grip, actually in your fingers. Then you open the hand and let it sit there like a butterfly, not pushed away and not held. Push at an attachment and it grips harder. Stop pushing and it starts to loosen on its own.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
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Hello. Welcome to the meditation, the open hand of allowing. This is the meditation to help you
Steven Webb:just to let go of something that you may be feeling you're a little attached to.
Steven Webb:So, just begin by
Steven Webb:recognising you're here,
Steven Webb:feeling the weight of your body,
Steven Webb:and just let your body rest.
Steven Webb:Feel your breath as it moves through you.
Steven Webb:There's no need to change your breath.
Steven Webb:And just let the awareness of your breath remind you that you're right here now.
Steven Webb:You're not anywhere else. You
Steven Webb:have nothing else to do.
Steven Webb:You don't even have to control your breath. You
Steven Webb:don't even have to relax your body.
Steven Webb:Allow your body to relax and Allow your breath to be what it is.
Steven Webb:Allow your shoulders to relax.
Steven Webb:Allow your jaw to soften.
Steven Webb:You've got nothing to hold up right now.
Steven Webb:There's nothing to solve.
Steven Webb:Just be here.
Steven Webb:Allowing this moment to be what it is.
Steven Webb:If a thought or a feeling arises, just recognise I thought And give it a gentle smile and
Steven Webb:move back to your awareness of breath.
Steven Webb:Breathing in calm. Breathing out relax
Steven Webb:Now just gently bring to mind something that you're clinging to.
Steven Webb:Could be a object or it
Steven Webb:could be some kind of addiction or just a thought or a
Steven Webb:person. It could even be a pet.
Steven Webb:It could even be just expectations of the future. How things should Be
Steven Webb:Or how someone else should be.
Steven Webb:And just feel this deeply. What it feels like to be holding on to it What it feels like to
Steven Webb:have it in your life.
Steven Webb:Now I want you to feel what it's like to be holding it in your hand.
Steven Webb:Really tightly in your clenched hand. You're
Steven Webb:holding on to it with everything.
Steven Webb:And now just feel your fingers gripping. Feel the tension.
Steven Webb:This is what it's like to really clench hold of something so what the body's doing. It may
Steven Webb:not be quite so noticeable as in your hand this is what you're doing to hold on to something.
Steven Webb:And now just very gently, just open your hand
Steven Webb:And I want you to
Steven Webb:I want you to let it go.
Steven Webb:Just imagine trying to push it away from you. It's
Steven Webb:really important to you that this is let go, this is gone.
Steven Webb:And I want you to notice what that feels like.
Steven Webb:That feeling of trying to let something go that won't let go.
Steven Webb:Now I just want you to come back to your breath.
Steven Webb:Just breathing in calm. Breathing out relax
Steven Webb:Just imagine now this thing that you're holding on to.
Steven Webb:And you just open your hand again and this time instead of pushing it away, instead of letting it go,
Steven Webb:you just allow it to be what it is.
Steven Webb:It could be like a butterfly and
Steven Webb:you just allow it to be on your hand. You're not trying to
Steven Webb:Force it to fly away.
Steven Webb:If it wants to stay, it can stay.
Steven Webb:And how does that feel in your body this time?
Steven Webb:Does it feel much easier? Does
Steven Webb:it feel more relaxed?
Steven Webb:And this is the thing with attachments and anything we're holding on to.
Steven Webb:It's very much when we try to push them away or we try to let go of them. They grab
Steven Webb:hold even more.
Steven Webb:And the body subconsciously doesn't want to let it go because
Steven Webb:there may be some unresolved tension
Steven Webb:there may be something else happening.
Steven Webb:Sometimes it's so deep that we cannot even see it. And
Steven Webb:sometimes it can be really obvious.
Steven Webb:But if we, instead of trying to let it go,
Steven Webb:instead of trying to do it with an action, if we just allow it to be what it is, the
Steven Webb:body and the mind goes, okay,
Steven Webb:I'll move on to the next important thing.
Steven Webb:And it might be your tea. It might be something
Steven Webb:completely different.
Steven Webb:But it won't try to force it as a constant. I need to let it go. I need to drop
Steven Webb:this. I need to push it away.
Steven Webb:And then in time, you'll think about it less. When it does come up, you just go, ah, you're still
Steven Webb:here. Okay.
Steven Webb:And then in time, the mind and the subconscious mind will just eventually
Steven Webb:realise it's gone. It's
Steven Webb:no longer part of your life.
Steven Webb:So the difference is when we're trying to grab hold of something. And when people are trying to advise us
Steven Webb:to let it go, the act of letting go sometimes is what stops you letting it go. Because that
Steven Webb:thing doesn't want to be let go of. And
Steven Webb:I know that's like a paradox. But that's how the subconscious mind works.
Steven Webb:It isn't always your friend. It doesn't always know the wisest thing to do.
Steven Webb:Bring your attention back to your breath. Breathing in calm. Breathing out relaxed.
Steven Webb:And bring your awareness back to what you can hear.
Steven Webb:Maybe the temperature of the room you're in or whether you're outside. You
Steven Webb:can feel the seat you're sat on.
Steven Webb:You feel the weight of your body.
Steven Webb:And just before we come back, just remember the feeling of trying to let something go is almost like that
Steven Webb:clenched fists The
Steven Webb:forcing of opening it. And
Steven Webb:when you just accept the fact that
Steven Webb:You can just allow it to be
Steven Webb:And then it moves on, that whole feeling is
Steven Webb:can be different
Steven Webb:So have a deep gratitude for this moment.
Steven Webb:Be grateful of your body for indulging in this exercise. The
Steven Webb:ego doesn't always like to do things differently.
Steven Webb:But now you have a different way of letting things go. Just
Steven Webb:by allowing. It's
Steven Webb:much easier.
Steven Webb:So as I come back from five four just gently open your eyes three shake out
Steven Webb:your arms a little bit. Move.
Steven Webb:And... Two, look around the room. One, just be really aware of what's going on now and just thank you
Steven Webb:for trying something a little bit different today in this meditation
Steven Webb:and please let me know if it works and thank you for your support and keeping all these guided meditations
Steven Webb:on this podcast completely free. You
Steven Webb:can find out ways how to support me and my work by going to StevenWebb.uk. Thank you.