Finding Freedom in the Breath: The Art of Letting Go with Athena Desai

A journey towards letting go unfolds through guided meditation and mindfulness practices. We emphasize the importance of breathwork and presence, guiding you to embrace this moment without judgment. 

• Meditation focuses on releasing past burdens 
• Grounding exercises create stability and connection 
• Breathing techniques promote relaxation and clarity 
• Encouragement to cultivate self-compassion during practice 
• Strategies for returning to the breath amidst distractions 
• Reflection on gratitude and acceptance 

If you'd like to delve deeper into this meditation, join us in practicing this essential tool for mindful living today.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to the Morning Formation
• 1:28 Introducing the Meditation on Letting Go
• 2:28 Importance of Being Present
• 3:58 Guided Breathwork Techniques
• 4:28 Visualization and Grounding Exercise
• 5:28 Closing Reflections and Gratitude Practice

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:47

Welcome to the Morning Formation. Give that one a listen to find yourself a safe space where you can close your eyes, relax a little bit and listen to this 20 minute meditation that she's provided, and it's geared towards letting go, so I hope this helps you, no matter what you're going through at this time. For a lot of us out there, there's a lot of crazy things going on in the world. Hopefully you're doing well, but just check in with each other and this is an opportunity for you to take advantage and listen to Athena. She does a really great job. Hope all is well, take care and enjoy hey everybody.

Speaker 2: 1:32

Today's meditation is about letting go of the past. Meditation is such a good tool for that, because one of the best ways we can do that is to be as present as possible as possible. Another way to do that is to take the orientation of an observer, and I would add, a loving and compassionate observer. So we're going to focus on our breathing, we're going to ground into our bodies, and I'll give you a few prompts along the way. You can take them on, you can leave them behind, but whatever intention you have for today, I want to encourage you that you're already doing the work of letting go, being present and being with what is. So let's start with three deep breaths. Try to breathe as deeply into your belly as you can. Let it come all the way up into your collarbones. Let it go all the way up into your collarbones. Let it go all the way back down. If you're really working on something you probably want to exhale through your mouth Gives it a little bit more strength, a little more energy. And now imagine some roots growing from your tailbone or the soles of your feet and they go all the way down into the center of the earth. Imagine that the earth has a beautiful crystal heart and that you can wrap your roots around that heart. You might feel your energy start to shift away from your head, your neck, your shoulders, and down towards your legs, your feet. Really feel into the support that the earth is giving you right now, whether you're seated or lying down, you don't have to hold yourself up here. Try to relax the parts of you that normally take on that role any muscles, tendons, ligaments that feel tight, constrict. Just try to breathe into them and relax.

Speaker 2: 6:40

This is a good time to set an intention for right now, that there's nothing to accomplish here. This is training. This is practicing. This is training. This is practicing. Stand in some trust that you will let go of what you. Let's choose one place to observe the act of breathing. This could be feeling the air going in and out of your nostrils or the rise and fall of your belly. Choose one as the place to return to and try it out. Thank you, I invite you to take on a gentle approach here.

Speaker 2: 8:42

Your mind is going to wander all minds do. Mind is going to wander all minds do. You may also find yourself wanting to alter your breath. That's okay too, you, but getting into the observer position allows us to relax all the parts of us that are always trying to do something and it brings forward the other parts of us that are deeply intuitive, strongly connected and capable of spaciousness. So try just noticing, just noticing, thank you. You may hear some judgment from yourself, some distraction with other unrelated thoughts. That's okay, it's natural.

Speaker 2: 11:28

See if you can, smoothly and with some lightness, return to the sensation and just notice. The more space we have around our thoughts and our emotions, the more new perspective we gain and the more possibility for choosing arises arising. So see if you can focus so much on your breath that everything else fades into the background. Thank you. As you train in this spaciousness, you'll be creating it around things from the past that have been difficult to let go of. This smooth, light, gentle touch that we're giving today to ourselves Creates more room for things to move.

Speaker 2: 15:14

Returning to the breath and the sensation Sensation, thank you. Reconnecting with the breath, relaxing into what is Doing. This relaxation, this creating of spaciousness, does not excuse what has happened or change it, but it gives us a new kind of power, a new kind of capability to honor, to accept, to forgive, to gain wisdom from what was and relay that wisdom into what we want to be. So I invite you to see if there's something that you can be grateful for, even in the reason why you came to today's meditation, and take three deep breaths, really standing in that gratitude, and if it feels right to you, I like to close my meditations with my hands in prayer position in front of my heart, with a slight bow to everything that we did and intended and will do. The light in me acknowledges the light in you, namaste.