Speaker 1 (00:09):
This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University.

Tracy Lapreziosa (00:20):
Hello, and welcome to today's Healing Circle call, brought to you by Networks for Training and Development. My name is Tracy Lapreziosa, and I'm coming to you from north-east Pennsylvania, in a town called Pottstown. We just had a very decent stretch of very unseasonable weather, and the leaves have been changing, and they're all just about down. So there's been a lot, a lot of change going on outside in my environment up here in north-east Pennsylvania. November is a time of a lot of energy, a lot of change, whether J outside in your environment, if you live where the, you can experience the season changes, or tomorrow's going to be a lunar eclipse, of course a lot of change there in our solar system. We have changes throughout our lives and throughout the seasons of our lives.

(01:20):
I try to look at my life, or within the lives of others and compare my lifespan to the seasons. Looking at spring as being the start of our life. Being a child, growing up, becoming a young adult. That becoming, become, being, blossoming into who you're going to be. Then we come to the summer of our life, which is really intense. A lot of energy, you're really working hard establishing yourself in a career, maybe establishing yourself in a relationship, maybe becoming a parent, raising a family. The summer is a very intense time of energy in our life, and we have a lot of changes within that span of the summer season of our life. And then we come to fall, the fall of our life, the autumn. Things are changing. The leaves are falling. Things are happening in our life too, that kind of mimic that. Maybe we're starting to cut back a little bit more on what we're doing with work. Maybe not. We may not have as much childcare responsibility, our children are grown, they're going off, they're doing their own. We may have grandchildren. But life is changing, ever-changing.

(02:48):
And then we come to the winter of our life. And I personally feel like I am just stepping into the winter of my life. Where we tend to really cut back on ... Maybe we really cut back on work because we want to have time to do the things that we want to do that maybe we didn't have time to do early in our life. And even though it's positive, the things we want to do, there's still a lot of feelings of turmoil that are within us whenever there's any kind of change, whether it's a positive change, or a negative change. It just creates all these feelings, and all this energy that kind of swirls up within us. And we just kinda come back to fall. Fall kind of (laughs) reminds me of that, because you have the, the breezes, and the wind, and the swirling of the leaves. And really that's kind of what go- the energy that kind of sweeps through our lifetime, throughout the seasons of our life.

(03:41):
So today, I wanted to just do, yeah, I believe meditation on change. Because we all experience change. We, we're all probably facing a major change in our life right now of some sort. Maybe it's a job change, maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's retirement, maybe it's a move, maybe it's a marriage. All kinds of changes. Maybe it's a loss. Change is everywhere, and we're all experiencing it. So let's find a spot and get nice and comfortable, whether it be lying on the floor, get totally grounded with your back on the floor, your hands by your side, feet on the floor. Or if you're sitting in a chair, same thing. Feet on the floor, just let your body kind of melt into the chair. Get nice and relaxed.

(04:44):
Drop your shoulders down, away from your ears. Lean back, open up that heart. And relax your jaw, relax your face, relax your body. Take a deep breath in, and out. And in, and out. Continue breathing in and out, deep breaths, focusing on your breath. Close your eyes if you like. Your tongue, and point it up behind, on the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Feel the grounding through your bodies. Feel the floor under your bottom, on your back if you're lying down. Find your breath.

(06:15):
Focus on your breath and the rise and the fall. And notice what's rising and falling. Is it your chest? Or is it your belly? Try to have it be your belly. Then we breathe in, we're going to expand. And when you breathe out, your belly kind of collapses as your diaphragm pushes the air up and out. So we're breathing in and out, some nice deep belly breathing. But don't let it bother you. Feel the air going in and out of your nostrils. Continue to relax and breathe.

(07:14):
Now, I want you come down into your head space, your mind. Come into your mind. Shuffle round in all those thoughts in there that have been swirling around today. Pick the one thought that is regards to a change in your life that's been taking up a lot of your thought time. That one change that's consuming you at the moment. And name it. Think of a name. It could be a silly name, or it could be a serious name, just give it a name, so it has an identity. Now, notice what feelings begin to bubble up when you're thinking about that change. What feelings are bubbling up? Are they feelings of grief? Sadness? Loss? Feeling this thought are associated with the end of something, something ending. Or are there feelings of disorientation? Confusion? Of vast openness? And we just have them, we don't know what to do.

(08:55):
Or, are there feelings of excitement? Of possibility? Or new beginnings? Maybe there's a combination of two, or more. Maybe it's all of them. Maybe you feel all of them. And I think a lot of times that happens when we're thinking about change. There's a lot ... It creates a lot of the turmoils, because we have these feelings that are, maybe they're sad feelings of ending something, but the positive feelings of moving on, and into something new or exciting. But still that feeling of I'm confused. There's so much to do, and how do I get there? There's just so much that bubbles up when you're coming to grips with change in our life.

(09:55):
So just take a few moments and notice the feelings that wash over you. And name them. Give them names. Sadness, grief, happy, confused. Give them names. All that wash over you. And continue to breathe, in and out, noticing these feelings. And experience each and every one of them, and allow them to be. If you begin to lose focus, come back to your breath, and breathe in, and out. Go back into your mind and find that change, that change that's been consuming you. And how is it making you feel? You can feel normal. So just continue to breathe, and think of those feelings. All of them that continue to wash over you. Notice how, as you continue to think about them and experience, and experience them, the intensity might just settle down a little bit.

(11:43):
So we start to make a little bit of sense with them. It's okay to have conflicting feelings. Continue to breathe and experience the feelings. Take your right hand and put it over your heart. Feel your heart beating. Feel the rhythm of life. Feel the warmth of your body, with the rhythm of your heart. Get a sense of the movement as you breathe with your hand on your heart. You feel your hand rising and falling. All those feelings rising and falling, creeping over you. Whatever you're feeling, hold it with care, and patience, and love. Feel what, whatever rises as it is. And now, when all is changing, it won't be this way forever. Let's take a few more moments to just continue to breathe.

(14:10):
Continue to keep your hand over your heart to feel the beating, and your heart, and the movement. Continue to acknowledge the thoughts as they come. Just be with your thoughts. And continue, breathe in, and out. Slowly begin to come out of this meditation. Wiggle your fingers. Wiggle your toes. Open your eyes. Have a nice big stretch. Take a deep breath. Change is inevitable. And change causes all kinds of feelings within us. But there are a few things that we can also do to help us when we are in those times of tumultuous energy within us, feelings that are out of control, changes that are coming up, and not knowing what's gonna happen. Maybe take a little bit more control over our environment. Practice grounding whenever we can. Go outside. Feel nature. Take walks. Plants, be with animals. Anything that you can do that helps you to feel grounded. You want to rest in these times, and rest deeply, and often.

(16:20):
It allows your mind to expect the unexpected. There's always endless possibilities of what can happen next. Expect the unexpected, because those can happen. It can be good things when we're expecting the unexpected. Release consistency into your routine to help you feel more in control. Have a self-care routine in the morning, and in the evening. Maybe have set times during the day where you exercise or eat, to help you keep a rhythm and a flow to your day. You know what's going to come next. And give yourself permission to silence your cellphone, turn off your computer, turn off your electronics, and just be. You don't have to be accessible to everyone 24/7. And just allow yourself to be.

(17:15):
These are just a few things that may be helpful when you're feeling all the turmoil or energy inside you when there's changes that are going to be coming up. So I hope that this was helpful. And I thank you for joining today's healing circle call. And I hope that you will join in next month for that healing call, and be sure to check out all the healing circle calls that have been recorded that are on the website, just next to the podcasts, so that you can listen to them anytime, anywhere. Thanks again, and have a beautiful tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
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