Meditation for Aquarius New Moon & Lunar New Year: Navigating Life's Waves (92)

Hi everyone and welcome back to how the Wise One Grows, where we come together to reconnect to inner wisdom, one another and the natural world. In today's episode, you are going to hear a guided meditation that is supportive for the upcoming new moon and Aquarius, the lunar new year, for the year of the dragon, and you're going to learn the most helpful thing to know as we ride the waves of life. So, in honor of my 31st birthday, happening on Friday, I have a gift for me and for you, and that is that I am officially releasing the how the Wise One Grows Patreon community. So not only is this a space where you can support the podcast, it's also a space where you can come together with community to talk about the conversations we're having on the podcast and you can share your thoughts, how it's impacting you and your daily life and anything else that you want community support around. So if you want to join, there's a link in the show notes, and if you need an extra push, just remember it's my birthday. If you're thinking, wow, that Holly, she's really cool and really great, I'd love to support her or give her a birthday gift. This is your chance. Click the link in the show notes, join the how the Wise One Grows Patreon community so we can continue to learn and grow together. So, as we approach this time of new beginnings, with the new moon and Aquarius and the lunar new year, I want to share this teaching that keeps coming to me from a lot of angles, which is that the purpose is in the process and life isn't about getting anywhere or attaining anything there's no end result but instead it's about learning to trust yourself and remain rooted in your authenticity as you ride the waves, because otherwise we're missing the point. One of the ways I've been really hearing this teaching is through a series of the yoga sutras around verse 3.6. And these verses are talking about the process of meditation being a cycle where we find an object, we catch a little hang time where we're like actually focused on it. It's harder than it sounds and then we become immersed by it, we feel like at oneness with this thing and we fall off again and again throughout that process. The process keeps going on and on and on. Every time we sit, every time we wake up, it's not like you reach this sense of oneness and you carry it with you forever and you're done. It's ongoing, and in meditation and in life, what you practice grows stronger. So we know that this cycle is going to happen. So if I'm sitting in meditation and every time my mind wanders, I tell myself wow, holly, you're so dumb, you've been meditating for such a long time and you're still so bad at this, what's wrong with you? I'm actually not practicing meditation, I'm practicing judgment. So instead I can carry a quality of compassion and intention of compassion with me as I move through that cycle. So when my mind wanders, instead of beating myself up, I can be like wow, that was really human of you. You have a mind. It wandered. That's cool that you noticed it. Let's go back to the breath. That's instead practicing compassion. And the same is true in life. So in life, when you feel really good and then you fall off, instead of beating yourself up, you can again be like whoa, I fell off the wave, it's time to get back up and get on another one and find balance again. How can you carry this quality of compassion as you move through the waves of life? How can you remain rooted in a firm sense of who you are and your core values, meeting yourself with compassion as you ride the waves, as you fall off and as you get up and begin again. So we're going to practice this through our meditation today and we're going to find parallels and how you can apply it in your life as you are setting intentions during this time of year. So, if you haven't already done so, find a space that feels safe and supportive for you and if you aren't able to practice right now, know that there's a time stamp in the show notes so you can come back to this meditation again when you can remain seated and still. But I still recommend listening to it and soaking it in if you're here right now. So, wherever you are, notice where your body makes contact with the earth. If it feels safe, you can gently rest your eyes or soften the gaze to a point in front of you and take a big breath in and a big breath out Again. Inhale, fill your chest, fill your belly with air and exhale. Open your mouth, let it out. Inhale, chest and belly. Expand, exhale, let it all go. One more inhale and exhale. Just notice now where in the body you feel the breath, as it moves in and as it flows out, and begin by simply noticing it. Perhaps, as you inhale, think I'm breathing in and as you exhale, you're breathing out. Inhale, breathing in, exhale, breathing out. Anytime the mind wanders, meet it with kindness I know that's just part of being a human and having a mind and bring it back to that intention, that breath that never leaves you. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and start to get really curious about the breath. Lean in to the part of the breath that feels really good to you here. Continue to breathe with it, even allow yourself to become immersed by it, and start to get really curious about the breath, noticing when you fall off. Meet yourself with kindness and compassion. As we enter this wave of new beginnings, I invite you now to take a moment to listen to the breath, and as you exhale, you'll hear the breath of the breath, and as you exhale, you'll hear the breath of the breath. And as you enter this wave of new beginnings, I invite you now to reflect on what are your core values. I want this to be your intention here what roots you, what provides a firm sense of who you are? Thank you, and set that intention here To carry this quality with you as you move through this meditation, as you move through this wave of life and all that comes after that. Now that you know that quality, that intention you've set, I invite you to lean into. What does it feel like when you're living in alignment with that? How does it feel in your body when you're living in alignment with that core value? Notice where in the body you feel those sensations. Do they have a temperature, a texture, a taste, a smell? Envision it, feel it as clearly as you can. What does your life look like? What does it feel like when you're living in full alignment with that? So you're connecting with your core values within you, and then the things around you are lining up. What does that look like? What does that feel like? What does that oneness of your core values within you, connecting to the world around you, feel like? And then here's the secret sauce how do you meet yourself when you fall off, when you wobble, when you've had a bad day and when you've lashed out in a way that's not in alignment with that? How do you bring yourself back to your core values, to the root of who you are, as you begin again and get back up and ride that wave, what brings you back to your core as you wobble, inhale and exhale. Take a moment to feel really rooted at your core in the being of who you are here, being rooted in what is authentic to you. And let that be your surfboard as you ride the waves of life, knowing that it's perfectly human to wobble and fall. It doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong, it's just a part of the process. And ask yourself what do you need to do to remain rooted and to trust yourself as you ride the waves? Bring your hands to heart center. Take a moment to thank yourself For showing up for the process today, knowing that you are held and you are supported in it. As we continue to ride these waves together, let's take one more breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, and you can slowly open your eyes as you return to this space. Travel is one of the things that helps me grow the most, and that's why this year, I decided to put in some time to find the best travel rewards credit card that I could, and I ended up getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and so far I love it. It's got a ton of flexibility, it gives you great rewards points and when you sign up you get some bonus points and I actually have a referral link in the show notes. If you are interested in getting a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve credit card, it will give you and I some extra little points so that we can continue to travel and grow together.