For the storm you can't stop. Instead of fighting it or bracing against it, sit down in the middle and stay steady.
About 8 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath.
We bring to mind a storm you've known. Someone passing, losing a job, moving house, or the news getting a bit too much. Most of us fight a storm until we're worn out, or brace and wait for it to pass. There's a third way. Picture yourself in a big wise armchair, like the man at the end of the bar who finishes his drink while the fight breaks out around him. You can care and still not engage. We end with three wishes, starting with may I be steady even when I cannot be calm.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
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The transcript
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Hi, I'm Steven Webb.
Welcome to this meditation.
For whatever storm or whatever's happening right now, or even the chaos, I'll use these both words interchangeably.
We're going to bring a storm to mind or a chaotic time in your life and reframe how we sit with it wisely.
Then we look at how we meet the storm that's here now, or the one still over the horizon.
You don't need to do anything with your body or your breath for this meditation.
Just become aware.
The body knows how to breathe.
The body knows how to relax.
And we just allow these things to happen.
Become aware of your face and your jaw and your eyes, your shoulders and your arms.
And as you become aware of them, just allow them to relax.
Your body's been waiting for this moment for quite a while already.
Breathing in calm, breathing out, relax.
And think of a storm you've known, or some chaos you've had in your life.
Something that's happened, it doesn't matter when.
It could be with someone passing or losing a job, moving house, or just the world's getting a little bit
too much and the news is a little bit overwhelming.
And just notice these moments.
They're not here to alarm you, just to bring them into your awareness.
And notice these storms don't ring a bell to warn you.
They don't phone ahead and say, "I'm on my way."
It'd be nice if they did.
And most of us do one of two things in a storm.
We fight it and wear ourselves out, or we brace against it and wait for it to pass.
And they both leave us very thin, not much energy, nothing left in the tank, overwhelmed and exhausted.
But there is a third way.
Sitting down in the middle of the storm.
And not fighting it, not hiding from it either, not trying to change it.
Just sitting there steady while it does what storms do.
Very much like that person at the end of the bar in the films.
The fight breaks out around him, and when it's over, he just finishes his drink and leaves.
Wisdom is realising we are in control of very little.
So imagine that storm, that chaos.
And imagine sitting in a big wise armchair as a wise person.
And whatever your wise armchair looks like, how different does it feel?
Just allowing the storm to be what it is.
Watching the chaos happen.
This is what wisdom looks like most days.
Just being witness to it, but not doing anything with it.
Not answering it, not fixing it.
Just enough steadiness that the wind doesn't knock you flat.
You can be very compassionate.
You can care about those who are suffering, but we don't need to engage.
And you can say it quietly inside.
I don't have to stop the storm.
I only have to stay and be aware.
And now we're going to do three wishes, and just allow each one to land fully within your whole body.
May I be steady even when I cannot be calm.
May I be steady even when I cannot be calm.
May I be kind to myself in the middle of it all.
May I be kind to myself in the middle of it all.
May I have enough in the tank for the next gust and the one after that.
May I have enough in the tank for the next gust and the one after that.
So in a moment we're just going to return to the room, and I want you to bring back with you that the
difference in feeling, sitting in a storm and just being aware of it, and sitting in a storm and trying
to fight it and trying to stop it.
So as you become aware of the room you're in, move your arms, shake out your fingers and toes.
Just look around and move your head around a little bit.
And welcome back.
And thank you for sitting with me today, and it really does mean a lot.
And all these meditations are brought to you completely free by listeners that just donate a coffee to
