A practice with Karen
Loosening the grip on what has not yet arrived.
Read the script slowly, in your own time — or record it in your voice and it will play here.
Record this sessionThe script
01Sit comfortably. Make a fist with one hand and hold it for five slow seconds. Then let it open.
02That is what we are doing today, but with the mind.
03Notice what you are gripping. A result. A reply you are waiting for. A version of the future that must go a certain way.
04You do not have to let it go. You only have to hold it more loosely. There is a difference, and the difference is everything.
05Breathe in for four. Out for six. As you breathe out, imagine the grip opening by a finger's width.
06Ask, gently: what is actually mine to carry today? Usually it is much smaller than what we are holding.
07Set down the parts that are not yours. You can pick them up again later if you truly need them.
08Now feel your hands, open and empty, and notice that nothing has fallen apart in the last minute.
09Take three more long breaths, and return to the room slowly.
— Karen