Hello,
And welcome.
My name is Pratikha,
And this meditation is called It Is Not Your Fault.
There are moments when the body simply will not settle.
The mind keeps moving,
The chest remains tight,
Sleep does not come easily,
And even small things can feel overwhelming.
And after a while,
Many people quietly begin to assume that something about them is wrong.
Something needs to be fixed.
That they should be coping better,
Resting better,
Managing life better.
But what if much of this was never a personal failure?
What if the body was simply trying to protect you in the only ways it learned how?
For some people,
The nervous system has spent years remaining alert,
Watching,
Preparing,
Holding tension or trauma,
Expecting pressure,
Expecting difficulties,
Expecting something to happen.
And over time,
That state of inner readiness and alertness,
When there is no other viewpoint,
Can begin to feel normal.
Even physical and mental exhaustion can begin to feel normal.
Many people do not realise how much energy the body uses,
Simply trying to stay prepared all the time,
In a constant readiness of low energy.
And when this continues for long periods,
Rest itself can begin to be so unfamiliar.
Stillness can feel uncomfortable.
Quiet can feel strange.
The idea of relaxing can make one feel unsafe and vulnerable.
Not because anything is wrong with you,
But because the body has spent so long learning survival.
So tonight we come together.
There is nothing you need to force away.
Nothing you need to overcome immediately.
Nothing you need to become.
Perhaps this moment can simply be one of gentle pause from the habit of fighting yourself from readiness and reaction.
And perhaps for a few moments,
You can begin to quietly and calmly listen to the body differently.
Not as an enemy,
Not as a problem,
Not as something failing you,
But as something that has been tirelessly trying for a very long time to protect and serve you.
Even the anxious thoughts,
The tension,
The overthinking,
The feeling of overwhelm,
The inabilities to switch off,
May not be signs of weakness.
Very often they are signs of a nervous system that has carried too much for too long.
So there is no need to judge yourself too harshly for what you are experiencing now.
For the body has its own way of managing its environment.
It responds to life.
It responds to stress.
It responds to uncertainty.
It responds to emotional pain.
It responds to pressure that may never have been fully processed.
And many of these responses,
These reactions,
Happen automatically long before thought arrives,
Long before conscious awareness was learnt.
So perhaps healing does not begin through more self-criticism.
Perhaps it begins through deeper understanding,
Through patience,
Through self-care and kindness,
Through slowly allowing the body to discover in its own way that this moment is not the same as the past.
What was is not now.
You do not need to force yourself to relax right now.
You do not need to perform calmness.
You do not need to suddenly become peaceful.
Just notice what is already here.
This moment of breathing.
This moment of allowing.
The awareness of the contact of the body against your bed or the chair or the floor.
The simple fact that you are here,
Safe now.
Noticing perhaps the soft breeze gently moving the curtains as it blows in through the windows.
Or the fragrance of the flowers you have brought home.
Or the coolness of the grass beneath your feet.
Or the warmth and love your adored pet brings you.
And if the mind continues moving,
That is okay.
If tension is still present,
That too is okay.
Nothing has gone wrong.
Sometimes the deepest change begins very quietly through ending the inner conflict with your own experience.
So for these next few moments,
Allow the body to quietly soften in whatever way it naturally can.
Without pressure,
Without expectation,
Without needing to fix yourself first.
And through this,
Slowly,
Very slowly,
The nervous system can begin learning something new,
Something fresh.
How to quieten,
How to relax,
To rediscover calmness.
While noticing that not every moment requires protection.
That not every silence contains danger.
That rest does not need to be earned.
And that you,
Even exactly as you are now,
Were never broken.
Blessings to you.
