Hi,
I'm Bethany and I am honored to be with you here today for this parts work,
Nature-inspired,
Loving-kindness meditation.
We'll begin by finding a comfortable position,
Sitting or lying down,
However your body wants to be held right now.
Allow your eyes to close gently or soften your gaze down and in front of you.
Take a full breath in and a slow releasing breath out.
Take another breath and as you exhale,
Feel the weight of your body.
The ground beneath you.
Whatever is holding you right now,
The floor,
A chair,
The earth itself,
Let it hold you.
You don't have to hold yourself up in this moment.
You can rest.
Today,
We're going to practice metta,
Or loving-kindness,
Woven through the lens of the natural world and internal family systems.
The forest and the rivers and the roots beneath the soil have been practicing natural loving-kindness for millions of years before any of us have arrived.
And you,
Right now,
Are made of that same ancient life.
Before we begin to send love outward,
I invite you to begin to check inward with all the different parts of you that showed up today.
Take a breath and simply notice.
Is there a part of you that feels tired,
Worried,
Tender?
A part that maybe didn't really want to stop and slow down in this moment?
Whatever parts are here,
Just let them be seen and felt.
You don't have to change them or move them along.
Simply acknowledge them the way you might acknowledge large trees that are standing at the edge of a meadow,
Noticing they're there.
Even grateful they're there.
Place a hand on your heart or on your belly,
Whatever feels most natural for you.
And from that place,
That quiet,
Open center,
That in IFS we call the self,
Let love begin to grow there,
Like water in a stone basin,
Feeling its stillness and clearness.
You don't have to make this happen or work hard at it.
You don't have to perform.
Just notice what is already present,
However small or intense.
As you allow that feeling sense of love and warmth to grow in your heart center,
I invite you to imagine or feel yourself,
Sense yourself,
Sitting at the base of a great tree.
One whose roots go deeper than you can see.
Whose canopy spreads wider than you can take in.
This tree doesn't judge you.
It has watched countless sunrises without requiring any of them.
It offers shade simply because it can.
Bring to awareness all the parts of you,
The tender ones,
The guarded ones,
The ones still carrying old weights,
The ones that try hard to help you feel okay.
Let them all gather here at the base of this tree.
And from yourself,
The you that's not apart,
Offer them these words.
May you all feel safe.
May you all be held.
May you all be nourished.
May you all be at peace.
Feel each of these phrases sink into your body the way rain sinks slowly into the forest soil,
Not rushing,
Just moving steadily downward and inward to where it's needed.
Now,
I invite you to bring to mind or into your awareness someone you love easily,
A person,
An animal,
A child,
And allow their face or their essence to rise naturally the way light moves through trees.
Notice the warmth and any sensations that begin to stir in your chest when you bring them here.
That warmth,
That tingling,
That openness that's real,
That's energy moving through you.
See if you can let it expand another centimeter or inch like warmth radiating out from the center of your chest.
Directing that energy toward this being you just imagined,
Offer them these words.
May you be safe.
May you be held.
May you be nourished exactly as you are in this moment.
May you be at peace.
Let another being or person arise in your awareness.
Bring to mind someone neutral,
Someone you passed today without really seeing,
Or someone who served you at the coffee shop or the grocery store,
Someone you'll never really know by name.
They too have parts.
They too have carried burdens.
Now imagine you're saying to this person,
May you be safe.
May you be held.
May you be nourished.
May you be at peace.
Bring to mind or your awareness another person or being,
Perhaps someone you care for who is struggling right now,
Someone carrying something heavy.
Begin to see them and feel them,
Perhaps imagining them standing in front of you.
Offer your warmth from your heart center.
Nod as a fix,
Just your presence.
And say to them,
Extending the energy of the words,
May you be safe.
May you be held.
May you be nourished.
May you be at peace.
And now,
Gently,
Only if it feels possible,
Bring to mind in your awareness someone who you may have a challenge with.
Someone who stirs up something hard or uncomfortable or tight in you.
You do not have to like what they've done.
You do not have to approve.
But they,
Like you,
Have parts that are afraid,
Parts that are hurting.
And they,
Too,
Arrived in this world as a newborn,
Deserving of love.
So,
From this heart space,
This warmth in you,
You can offer this from a distance,
Without requiring anything to change.
May you be free from suffering.
May something in you find its way toward peace.
May you be safe.
May you be held.
May you be nourished.
May you be at peace.
Notice that this may have been challenging or it may not have.
Notice what may be loosened even slightly in your own body.
And know that this one takes regular,
Ongoing practice.
And the more you work with this meditation,
The more it is easier to connect with that ever-present sense of love and compassion with all beings.
Now let those circles fall away.
Let the edges dissolve.
Imagine that you are looking down on the earth,
Seeing every forest,
Every ocean,
Every creature asleep and awake.
Every person you will never meet who is right now breathing,
Alive.
The trees in the forest are connected at the roots,
Sharing nutrients,
Sending signals through mycelial web,
Nourishing one another across great distances.
You are part of that web too.
Your breath right now is cycling carbon that a rainforest breathed out recently.
You are not separate from life and you never have been.
Allow that knowing to settle in.
Let it be felt as warmth or an expansion or a quiet opening,
Whatever energy awareness rises naturally for you in this space.
And from your heart center,
Share these words with all of life.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be held by this earth that never stops holding us.
May all beings be nourished by light,
By love,
By the gift of one another's presence.
May all beings be at peace.
May the forest be at peace.
May the rivers and oceans be at peace.
May the creatures of the air and the soil and the deep places be at peace.
May this living,
Breathing planet be at peace.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be well.
Release your connection and gently begin to draw your awareness back,
Back to this breath,
Back to the weight of your body wherever you are,
Back to the particular life that is yours to live.
That loving energy that you have cultivated here,
It is not gone when you open your eyes.
It is always here for you to tap into,
Connect with,
Long after this practice ends.
If it feels right,
Thank all the parts of you that were willing to be here and allow you to be in this experience.
Thank this body that breathes without being asked to.
And perhaps thank that invisible thread that connects you to every living thing.
And when you're ready,
Take one deep breath in and a long,
Slow exhale.
Let your eyes gently open.
Gently look around the room.
Allow yourself to return to the present moment,
Alert and aware and ready to move forward in your day.
Thank you for being with me in this practice.
May you return to it again and again to connect to that place in your heart that holds compassion,
Care,
Calm,
Presence and perspective.
May you be well and bye for now.
