Welcome.
Find a comfortable position,
Seated or lying.
Then allow your eyes to close or rest your gaze softly.
Feel the support beneath you and let it receive a little more of your weight.
Throughout this practice,
Be kind to yourself.
There's no perfect way to sit or particular way you need to feel.
If you need to move,
Adjust your position or open your eyes,
Just allow yourself to do so.
Let this practice support you.
Without becoming another thing,
You have to get right.
Let your jaw settle.
Your hands rest.
And your shoulders relax.
Notice the natural rhythm of your breath.
Let your body breathe itself.
For the next few minutes,
This is your time.
So let yourself pause.
Gently ask yourself,
What has been weighing on me?
Perhaps something from your past.
A relationship.
Responsibility.
Or a hope that life would be different.
Let one thing come to mind,
Something you feel able to meet today.
There's no need to revisit every detail.
Notice how your body responds.
Where do you sense it?
Cross your shoulders.
Around your head.
Within your chest.
Or in your tummy.
Heaviness or a restless staring.
Let your own experience guide you,
And if nothing is clear,
Simply notice how you feel as you sit with it.
If it feels comforting,
Place a hand where you notice the feeling,
Or somewhere nearby that feels natural.
And feel the warmth of the general ready,
We can soften a little together.
Let the words settle and feel the contact of your hands.
Nothing needs to change for you to offer yourself this care.
Now imagine that you've been carrying a heavy coat.
Its weight rests across your shoulders.
Its hood surrounds your head.
And it draws close around your body.
Woven into it are the things life has asked you to carry,
And the things you have taken upon yourselves.
Perhaps the worry of caring for someone.
The effort of helping them find their way.
Or waiting for someone you love to change.
Perhaps old huts.
Your own or other people's expectations.
A person you miss.
Or something lost or left unfinished.
And perhaps the life you imagined you would be living by now.
Let whatever belongs to your experience give this coat its weight.
Perhaps this coat once fitted.
It offered protection,
Or helped you meet what life required of you then.
But you've grown.
Your needs have changed.
And parts of it no longer fit.
What you once wore without noticing,
Now feels heavy or too close.
You may have become so accustomed to its weight that it feels part of you now.
Take a moment to sense the person beneath it.
You are here,
Beneath everything you have carried.
Even when something feels heavy,
Setting it down can be difficult.
Perhaps wearing this coat has come to mean being dependable,
Being loyal,
Being the one who keeps going.
Perhaps taking it off feels like letting someone down,
Giving up hope,
Or moving further from someone you miss.
Notice whether there is any hesitation and meet that with kindness too.
Gently ask yourself.
What would putting this down mean to me?
There's no need to search for an answer.
Let whatever comes be enough.
Perhaps you can care for someone without carrying everything for them.
Be beside them,
Without being responsible for every step they take.
And recognise that your life and your needs deserve care as well.
You can remember someone without asking yourself to remain in the pain of losing them.
You can honour what you hoped for and begin to meet what is here.
There may still be sadness.
There can also be room for your life to continue.
Return to the place beneath your hand or wherever you first noticed the feeling.
Sense the area around it.
Of the surrounding muscles ease a little.
Even if the feeling itself remains,
As though making room beneath the coat.
You might quietly say to yourself,
I have carried a great deal.
I can allow myself some rest.
You don't have to keep wearing something simply because it once fit it.
Imagine loosening the coat,
Just enough to feel a little space between its weight and your body.
Slowly ease the hood back,
Allowing room around your head.
Feel the air against your face.
And the freedom around your neck.
When you feel ready,
Slip one arm free.
Then the other.
Let the coat slide from your shoulders and settle onto the ground beside you.
You can leave it there for now.
If removing it feels a little too much today,
Simply let it rest more loosely around you.
Your own pace is enough.
Notice your shoulders.
A space across your chest.
The room around your tummy.
Let your body settle and your breath move naturally.
How does it feel to carry a little less?
You are still here.
The love,
The memories,
And what you have learnt can remain.
The coat has been part of your experience,
But it does not contain everything that you are.
Perhaps there's relief or a quiet sense of lightness.
Perhaps sadness.
Uncertainty.
Very little change.
There's no feeling you need to produce.
Just let yourself receive whatever this moment is offering you.
Now gently consider.
Perhaps letting go doesn't take more from me.
Perhaps it gives back something else.
Room to feel myself again and meet the life that is here.
Rest here for a little while.
As you rest,
Listen to these words from Erin Hansen.
Let whatever speaks to you settle in its own time.
I was the type of person that held on to things too tight,
Unable to release my grip when it no longer felt right.
And although it gave me blisters and my fingers would all ache,
I always thought that holding on was worth the pain it takes.
I used to think in losing things,
I'd lose part of me too,
That slowly I'd become someone my heart no longer knew.
Then one day something happened.
I dropped what I had once held dear.
But my heart became much lighter,
Instead of filled with fear.
And it taught my heart that some things aren't meant to last for long.
They arrive to teach you lessons,
And they continue on.
You don't have to cling to people who no longer make you smile,
Or do something you've come to hate if it isn't worth your while.
But sometimes the thing you're fighting for isn't worth the cost,
And not everything you ever lose is bound to be a loss.
Begin to notice the room around you.
The sounds.
And the contact beneath your body.
Feel your natural breath.
Notice whether you feel a little lighter,
As though some of the weight has lifted from your shoulders.
Let yourself rest in whatever ease is here.
Invite movement into your fingers and toes.
Stretch or adjust in whatever way feels comfortable.
That when you're ready.
Gently open your eyes.
Take your time.
And as you return to your day.
Remember that you,
Too,
Are someone worthy of your care.
Namaste
