We are here,
Sonya Renee Taylor and myself,
And.
.
.
We're going to lead you through a practice of embodiment.
Through meditation and breathing.
This is an invitation for you to find a seat.
Make yourself comfortable.
You could be even standing if you'd like.
Wherever you are,
Notice the ground.
Notice wherever your body is connecting to the ground.
And then notice your breath.
Notice your breath as it enters.
As it exits,
Lengthen the breath.
As you draw in.
Feel your inhale getting longer.
And as you exhale,
Feel your shoulders relaxing.
Inhale into your belly.
Filling the navel.
Lifting the lungs.
And as you exhale.
.
.
Release any stress in your body.
Release your shoulders.
Release all the muscles in your face and your jaw.
Dial in to this moment.
Being present.
Staying with the breath.
And begin to notice the sounds.
If there's any sounds you can hear.
In your space.
Outside of your room.
Become aware of how these sounds Move into your body.
How your listening can become more and more subtle.
When you direct your attention.
Listening more deeply.
Listening to the whispers.
Be here for another minute with the breath.
With the sounds.
With the deep listening.
And begin to allow.
The breath to soften.
So you can feel.
The depth of the stillness.
As we look in.
Gazing inwards.
From this location of inwardness.
Just want to invite you to.
Imagine.
To imagine a moment of of challenge,
Perhaps from your last week,
The last few days.
A moment where perhaps you met a version of yourself.
That you didn't like.
Maybe there was a response that felt.
.
.
Not like how you would have preferred to respond.
Perhaps there was.
And action you took.
That in reflection did not feel.
Like the action most aligned with your truth.
Perhaps you thought something and then felt.
Not good about the thought you had.
Just allowing it to rise into your heart.
Mind's Eye.
And to just see it.
And then the invitation once.
That memory.
Or reflection has.
Appeared inside of your mind's eye.
Is to give it a body.
Outside of you.
To imagine it as a person.
Maybe it is a person you recognize,
A person you know.
Maybe it's a fictional character.
Maybe it's.
.
.
Just made up,
Not actually anyone you actually know.
All of that is totally fine.
But to just allow it to have arms and legs,
To have a face.
Have a body and a structure to itself.
To be a living being.
Not just a notion,
Not just an idea.
Not just a regret.
In an actual physical embodiment.
Of the experience of that moment.
And to allow yourself to just see that being standing before you.
And two.
Connect with the emotion.
That you felt.
In the moment that you had the experience.
Of feeling misaligned or not acting in your highest self.
To allow the sensation of that experience to come back into your body.
To notice where that sensation lives.
That physical response.
To the experience which is now a being standing in front of you.
Perhaps you felt.
A heaviness in your chest.
Perhaps you felt a tingling in your belly or your extremities.
Perhaps your jaw tightened.
Or your temples got tense and heavy.
Or your throat got constricted.
Wherever that sensation lives in your body.
Call it to your awareness.
And invited to be present in this moment.
Now I want you to imagine.
That the body that is standing in front of you,
It represents that experience or moment.
Is having the same physical sensations that you are.
So if there was a heaviness in your chest,
There is a heaviness in the chest.
Of the representative body standing in front of you.
If there was a tightening in the band across the forehead in temples,
Then there is a tightening in the band across the forehead in temples for the person standing in front of you.
If there is tingling in the arms and legs.
For you that there is also tingling in the arms and legs of the being standing in front of you.
Just take a moment.
And notice.
That the experience you are having is also the experience they are having.
This being that is shame or regret.
This being that is rage or jealousy or anger.
This being that is cowardice or greed.
Or victimization.
That it is having.
They are having the same.
Experience that you are happy.
And from this location of.
.
.
Recognition.
I want you to.
Invite the being that is standing before you.
To look at you,
To look you.
In your eyes.
And to see you.
As you are seeing them.
And if you are willing.
To take one step toward this being.
One step closer.
Closing the space between you and them.
As you take that step forward,
Notice in your body if there are new sensations.
If the sensations that you were experiencing before,
If they are amplified.
Where do you notice it in your body now?
Where are you feeling that closer step towards them in your own physical body?
And then once again,
Imagine that whatever sensation it is you are experiencing in your body now.
They are also experiencing in there.
If your heart began beating faster,
Their heart also began beating faster.
If your palms became tingly or clammy,
Their palms became tingly or clammy.
And from this place of recognition,
Once again,
Take a deep breath.
Hmm.
And if you feel capable.
Invite them to take one step closer to you.
And notice how it feels to have.
This being who represents some aspect of yourself,
Some reaction or response.
That you did not.
Like.
How does it feel to have them step even closer to you?
And once again,
Just notice what you feel in your body.
And where you feel it.
Getting in touch with the sensations that occur as you and this being step closer and closer to each other.
And from this place of recognition and closeness.
I invite you to imagine extending your hands.
Toward the heart of the being standing before you.
Allowing yourself.
Feel the connection between you.
And them.
And to notice.
How dare they?
Feels beneath your palm.
And I invite you.
To allow them to extend their palms.
And place it on your heart.
And notice.
Notice the synchronicity.
Of your heartbeats.
Notice how.
Their heart is beating in the same rhythm that your heart is beating.
That the sensations in your body are the sensations in their body.
And from this place of connection.
From this location.
Of.
Synchronicity.
Invite them into an embrace.
Can you?
Embrace this aspect of yourself.
Allowing yourself to feel the synchronicity and rhythm of your heartbeats together.
To feel your arms on their back.
And their arms on yours.
Allowing yourself to embrace jealousy.
Or rage.
Greed or shame.
Anger.
.
.
.
.
Or victimization.
Manipulation.
You're a cowardice.
Feel.
Them holding you.
Being one with you.
Allowing yourself.
To feel.
One with them to feel held.
By this unlikely friend.
And as you are in this embrace,
You notice that.
The boundaries between your body and their body.
Seem to be dissolving.
That as you hold them,
You feel them.
Sort of merging into your own being.
Not just a thought in your mind,
But.
.
.
Merging.
Their arms are your arms.
They're like.
.
.
Are merging with your legs.
But most importantly,
That their heart.
Is merging with your heart.
That they are no longer a being outside of you.
That represents some distant part of yourself,
But instead a place of intimacy and closeness within you.
Not only just the thought in your mind of judgment.
But merged with the fullness of you.
Merged with your own heart.
And that you can allow yourself to feel this outpouring of love.
For them,
For the space that they.
.
.
Held outside of you.
Of the time that they spent.
Just being a judged thing by you.
But instead now.
Get to be what they've always wanted to be.
Which is in union.
With you.
To be welcomed home.
Into the fullness of your own heart.
To be part of the whole that is you.
And from this location of unification,
I invite you to just take a deep breath in through your nose.
Filling your belly,
Filling your lungs,
Filling your heart space and welcoming them home.
And releasing with an exhale.
And another deep breath in.
And releasing the exhale.
And as we come back to.
.
.
The breath.
As we come back into the deep listening.
Of the breath.
Feeling it as it travels in.
Experiencing it.
As it journeys out.
Returning back into the sounds.
The deep whispers.
The emergence of the silence.
We'll take just a few more breaths.
In silence together.
Listening deeply.
Feeling deeply.
Imagining deeply.
And then we invite you to bring your hands up towards your heart center.
Maybe bringing one palm over the other.
I'm feeling the.
.
.
The bomb.
South.
A gift of.
.
.
Letting go.
And becoming whole.
With all the parts of us.
All the reflections and the fractals.
One final breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relax your arms,
Release your hands.
Release your breath.
Come back into the space.
You may blink your eyes open again.
Make any movements that feel comfortable.
Thank you for practicing with us.
Thank you for your practice.
Thank you,
Sanya,
For leading us through that beautiful visualization.
My pleasure.
