This is Janine Tandy and welcome to the practice.
Today I'll be offering you a meditation that invites and reminds us of our own inner stability that is here all the time within.
And I find this practice compelling because we're not always conscious of how much we give away or allow our feelings of being grounded and stable to be placed in other people's hands or in other circumstances that are outside of our own.
And so we'll begin by inviting in this U-turn,
This opportunity to gather our attention to here within our own body heart and mind.
So invite in a dignified quality to the spine,
Slight lift of the front of the heart center,
Which in itself allows us to awaken a little bit more to this moment.
And we'll take a few cleansing breaths that just allow us to take a considered pause from whatever was happening before we came into this practice and turn this internal gaze here.
And that can be assisted by actually closing the eyes or softening the gaze if that feels comfortable.
And with every inhalation just invite in this sense of awakening,
Of nourishment that happens when we draw each fresh breath into our body.
And every exhale is a cleansing,
A letting go.
Inhaling and awakening and exhale a cleansing,
A letting go.
Allowing these waves of breath to really wash through our system,
Allowing us to disentangle from other influences that are outside of our own.
Whether it's maybe we've taken in too much news this week or too much scrolling on social media or listening to so many other voices to influence our decision making,
Where we've been sort of put on the periphery of experience.
This direct experience with breath shifts that all back into our own hands.
So inhaling awakening,
Exhaling cleansing.
We'll take a few more breaths like that and if it helps you can even use those words that I'm using to help direct your attention.
Awakening as you inhale,
Cleansing,
Letting go as you exhale.
Allowing each breath to show up as it is.
And each breath invites in a sense of stability when our attention is connected to it.
This expansive awakened quality as you inhale and this beautifully rooting quality of the exhalation.
And now that we've had a little bit of an opportunity to start to gather and stabilize our attention,
We're going to invite in a little bit of inquiry to see just how or where our attention is This sense of stability has been this week because having an opportunity to reflect on things that have influenced our ability to feel grounded are helpful because it can create a shift once we realize ah okay perhaps it's been outside of my own experience.
So taking some moments to bring into the field of awareness to notice if other voices outside of your own have influenced you.
Whether that's been in decision making,
So often we ask other people for advice or opinions and if we rely only on that it takes us away from listening to our own inner voice.
So it's nice to notice has that been something that feels familiar?
Has our own voice been on the periphery or far away?
Another question we can lean into is to notice has our internal ground,
This sense of feeling steady and upright and present regardless of circumstances been impacted in any way by how we've been spending time,
Energy,
Or time with other people?
Or attention?
So as I mentioned briefly before what have we taken in?
Has it been news,
Social media,
Or relying on other aspects of life to influence how we feel or a sense of validation?
How much are we giving up or giving over to things outside of ourselves?
And we do this not to judge but to really gently notice,
To have compassion when we realize that something perhaps has caused us to feel stressed or overwhelmed or anything else that invited in something other than the sense of internal peace or ease.
We awaken to this just like we awaken to our breath.
The more we're aware of how our attention and our experience is taken away or we've allowed it to in a less conscious way the more we're able to then notice when that happens and we can take a pause and come back into this stabilization practice of awakening the breath on the inhale and feeling really cleansed and rooted on the exhale.
Just a simple turn and that can really shift the way in which we move through the rest of our day or our week.
So now that we've had an opportunity to lean into these few questions,
These bits of inquiry,
Let's come back to finishing with this focus on the breath.
Really awashing our system in a freshness,
A groundedness,
In a real sense of presence.
Awakening anew to each inhale,
Letting go and rooting on the exhale.
Each breath flowing,
Allowing us to feel more fluid,
Less stuck,
More awake,
More refreshed,
More settled in who and where we are.
So allow yourself a few more of these really richly textured,
Deep,
Full-bodied,
Beautiful precious breaths.
Each inviting in the possibility to feel more at home and stable where we are.
And as this last exhale drifts out of your body,
Slowly awaken back to the space in which you're in.
Perhaps lifting the gaze or opening the eyes if they were closed.
And just taking a couple of moments here noticing how you feel.
I hope that this has been a beautiful reminder of how to reorient yourself anytime it's needed.
Thank you so much for practicing with me here and take care.
