Welcome to this meditation on reconnecting and recharging.
Please find a position that allows your body to feel supported and at ease.
Allow your feet to be grounded.
Or maybe relax and extended just with your arms relaxed either by your side or somewhere on your body.
So please use any support to find stillness.
And if it feels comfortable,
Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Let this be a moment where you do not need to perform.
To fix or to prove anything.
This time is a sacred pause.
It's time to come home to yourself and to the quiet presence of God.
Begin by noticing your breath just as it is.
No need to change it yet.
Just simply observe the inhale entering your body.
And the exhale leaving it.
Notice where you feel the breath most clearly.
Perhaps that the nostrils and the chest are in the rise and fall of the belly.
Whatever that is,
Just allow your awareness to settle there.
And now we'll breathe together,
Inhaling slowly through the nose for a count of 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold softly for a count of 2,
1,
2.
And exhale gently for a count of 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
So do this a few times.
For a soft count of 4.
Home for two.
And exhale for six.
Again,
Inhaling for four.
Holding for 2.
And exhaling for six.
Just continue this rhythm for a few more rounds,
Allowing your nervous system to settle.
Allowing your heart to quiet.
Allowing your spirit to remember that you are safe in this moment.
And as you breathe,
You might silently receive these words.
Be still and know that I am God.
Let the inhale welcome God's peace.
And let the exhale release pressure,
Hurry and heaviness.
There is nowhere else you need to be right now.
Nothing else you need to carry.
Just this breath.
Just His Body.
Just as quiet moment with God.
Now bring your awareness to the top of your head.
Softening the scalp,
Relaxing the forehead.
And let the space between your eyebrows soften and widen.
Unclench the jaw.
Let the tongue rest gently with the tip softly touching the roof of the mouth behind the top teeth.
Softening around the eyes such as the eyes themselves are resting.
Relax the cheeks,
The ears,
The temples.
Let your whole face grow smooth and easy.
And now move down to your neck and to your throat.
Softening the front of the throat,
The back of the neck.
Let all those muscles go.
Release the shoulders,
Letting them drop away from the ears.
And notice if you have been carrying weight there.
The weight of responsibility.
Of expectation.
Of caregiving or concern.
And for this moment right now,
Let that weight be set down.
Relax the upper arms,
The elbows,
The forearms,
The wrists,
The palms of your hand,
And each finger.
Let your hands be open and at rest.
And ready to receive.
And bring awareness to your chest and to your heart space and notice the gentle movement here as you breathe.
Soften around the heart.
If there is a tenderness there,
Let it be held with compassion.
If there is fatigue there,
Let it be met with kindness.
Relax the ribs.
The upper back.
The middle back.
The lower back.
Soften the belly completely.
Let the abdomen release.
You do not need to hold yourself tight.
You do not need to brace.
In this moment,
You are allowed to soften.
Now relax the hips and the pelvis.
Let all the muscles of the seat grow heavy.
Softening the thighs,
The knees,
The calves,
The shins and the ankles.
Relax the soles of the feet,
The tops of the feet and each toe.
Feel the whole body now from head to toe supported by the earth beneath you.
Resting.
Held and breathing.
And from this place of softening.
Begin to turn inward with gentleness.
Notice the simple truth that beneath the noise beneath the roles that you carry.
Beneath the doing and the striving.
There is still a steady self within you.
Is self created by God.
A self worthy of care.
Worthy of rest.
Worthy of tenderness.
See if you can meet yourself here,
Not with judgment.
But with honest compassion.
And ask yourself quietly.
What do I need today?
Not what must I produce?
Not what must I solve?
But what do I truly need?
Perhaps you need rest?
Perhaps reassurance.
Perhaps forgiveness for the ways you've been hard on yourself.
Perhaps you need permission to begin again.
Let whatever answer comes be enough,
And let it be welcomed without argument.
Now softly,
Silently within.
Offer yourself these words.
I give myself grace.
I release the need to be perfect.
I honor the season I am in.
I trust that God meets me here exactly as I am.
I'm allowed to care for my body.
I am allowed to protect my peace.
I am allowed to rest without earning it.
And I am allowed to be human and still be deeply loved.
And now widen your awareness just a little.
Imagine other women,
Those that you know,
Those that you do not,
Also longing to reconnect,
To recharge,
To breathe more deeply,
To remember themselves.
Picture women carrying responsibilities,
Grief,
Joy,
Hope,
Exhaustion,
And resilience.
Picture women seeking God in the middle of ordinary life.
Let yourself feel that you are not alone in your longing.
You belong to a wider circle of strength,
Tenderness,
Wisdom,
And grace.
And as you breathe,
Imagine this circle of women surrounded by light and peace.
With each inhale,
Receive support.
With each exhale,
Offer blessings.
You might silently say,
May I be renewed.
May we be renewed.
May I be held in grace.
May we hold one another in grace.
Yeah,
I know stillness.
May we know stillness.
May God restore what is weary in us and strengthen what is true,
Loving,
And alive.
Now rest again in your own body,
In your own breath,
In your own quiet awareness.
Sense that God is near,
Not distant,
Not hurried,
Not demanding,
But present.
Gentle,
Steady,
Faithful.
You do not have to force this moment to be spiritual.
Simply allow yourself to be here in stillness,
In breath,
In sacred attention.
And if it feels right,
You may receive this prayer within.
God,
Thank you for meeting me in quiet places.
Thank you for the breath in my body and the life within me.
Thank you for grace that does not shame me.
Rush me or abandon me.
Teach me to return to stillness.
Teach me to care for myself as someone you love.
Teach me to receive support and to offer it freely.
Renew me from the inside out.
And for these next few moments,
Allow everything to become even simpler.
No effort,
No analysis,
No reaching,
Just rest.
And let the breath be natural.
Let the body be heavy.
Let the mind be spacious.
If thoughts come,
Let them drift by without holding on.
Return gently to the quiet rhythm of breathing.
Turn gently to the felt sense of being supported.
Return gently to stillness.
Rest here in the silence between breaths.
Rest here in the love of God.
Rest here with the quiet strength of women who have learned again and again to begin anew.
Rest here with grace.
Rest here with peace.
Rest here long enough to remember that you do not need to become someone else to be worthy of care.
You are already worthy,
Already held,
And already loved.
And when you are ready.
.
.
Just begin to deepen your breath just a little.
And feel the surface beneath you,
Feel the earth beneath you.
Notice the space around you.
And taking your time to come back to the present.
Maybe gently begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Maybe roll the shoulders or soften the jaw once more.
And take one final slow breath in.
And let it go.
And carry this stillness with you.
Carry this grace with you.
Carry the remembrance that God is with you and that you are never alone.
Wishing you peace,
Love,
And light.
