Challenging Winds Can Strengthen Your Roots (Jan 9, 26)

With a simple breath-based meditation, we'll take some slow time to settle into your body. You'll be guided to notice the stable foundation of your posture, and the movement of your breath with that stability. We'll also use our breath as a reminder that every tree needs strong winds to strengthen their roots; without it, they simple fall over. Establish your own roots, and see yourself as a reflection of nature, as we journey into 30 minutes of gentle guided meditation.

"When the canvas frays...
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life."
~John O'Donohue

Transcript

Invitation is to settle into your body.

Taking these first few moments to choose a posture that feels supportive.

Very often we have these familiar postures,

Especially the more that you practice.

And it can be soothing for our mind and our body to settle into familiar rhythms.

Just like slowing down and noticing your breath can be very soothing.

Especially again the more familiar you become with it.

It's just this reminder that your practice isn't perfect.

There's no perfection in life really.

It's just this presence of showing up for yourself again and again and again.

And as you continue to practice you build these layers of familiarity,

These layers of comfort,

These layers of support.

So just remembering to choose a posture rather than forcing yourself to settle into something.

And as you do settle into this chosen posture,

You're welcome of course to close your eyes,

Set your gaze downward.

And as we either steady our eyes on one unmoving point or we close our eyes,

It's a way for us to invite our attention to go a bit more internal.

And reminder,

We're practicing as best as we can to look at ourselves with the eyes of kindness.

And invariably a random barrage of thoughts will come and go,

Judgment will come and go,

Tension in our body will come and go.

And so it's witnessing this coming and going,

But to the best of your ability staying to witness it all.

Let's take a few moments here just to witness what it feels like to have your body being held by gravity,

By the chair beneath you.

And then as you find that steady groundedness beneath you,

Watch the movement of your breath.

Just notice again,

Your breath.

As your breath is always present.

Every time you pause to witness your breath,

You not only come back to presence,

You gently unhook from a thought that took us to the future or the past.

But it's also a reminder of the care that exists in the present moment.

Your body doing its steady slow work,

Your heart is beating,

Your breath is moving,

Your blood is flowing,

Gravity is still holding you.

It's nothing you have to think about or do or accomplish.

It's all just happening and we get to witness it in this slow time that we've set aside to just be still with ourselves.

What does this breath feel like as it comes into your body?

Can you feel the fullness of it in the bottom of your lungs as your ribs expand?

Allowing the softening of your exhale to settle your shoulders.

And perhaps even noticing the space between breaths.

So deeply curious about this process of breathing,

You notice all the parts of it.

And in the noticing,

As you pay your attention to your breath,

You might also receive appreciation and gratitude.

Appreciating that you don't have to work for the oxygen to get into your blood,

It's just happening.

And we just get to be and witness it all.

I'll invite you to just take a deeper breath here.

Notice how your body easily can just take on this invitation.

And there are times in our life when taking a deep breath feels challenging,

Whether it's after a really big meal,

Or when your nose is stuffy,

Or when your heart is breaking.

When it's hard for us to take a breath,

Suddenly we're paying deep attention to it.

Can we also notice the moments when it's easeful?

Perhaps even thanking your body,

Thank you lungs for knowing what to do with this air.

And then your own body's intelligence,

Your own body's wisdom.

That not only your body keeps breathing for you,

No matter what is happening,

You can also choose to change your breath,

To modulate it,

To adjust it,

To support you differently.

So when we're in deep concentration,

Our inhales and our exhales are equal.

So when you choose to make your inhales and exhales equal,

It can help you focus.

When we're in deep rest,

Our exhales tend to be longer.

And you can also choose that.

Just try it right now for a few rounds.

Just breathe deeply,

And then slow down your exhale on purpose.

Do that again,

Maybe counting four on the inhale and six,

Seven,

Or eight on the exhale.

And we can pause any time throughout the day,

And just notice what our breath feels like,

And adjust it.

And that simple act can be quite profound in the way that it shifts us.

It can make your breath really powerful.

Breathing in deeply and pushing your air out slowly.

Like a sigh that can be a beautiful release of energy.

There are so many forms of breath that can adjust us,

Can adjust our state of mind,

Sensations we're feeling in our body.

Notice again your breath.

I'll invite you just to take three big full deep breaths with slow,

Steady exhales.

Just notice how your body feels as you invite in those slow,

Relaxed exhales.

There's just a natural softening that occurs.

We practice this in meditation where we set aside time to be still,

Rather than waiting until we're in stress to try to practice something like slowing down your breath.

Just allowing your breath to return to its natural steadiness,

But remembering that in any moment you can breathe deeply and sigh it out,

Or just slow down your exhale to not only recontact the present,

But to perhaps shift your state of being into a steady groundedness again.

Noticing again your breath.

Letting your exhale be soft and slow.

It's like a gentle breeze.

And our breath,

Very much like the wind,

Can be soft and soothing or powerful.

When we're working hard and exerting energy,

Our breath matches that release of energy.

And here,

In a bit of stillness,

It's again like a gentle breeze caressing your skin on a warm day,

Just letting your breath softly leave your body.

Giving yourself a moment to linger in that empty space before your next breath comes in.

Just deeply curious about this slow,

Steady breath that just moves through you.

What does this breath feel like?

Where do I feel it in my body?

Is there anything that I can soften just one percent as I exhale?

I know I've shared this before,

And I'll probably share it again,

Because I think it's such a beautiful metaphor for life or breath moving through us.

We're recognizing that both difficulty and ease are needed in our life.

Not that we want to invite in difficulty,

But like the Buddha started his teachings by just reminding us that difficulty exists.

It's not that you're doing something wrong.

It's not possible to achieve a state of happiness and never leave it.

But it is possible to remember that we carry contentment within us all the time.

Life is happening,

And it's going to include the challenges and the delights.

With this analogy,

I remember reading this article a while back about a biodome.

I believe it was in Arizona.

This experiment to try to create within a dome,

Within a safe space,

A place for humans,

Could we exist within this dome?

And there were gardens planted,

And trees planted,

And houses built.

One thing that kept happening,

Scientists couldn't figure out,

Is the trees would get to a certain point as saplings,

And they would just fall over.

It's like,

Why are the trees continuing to die?

And as they continued to research this,

What they realized is what was missing inside this protective dome was powerful wind.

And what the wind was doing,

As it pushed against the trees as they grew tall,

Was strengthening their roots.

And that always struck me as such a good reminder that when life is difficult,

Perhaps it's strengthening my roots.

And that's certainly not to say that phrase that can feel so frustrating when you're in struggle,

When someone says,

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Just letting go of this idea that you're supposed to be stronger,

And you're supposed to invite in difficulty,

And you're supposed to be strong all the time.

But to remember with gentleness,

I'm not doing something wrong when life is difficult.

It just happens.

And when it's difficult,

I might need to have a very powerful breath.

I might need to root down a little more firmly into my feet,

Into my community,

Reach a little deeper into my heart,

And remember that safe refuge that I carry within me.

And you can find it right now by just inviting in a big,

Deep breath,

And allowing your body to soften,

The safety of softening,

Just letting your body be still for a moment.

And this stillness that we practice,

This concentration,

Being able to return to our breath,

Even when our mind is pulling us in a million directions,

It's an incredible,

Important practice for when the winds of life come.

Right here,

Where we've chosen a bit of stillness,

Just allowing your exhale to be slow,

Like a gentle breeze.

Perhaps deepening your inhale,

And then allowing a sigh to escape you.

Just settling again,

Just letting the natural rhythm of your breath move through you.

Let your body care for you,

Breath by breath.

Anytime you need a refresher,

You just take a deep breath,

Allow this exhale to slowly escape until you settle back into that moment of emptiness,

That spaciousness.

Remembering anytime you're being swayed by the difficulty of life,

You have this steady,

Grounded breath that you carry with you.

Steady,

Safe refuge.

That's right here.

And practicing these slow exhales also allows you to receive ease and goodness and joy in your life.

In this moment right here,

Just an invitation to seek what is good in this moment.

It could be just as simple as the fact that your body is breathing for you,

That you have shelter around you right now.

Perhaps a certain person comes to mind.

Just this invitation,

What is good in this moment that I can receive and appreciate?

I'll invite you to bring your hands into any of your closing habits or practices.

Maybe poems together like gratitude,

Hands over your heart.

Before we finish with our loving kindness phrases,

I'm going to share just a small part of a poem by John O'Donohue.

This is called B'nacht,

Which means blessings.

And he wrote this as he was sitting on the wild Atlantic way with the incredible Atlantic winds whipping through the air,

The landscape,

You can see it in the trees,

How the wind affects them so much.

And he's talking about when the difficulty of life touches us,

How do we reground?

He says,

When the canvas of your life frays,

May there come across the waters,

A path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours.

May the clarity of light be yours.

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And may us low wind work these words of love around you,

An invisible cloak to mind your life.

We'll draw from his words for our loving kindness phrases today.

Just repeating these phrases back as they make sense for you.

May the nourishment of the earth be mine.

May the protection of my ancestors carry me today.

May the slow wind soothe me today.

May the powerful wind remind me of my strength.

When action is needed,

May we each choose to move with ease and peace.

And may the merits of our practice ripple out to benefit all beings.

And go slow if you can.

So whenever you feel complete,

Open your eyes,

Find a little movement.

Take a moment to thank yourself just for showing up.

Reviews

Another outstanding meditation, just right from start to finish! I love these half hour ones 🤩So very many thanks 🙏🌳