Hello and welcome.
The emphasis of these meditations has been to uncover the emotions that may arise and willingness to accept those emotions when working the steps.
Step eleven,
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God,
Praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
Start by getting grounded,
Settled,
Focused.
Find a comfortable position.
It helps to be upright and find some balance,
Noticing if you are balanced right to left and front to back,
Just becoming very grounded in your seat.
Keep your back straight and your front soft.
You are in a relaxed position,
Letting your face and your whole body soften.
Let your upper eyelids rest on your lower eyelids,
Your lips gently touching or apart with your jaw relaxed.
Feel your whole body be at ease,
With hands resting on your lap or thighs,
The palms may be in a receptive position facing up or the palms may be facing down,
Which is more grounded.
Feel your stability,
Your muscles becoming heavy.
Breathing allows your body to teach your mind to be relaxed and open.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in through your nose.
Breathe slowly through your mouth.
Continue that pattern as you become relaxed and present.
If your mind wanders,
Focus again on your breath.
Let your breath resume its natural rhythm.
Step 11 suggests approaching each day with prayer and meditation to have acceptance,
To understand what needs to be done,
And the willingness to do it.
It is a step filled with freedom.
All that matters is that your understanding of a higher power is true for you,
Compelling enough for you to surrender to and move forward with your recovery.
Rami Shapiro points out that the easiest approach to understanding your God's will is to be fully present to the situation and,
With open heart and willingness,
Accept the reality of what is in front of you right now as God's will.
Notice being in the present by saying these words silently.
May I be fully present to what is happening now.
May I be willing to accept what is happening now.
May I fully surrender to what is happening now.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in through your nose and release slowly.
Prayer has been described as making a petition to God.
It may or may not involve words.
The overall process of prayer is a willingness to surrender to a will other than your own,
To accept that will,
And to have the strength to take action on your awareness.
The activity is not so much what words are used as much as it is the sequence of those actions.
The words you choose are completely up to you.
Some prefer to use well-known,
Standard forms of prayer,
Such as the Lord's Prayer or the Serenity Prayer.
The Serenity Prayer combines being in the present and accepting reality.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
It encourages living one day at a time,
Accepting one moment at a time,
And taking the world as it is,
Not as you would have it.
Your prayer doesn't have to be complicated or long.
In the morning,
You can say,
Please,
And at night,
Thank you.
Even in the day,
It may be helpful to say,
Thy will,
Not mine.
At times in recovery,
You may struggle with the words of prayer.
Bill W.
Wrote,
The wording of prayer is quite optional as long as we express the idea,
Voicing it without reservation.
If your mind wanders,
Focus again on your breath.
Take a deep,
Slow breath,
Release it slowly.
There are as many forms of meditation as there are prayers.
This series has focused on mindfulness and breathing.
It emphasizes resting quietly within,
Being observant of your breathing,
And becoming receptive to your intuition and emotions.
This form of meditation may be done anywhere,
Anytime.
If you have been resting with your breathing during this meditation,
You are practicing mindfulness meditation.
As you move forward in your recovery,
You may find that committing to a daily spiritual practice feels impossible.
When that happens,
Explore that resistance with acceptance and willingness to surrender your ego.
There are many causes for such resistance,
And one of the biggest is the ego,
Trying to reassert its control over the external world.
Ego may be experienced in many forms,
All pointing inward,
And may appear as anger,
Fear,
And resentments.
These emotions are not so much a response to outside circumstances as they are emotional blocks within,
Expressing themselves through negative thoughts and actions.
Meta-meditation may be helpful in these situations by repeating such phrases as these several times each day.
May I be free of anger.
May I be free of fear.
May I be free of resentments.
Another approach is being of service to someone else,
For example,
Reaching out to see how their day is going.
This can be effective breaking the cycle of negative emotions.
When you are able to return to daily practice,
It may be helpful to use the please and thank you prayer.
If you are having trouble remembering to pray,
Try praying a request to remember to pray.
Because of the freedom in this step,
There is no simple answer for everyone.
If possible,
Share your discomfort with a trusted friend or sponsor.
The most important aspect is to remember that emotions are temporary,
And in time,
They will pass.
As we come to the end of this meditation,
Slowly move and stretch your muscles,
Gently wiggle fingers and toes.
Bring your attention back to the room,
To your breathing,
Back into the present moment,
And then,
When ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for your kind attention.
I wish you many blessings,
Along with willingness and patience to develop a daily spiritual practice as you proceed one day at a time.
