Hi,
I'm Louise Warbell.
In today's meditation,
I'd like us to explore boundaries.
To me,
Boundaries are the rules or limits that I set for myself to help foster and nurture my relationships with others.
I find during the holiday season,
In particular,
It can be quite difficult to keep up those boundaries.
And one of the things that really helps me personally is meditation because it gives me space to explore and be more mindful going forwards about how I want to show up.
So I'd like to share that with you today.
As always,
If at any point you feel uncomfortable,
Feel free to come back to your breath as an anchor point,
Or even open your eyes or press pause at any time.
This meditation is intended to be a way of exploring what shows up for us.
So whenever you're ready,
Let's close our eyes.
And let's start by taking a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
In through the nose,
If that's available to you,
And then breathing out through the mouth.
Let's do that a couple more times.
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And then ever so gently,
Let that go.
Now let's breathe into the count of four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And out to the count of four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Let's try that again.
Breathing into the count of four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And out to the count of four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And just do that a couple more times on your own.
Just counting the breath to hear my voice again.
And on your next exhale,
Just let go of whatever number you got to.
And allow your breath to return to normal.
Just noticing where you feel it.
It could be your chest,
It could be your throat,
Maybe even your belly.
No need to do anything with it.
Just bring some awareness to our breath.
This is available to us at any point during the meditation.
If you feel your mind starting to wander,
Just gently coming back to the breath.
Now I'd like us to bring to mind a boundary that resonates with you.
Just see what shows up when I give some examples.
Could be a physical boundary,
Personal space,
Perhaps in the home or office.
It could be an emotional boundary,
Something personal to you,
Thoughts or beliefs.
It could even be a resource boundary.
To me this is my bandwidth and saying yes too much.
Just try and see what shows up.
And let's pick one for our practice today.
And when you've brought that to mind,
Just breathe into it.
And let it go.
And then breathe in.
And exhale.
Now let's visualize communicating our boundary to a person.
Could be a family member,
Friend or a loved one.
Perhaps you're walking on the beach with that person,
Or in the forest.
Anywhere to you that feels like a peaceful,
Calming,
Safe space.
As you're walking,
You pause for a moment.
You stop and talk to the person.
You can see them clearly in your mind's eye.
You feel content.
The atmosphere is calm and relaxed and peaceful.
What would you like to say to that person?
There's no need to do anything with it.
Just see what shows up.
And if at any point you feel uncomfortable,
Just bring yourself back to your breath.
Or open your eyes.
You may feel comfortable to give that person a hug or a smile.
Or anything that feels available and comfortable for you.
And then just sit.
And then just gently walking back from wherever you may be.
On a beach,
In a forest,
Or in your own safe place.
Bring some awareness back to your breath as it flows in and out.
You may feel comfortable to place your hands on your heart.
And repeat the following affirmation.
I am capable of setting healthy boundaries.
Boundaries help my relationships grow.
My peace is valuable.
And boundaries help me protect her.
Now ever so gently,
Starting to bring some movement back into our body.
Wiggling our toes.
Taking a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And exhaling,
Perhaps through the mouth.
One more time,
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you for meditating with me.
