This meditation is for divine rest and releasing what you've been carrying.
Take off your shoes and loosen the belt around your heart,
For there is divine love and rest quietly waiting for you here.
Dear friends,
These words came to mind as I was feeling a sense of heaviness,
A kind of weight and responsibility that I was carrying that wasn't really mine.
I wrote this meditation for those who are like me,
Who really feel the weight of the world right now and have a sense of responsibility and take pride in that.
But sometimes,
As mighty as we are,
I have come to know and realise that we are also tiny,
Tiny human beings held inside a mystery,
A very mysterious world that is far greater than our rational understanding.
And it is important that we allow ourselves to lay down the burden,
To lay down the weight of the world and remember that we are entitled to resting,
Deeply resting and allowing ourselves to fully breathe.
So I invite you to take a deep breath with me now and to take off your shoes and loosen the belt around your heart.
I notice just how much the heaviness of the world can find its way into our heart,
Creating a kind of tightening,
A kind of constriction that makes it harder to see the sweetness,
The light that is also very present in the world.
And what is beautiful is that the body,
Our body remains so faithful,
It keeps this ancient knowledge or this door to come back to deep rest always open,
Wide open,
It is always ready to support us each and every day with self-regulation,
With allowing the body to come back to this parasympathetic state of digestion and mending and finding its way back into an inner harmony and equilibrium.
So in our practice,
We will just spend a bit of time letting our body really,
Truly melt and rest.
Let us begin.
Gently allow your body to come into a comfortable resting position,
Lying down ideally so you can really feel the weight of your body melting down and begin to let this ground receive you with open arms and just know that there is nothing that you need to hold,
Nothing that you need to think about right now.
Begin to take slower and fuller breaths in and out,
Really feeling the body,
Really allowing this movement to ripple through as you inhale and exhale and nourish and let go,
Nourish and let go.
Let's start by bringing an awareness to the soles of your feet,
This space that is both delicate and so full of strength,
It's the way in which we really carry ourselves and move out into the world.
Just noticing how your feet feel,
Bringing this breath down with each inhale and exhale,
Bringing it to the soles of your feet and inviting your feet to really breathe out and stretch,
Spread into the ground beneath you.
Let it find the room that it needs,
Bringing that awareness up to your ankles and to the calves of your legs and the lower legs,
Finding a way to also just breathe out,
Feeling a real heaviness in your legs that comes from really releasing,
Letting it go,
Just letting it go and from the calves,
Just bringing awareness to your knees before we move up.
This knee area is a space that is equally delicate and can often be the space that we find ourselves locking in,
Really holding tension there sometimes so take some time to allow the breath to move and circle around the knee joint,
Letting it breathe and bringing a sense of spaciousness and then moving up to the thighs and to our quads and our hamstrings and the muscles that work really hard and they deserve so much rest.
It can be very subtle how we hold on to the tension here so is there a kind of hold in your legs that can soften even more?
Continuing with this slow and deep breath,
Allowing your breath to really travel down into the thighs and really letting them widen and soften as if they are dissolving into the ground and bringing your awareness now to the hips and the pelvis,
This deep bowl seat of the body and notice what might need to just let go even more and sink a little deeper,
Really sink into the ground,
Letting go and feeling supported and let your awareness move up into the belly,
This container of our soft organs and our digestion,
You may feel quiet movements within,
Let your breath really open up the belly as you inhale and exhale and by doing this you are creating the conditions for your body to let go,
To find space and slowly over time something begins to unwind,
Begins to remember these moments of opening and being and bringing your awareness up to the chest now and the heart space and loosening the belt around your heart,
How might your heart find more space and really feeling that breath and warmth reaching the heart,
Giving it permission,
Inviting it to lay its burdens down and you don't need the hold anymore,
You don't need to carry so much let your heart be held and bringing awareness now to the shoulders,
Allowing them to really sink down and move away from the ears and the neck so often it's so easy to have tension around our shoulders,
Our neck,
This gentle lifting that happens over time how might your shoulders just melt a little more and bringing that attention to your throat,
Your jaw,
Opening your mouth if you need to let the tongue rest heavy and let the jaw find space and bringing a softness to the rest of your face,
A gentle smile to the eyes and to the cheeks to the forehead,
Now feeling your whole body as you breathe in and breathe out,
Feeling the warmth of your breath,
The love and light of your breath the permission and the spaciousness that you are gifting yourself by simply laying down,
Laying down the weight that you don't have to carry as mighty as we are,
We are also tiny,
Tiny human beings,
Really allow yourself to sink into that truth and give yourself permission take all the time that you need,
Thank you for being here with me
