Take a moment to notice your connection with the earth beneath you,
Wherever you are seated.
And begin to tune into your breath,
Noticing the quality of your in-breath and out-breath.
And gently inviting the breath to lengthen with each inhale and exhale.
As you tune into your breath,
Notice what your body is saying to you.
Does your neck need to move,
Or your shoulders,
Or your spine?
Allowing gentle movement with your breath to help you settle into this space at this time,
In the present moment.
Maybe you need to shrug your shoulders,
Or shake your head,
Or open your jaw.
Just noticing what adjustments your body needs to feel safe,
To feel present.
Applying the same listening to your breath,
Noticing if your exhale wants to become audible.
Really allowing your breath and your body to move out whatever energy does not serve you,
So that you can settle into a grounded space in this present moment.
And as you feel yourself arrive here into your body,
Do a quick body scan.
Beginning at your toes,
Feeling your awareness move through your feet,
Your ankles,
Your calves,
Your knees,
Your thighs,
Your low belly,
Feeling it rise and fall with the breath,
Your low back,
Your root,
Where it meets the seat beneath you.
And imagining roots growing beneath your seat,
Holding you in grounded support by the earth beneath you.
Imagining these roots growing deeper with each in-breath,
And nourishing you with a sense of protection and stability with each out-breath.
And once you've acknowledged this sense of grounding,
Come back to this quick body scan,
Moving to the high belly,
The solar plexus,
The mid-back,
Allowing thought and awareness to travel to each of these spaces,
To your chest,
Your brilliant,
Beautiful heart,
Down through your arms,
Your elbows,
Your wrists,
The palms of your hands and each of your fingers.
Moving awareness quickly back up through the throat,
The neck,
Into the jaw,
The ears,
The mouth,
The tongue,
The teeth,
The nose,
Noticing each nostril as you breathe in,
Each nostril as you breathe out,
Your eyes,
Your brain,
Your skull,
The top of your head.
And then just allowing a sense of ease,
Of rest,
Of calm to wash from head to toe with each in-breath and each out-breath.
Feeling an awareness of this whole body that carries your soul,
That often gets forgotten in the bustle of the day.
Coming back to an awareness of your full body now,
Washing in ease and peace with your breath,
Feeling those roots that hold you to the ground.
And now moving your awareness up to the heart,
Maybe placing a hand over your heart space and taking a moment to just notice whatever emotions you are feeling today.
Really feeling them,
Whether they are hard or easy or both,
Noticing what joy,
What sorrow,
What anger,
What grief,
What excitement,
What peace,
Whatever emotion or emotions you feel in your heart today.
Gently noticing and allowing them to move through like waves in the ocean,
Without judgment,
Without attachment.
Just noticing what is it that your heart is feeling today and allowing those feelings to move through.
Making a commitment to your heart to check in a few times throughout the remainder of your day,
To notice what is being felt or maybe what isn't being felt that needs to be.
Allowing those feelings to move through like waves,
Without judgment,
Without attachment,
Just being a witness to the sea of your own life,
Where sometimes there are storms and sometimes there is serenity and sometimes there are moments of both at the same time.
The calm within the storm,
However you find your sea today,
Simply notice and make a commitment to yourself to check in again throughout your day,
Reminding your heart that you are here,
That you are listening,
That you are witness to all it does to help you feel and navigate the seas of life.
Sending gratitude into this heart space,
Making a pledge to bring your heart back online,
To listen,
To observe,
To feel,
To be a puzzle piece in your wholeness.
A life raft when times get hard,
A portal to your humanity,
Deep,
Deep gratitude to your heart.
If you haven't already,
You can bring your hands down into your lap and notice how you feel now,
After allowing those waves to move through.
Perhaps there's serenity,
Peace and ease,
And if not,
That's okay too.
Just noticing whatever changes come by allowing the waves to move,
To be noticed,
To be felt.
Imagining the ocean of you spreading out in all directions,
Infinitely before you,
Behind you,
Beneath you.
Feeling the vastness of this ocean that spreads out from your heart,
Inviting this ocean to hold you,
To rock you,
To soothe you.
Noticing if breath needs to be released more audibly,
As this ocean moves all around you.
Taking a moment to recognize that only you are responsible for the waves,
The tides,
The ebbs,
The flows of your ocean,
Allowing you to disconnect from anyone else's ocean,
To know that only they are responsible for their own feelings,
Their own hearts,
Their own storms,
Their own periods of peace.
Feeling the vastness of your own ocean without the pools of anyone else's,
Allowing yourself to feel fully responsible for just you,
Disconnecting from anyone else's emotions.
It is not your job to create peace for others.
You are only responsible for you.
You can send love,
You can send peace,
But let go of any sense of responsibility for anyone else's hearts.
Remembering it is your job to feel your own,
Your own waves,
Your own currents,
Your own emotions,
To send out love,
To send out kindness.
But that's it.
Feeling the freedom that comes with knowing that you are only responsible for you,
Your own heart,
Your own peace,
Your own serenity.
That when you find peace in your own ocean,
You are showing others you love what is possible,
But that they must do the work with their own hearts,
Their own feelings,
Their own waves.
Bringing your awareness back to you,
To your own brilliant heart,
To noticing whatever it is your heart needs to feel today,
Whatever your heart wants you to witness as the observer.
To ride those waves with love,
With trust,
With surrender,
And with peace.
Making a commitment to feel your own ocean,
To connect to your own waters,
To feel the infinite waves and water all around you,
Knowing that you are infinite,
That you are love,
And that you have the power to navigate any storm,
To surrender to life's waves,
To find peace,
To find love within yourself.
Taking a moment to end your meditation by lying down if you are able,
And simply noticing and surrendering to whatever is moving through.
Namaste.
