Letting Go, Letting Be Visualization

This visualization meditation takes the time to explore what does it mean to practice the attitudes of letting go and letting be via a visual experience of going into the woods and being next to the river. What is the difference between the two? How can we get more familiar with them? What can be used to better understand our relation to them?

Transcript

My recommendation is to settle into a position or a posture that is wakeful, That's comfortable, And that gives you a sense of being held or supported, Maybe getting a sense of the body in contact with the floor, The chair, The cushion, Getting a sense of the weight of the body being pulled or pushed down by gravity. And regardless of where you're located right now or which floor you're on, Exploring connecting to that sense of being grounded, The building, The construction eventually gets down to the earth, The foundation. Perhaps this quality of connectedness, Of groundedness can be supportive for you, Not only in today's practice, But in general as well. Taking some time to get a sense of how the body is in this moment, On this particular day, Getting a sense of what you're connecting with, What you're holding, What you're in relationship with, Different thoughts and emotions, Sensations, Exploring the possibility of just letting all that be, Of letting go of the attention on it as we direct our focus onto the mind. And the invitation is to begin to imagine that you're making your way through a forest, Through a forest or a jungle, Imagining the sights and sounds, The smells, The feel, Engaging as much as your sense perception as possible. As you're making your way through this forest, This jungle, You come upon a clearing, An opening, Where there's a river flowing, And you notice a magnificent tree growing along the bank of the river. And you make your way over to this tree, Settling down, Sitting, Laying against the trunk of the tree, So close to the flowing river that you can even put the hand in the water, Getting a sense of being connected, Grounded, Rooted, As if you're part of this tree, Part of this ecosystem. And you notice that there's plenty of leaves around. You might be resting on some leaves, Or there may be some fallen leaves, Or some leaves under something. Perhaps if you imagined a snowy forest, There might be some leaves under the snow. And the invitation now is just to hold up one of these leaves, Placing it in the palm out in front of you, Taking some time just to look at the leaf, The detail, The color, Shape, The size. And after some time, Maybe quite quickly, Maybe after a greater length, Your attention will wander. Your mind will think of something else, Maybe some planning, Some daydreaming, A memory, A thought, Maybe even a feeling or emotion, Story. And what I invite us to practice for a few minutes is, When you notice that the mind has wandered away from the leaf, Recognize that. And then imagine taking that thought, That feeling, That whatever it was, And placing it on the leaf, As if we're sort of pulling it out of the mind or the body, And placing it on top of the leaf. And then making a choice. Maybe this is something I'd like to let be. Maybe this is something I can come back to later. Maybe this is something I'd like to explore in more depth. In that case, You can let it be. You can place the leaf down. Maybe even put it in your pocket or bag, On the lap, Letting the leaf and what you put on it be. Or if you perhaps feel or sense that, What I put on the leaf, I don't really or necessarily need to keep right now. Perhaps then, Placing the leaf with what you put on it into the river, And allowing it to float off. Practicing a letting go. For the next few minutes, Exploring this letting be, This letting go. Not needing to force anything. Just exploring it with some curiosity and openness. Enjoy. Beginning to make our way up from the tree and the river. Taking any leaves with us, Maybe leaving some behind. Beginning to make our way out of the forest or jungle. As we begin, Bringing more attention to the body. Weights, Gravity on the body, Points of contact, That sense of being grounded and rooted all the way down to the earth. Maybe reflecting on the practice. What does it mean for you today, In this moment? The differences or similarities between letting go and letting be. And there's no need to rush this. Maybe even exploring how I can be more mindful transitioning out. Taking as much time as you need to shift more attention back to the room you're in. If the eyes were closed, You can open them up in your own time. Thank you for practicing this letting go, Letting be visualization. Wishing you a mindful rest of the day.