Welcome.
I am so glad that you're here.
Today's practice is called the true essence meditation where we tap into the beauty of our true essence.
Our true essence was given to us at birth,
But as we move through life,
Oftentimes that true essence gets cloudy.
We become distant from it.
It becomes dormant,
Whether from internal expectations,
External expectations,
Societal messages,
It can become unrecognizable at times.
But today we're going to polish off that true essence and let it shine.
So I'd invite you to allow yourself to fall into a state of comfort,
Allowing your body to arrive just as it would like,
Without trying to contort or force it into any particular state of comfort.
Our body truly knows how to rest when we lean in and allow it to settle the way it wants.
Allowing your eyes to close,
Should that be accessible and safe for you to do so.
And allowing yourself to become aware of the surface underneath you,
Feeling the points of contact between your body and the surface.
Allowing yourself to let go,
To release,
To dissolve,
To settle into the space beneath you.
Noticing the earth beautifully cradling you,
Providing all the support you need in this moment.
And with each breath,
Allowing yourself to dissolve just a little further into the surface beneath you,
Knowing you're being supported and held.
And perhaps taking a moment to allow for any moment of relaxation.
Any minor adjustments to further settle into utter comfort.
And now with our physical bodies at peace,
I would invite you to bring your attention to your belly,
To your lower abdomen.
In today's meditation,
We're going to focus our breath in this region as we inhale and exhale.
Imagining on the inhale,
That lower belly expanding outward as it fills with air.
And then like a balloon,
Watching it contract on the exhale.
And if you're feeling a little monkey mind this morning,
Maybe the words expansion come to mind when you're inhaling.
And then holding on to the word contraction on the exhale.
Continuing to keep that breath in that lower region.
It's this region that actually has the ability to calm the body and lower the stress.
That upper chamber of our chest,
Where day-to-day,
Most of us find ourselves breathing,
Further perpetuates anxiety.
It's the shallow breathing that many of us live with day-to-day.
And if we can just focus on that lower region and focus on the expansion outward and contraction staying in this region,
We'll be able to combat obstacles,
Challenges,
Triggers from a lower stress vantage point.
Continuing to anchor in that breath,
Inhale expansion,
Exhale contraction,
Visualizing that belly opening out,
Allowing space for the breath and then contracting.
Exhaling all of the stale breath.
To make room for fresh,
Beautiful,
New air.
And for a few breaths,
We'll actually focus on our exhale here.
Gently allowing ourselves to elongate that exhale.
Again,
In our shallow breathing,
It's heavy inhale and not enough exhale,
Which is arguably the most overlooked part of that breath and one of the most important.
And as we exhale,
We'll exhale the remembering.
We'll exhale the planning and the future.
And on that exhale,
We'll simply anchor into that contraction and into that breath.
And now returning to a normal cadence of breathing.
Simply observing that inhale and the exhale at your own pace.
This practice is allowing us to turn down the volume of the internal and external chatter and creating space between what we hear and how we respond.
And by creating this space,
It allows us to access our true essence that we were gifted at birth,
That we often lose as we move through life due to our conditioning,
External messages,
Self-judgment.
And with our bodies primed to access our true essence,
I would invite you to recall your younger self,
A childhood happy memory.
Maybe it's a picture if you can't recall an actual memory.
And just observing the qualities you see without a story,
Without a narrative.
And if a memory doesn't come to mind,
Simply picture a young child engaging in a fun activity and without a story,
Noticing what you see.
Playfulness,
Ease,
Curiosity,
Spontaneity,
Comfort,
Safety.
Love.
I'd invite you to focus in on one thing that you might be observing amongst many.
One thing that you may want to reconnect with,
To polish off,
To allow to shine,
To invite back in.
And once you've identified that true essence,
Let's plant it right in the middle of your belly,
In that lower abdomen that you've cultivated.
With this beautiful breathing,
This is where our intuition lives,
Our North Star,
Our knowing.
Now that it's firmly planted with rich soil,
With each breath in,
Think of that shining bright,
Inner true essence radiating from that belly.
Continuing to see that golden bright light reaching the furthest destinations possible.
And in doing so,
You are healing the collective,
Giving love and hope to all.
So starting with yourself and remembering throughout the day when things start to get overwhelming,
You feel your stress level rising,
Or you have an interaction that's triggering.
Remember that you can pause and tune in to that inner knowing.
That bright light is always there to heal you first and then help with any obstacle in your way.
And as we bring this practice to a close,
We'll take a couple of deep breaths.
Take a collective breath to seal it in and integrate all that you have cultivated in this powerful meditation.
So exhaling all the stale air in our lungs,
Let's exhale,
Exhale,
Exhale.
And together,
Let's take a deep breath in and release.
Should it be accessible and comfortable for you to do so,
Bringing your hands together,
Palm to palm into the chest,
Feeling that breastbone against your thumbs,
Pushing in,
Bowing your head in gratitude for the time,
The healing,
The love,
The peace you've given yourself into the world.
May you continue to make time for this and access that inner knowing.
As I said,
Whenever you need.
Releasing our hands to the side,
Wiggling our toes and our fingers,
Bringing awareness back into our physical bodies,
Allowing yourself slowly to open your eyes and meet this beautiful world in front of us.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for giving the world the gift of yourself.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
And may you be free of suffering in all your days.
Thank you.
