Welcome.
As I do at the beginning of each of my sessions,
I invite you,
If you haven't already,
To get comfortable and to take a few deep breaths with me.
Let your belly rise as you inhale,
And gently lengthen the exhale.
Solitude can stir in us both apprehension and longing.
And today,
It will be your companion.
In this inner journey,
We'll explore how solitude can be experienced,
Not as an absence,
But as a different kind of presence.
An opportunity to connect with yourself,
To make peace with silence,
And to open up to a vaster life.
If today,
Solitude feels heavy,
Know first that you are not alone in feeling that way.
Some people long for solitude,
Others fear it.
It can feel harsh,
Weighty,
Especially when it is imposed.
But solitude doesn't mean isolation.
You might even feel it while surrounded by others.
And if the very idea of making peace with it feels far away,
That's okay.
This space isn't here to convince you that solitude is wonderful or necessary.
But maybe,
Just maybe,
It can help you explore a different way of seeing it.
Not as a sentence,
But as a door.
Not as a punishment,
But as an unknown living space within you.
And I'd love for you to take this moment with me,
Without pressure,
Without expectation,
Just to see,
To feel,
To experience things differently.
Settle in comfortably.
Imagine a vast inner space,
Like a clearing in the heart of a forest.
In this space,
You are alone,
But not abandoned.
Simply feel that solitude without judgment.
It is not a lack,
But a fertile ground where your thoughts meet your soul.
Notice what it stirs in you.
Is it fear?
Or a sense of calm?
A gentle tension between both?
Everything is welcome.
Place a hand over your heart and whisper,
I welcome you,
Even in discomfort.
You have something to offer me.
The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that the path of transformation begins with seeing things as they truly are.
View solitude as an invitation to move beyond your conditioning.
Arjuna,
The hesitant hero of the Gita,
Stood alone before his inner conflict.
And he was in that silence that he heard Krishna's voice.
In the same way,
Within your solitude,
There is a subtle voice,
A dormant wisdom.
It is not an escape from the world,
But a return to your deepest truth.
Now imagine that this inner clearing never leaves you.
Wherever you go,
It is there within you.
Even among others,
Even in the noise,
You carry this quiet space.
Solitude is no longer an emptiness.
It becomes an ally,
A quiet refuge you can return to,
To listen,
To feel,
To understand.
It's natural to fear solitude.
It brings us face to face with the essential.
But that fear,
That discomfort,
Is not your enemy.
It's a messenger.
Ask it,
What are you here to show me?
Maybe it's pointing to a need for love,
For recognition,
For peace.
Listen to it the way you'd listen to a child.
The Isha Upanishad reminds us,
Everything that is,
Is within us.
Nothing is truly separate.
Even in apparent solitude,
We are connected like waves to the ocean.
Imagine a glowing thread of light connecting your heart to the universe.
You may feel alone,
But you are part of something whole.
When embraced,
Solitude nurtures creativity,
Sharpens intuition,
And strengthens emotional resilience.
It is a quiet laboratory where authenticity grows far from the noise of the world.
As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote,
It is in solitude that the ideas that transform us are born.
Solitude teaches us to love without clinging,
To listen without distraction,
And to be reborn in the softness of our own presence.
It reminds us that each human being has the capacity to evolve consciously.
It invites us to rise beyond the limits we place on ourselves,
To embrace our infinite potential.
Solitude never really disappears.
It simply changes form.
What once felt like a void becomes a sanctuary.
What you once saw as a lack reveals itself as fullness.
Take a few moments to thank this experience,
To honor the time you've given yourself.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
The world is here,
And you are here to fully meet it with this new intimacy with yourself.
Solitude is not exile.
It is home.
