Presence Is Protest

I see you. The ones unsure and uncomfortable with how they are feeling. The ones living with existential terror. The ones gripped by panic, anxiety, overwhelm—trying to hold it together in a world that’s coming apart. Maybe you are just experiencing more stress than usual and want a potent way to relax. Look no further. When your nervous system is flooded, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is pause. This meditation is a place to return to your breath, your body, your strength—without needing to fix, perform, or explain.

You don’t have to be calm. You don’t have to be okay. I'm so glad you chose to be here. That’s enough. Because presence, in times like these, is resistance.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Tabitha.

Welcome to my Radical Resistance Meditation Series.

I spent over 20 years in healthcare inside a system that chews through compassion and spits out burnout.

You know what I'm talking about.

I've watched good people fall apart trying to hold a broken world together.

I was one of them.

So I walked away from the healthcare industrial complex to offer something else,

Something honest and alive.

These meditations are not about escaping.

They're not here to sell you peace while the world burns.

These are resistance ballads,

Grounding anthems,

A place for your nervous system to soften and settle before you return to the front lines.

Even if right now you're feeling peaceful or panicked,

Numb or raging,

Hopeful or hanging by a thread,

Whatever you're feeling,

Welcome home.

You don't have to carry this alone.

Even if you think you can't make it,

That's okay.

Just for today,

Can you borrow some of my hope?

Even now,

Especially now,

Your presence matters.

One of the greatest resistance flexes we have is to stay present,

Informed,

Grounded,

Hopeful,

And empowered.

So let's go.

We need each other.

Let's begin with a simple practice.

Whether you're sitting or already lying down,

Take time to orient to the space around you.

With your eyes open,

Maybe notice the space behind you.

Notice the space in front of you,

The space above you,

The space to the left of you,

The space to the right of you,

And the space below you.

Take some time here to roll your neck from side to side,

Making a small,

Gentle U along the edges of your collarbones.

Notice where your mind wants to focus its attention.

Can you coax yourself back to my voice,

Knowing that the mind is a thinking thing.

It's normal for it to wander.

Just keep coming back when you notice.

If you haven't already,

This is a perfect time to put a pillow or a bolster under your knees.

Really be super fussy about creating the coziest nest for yourself,

However your body wants to be held with whatever you have available,

Your body,

Your choices.

Finally,

Can you soften your gaze or close your eyes if you haven't already?

Let your hands rest where they land.

Maybe they want to land beside you or you'd like to place one on your chest or one on your belly or both on your belly.

It's also your choice,

Your body.

And just start to notice the breath moving in and the breath moving out.

There's no need to force anything.

Let's just take three slow,

Natural,

Aware breaths together.

Your pace,

Your choices.

Just inhale and exhale when you're ready.

Good.

And on these next few inhales and exhales,

Let's inhale through the nose and then open your mouth and constrict the back of your throat and exhale with a long sigh.

Something like this.

So inhale.

Open your mouth,

Exhale.

Good.

A few more like that.

Inhale.

Now connect with the feeling of your body and the earth beneath you.

See if you can connect to 5,

000,

8,

000 miles of earth beneath you.

And imagine what it would be like to breathe from the soles of your feet up through your body to the top of your head.

And then exhale back down from the top of your head through your body,

Down through your legs and out through your feet.

Let's do a few more like that.

Inhale up through your feet,

Up through your torso,

Up through your brain,

Up through the top of your head and hold your breath at the top here for a few seconds.

Just a few.

And then exhale back down through your body all the way through your torso,

Through your pelvis,

Through your legs and out the bottoms of your feet.

Let's take two more breaths like that.

Inhale back up through your feet,

Through your legs,

Through your pelvis,

Your torso,

The top of your head,

Out the top of your head.

Hold your breath at the top.

And then exhale back down through your body all the way through your torso,

Through your pelvis,

Through your legs,

Through the bottoms of your feet and hold your breath out at the bottom here.

And just become curious if you can feel what you feel here.

And then let your breath return to its normal pace and rhythm.

You probably already feel the ground holding you,

The weight of your body anchoring you.

That's right.

Let the edges soften.

Let gravity take over.

Let yourself just be here just as you are.

You don't have to be okay.

You don't even have to feel better.

Let's just be here.

I invite you to check in and ask your highest consciousness how to use this meditation for your healing,

For your recovery.

You can trust yourself.

As you continue to stay with your breath,

Begin to gently name what's here.

Let's gently rotate your consciousness through your body.

And remember,

This is participate by choice.

If any of these practices don't resonate with you for any reason,

Just skip them.

Focus on your toes if you want to.

Anything you want to do,

It's up to you,

Your choices.

If you'd like,

Though,

Let's start by noticing the backside of your body,

Maybe starting with the back of your head.

Can you notice the back of your head and maybe imagine what it would be like with your mind's eye to drop roots from the back of your head into the earth beneath you.

Let those roots anchor into the earth's crust beneath the surface.

Let them anchor into the depths of the earth so that you can feel connected.

And then maybe notice the backs of your shoulder blades and drop roots from the backs of your shoulder blades into the earth.

And then move down the lower spine into your hip bones and see if you could imagine dropping roots deep into the earth from each hip bone,

The left.

And then move down your legs to the backs of your heels,

Your feet,

And drop roots into the earth.

And then once you've established this relationship in your mind's eye of having these roots connecting you to the earth beneath you,

Can you begin to inhale up through the earth and through those roots into your body?

Maybe the softest,

Greenest light.

It's like this breath is full of soft,

Green light.

And you inhale up through the roots into your body.

And then you exhale back down into the earth,

Carbon dioxide.

Inhale oxygen up from the earth.

Exhale carbon dioxide deep down into the earth.

And then bring your attention to the lower back ribs in your body and bring your attention to your kidneys and to the space above your kidneys,

Your adrenal glands,

And send soft green light to your kidneys and your adrenal glands,

A message of hope,

A message of healing,

A message to calm down your sympathetic nervous system.

Just allow the cortisol to settle.

Just allow the stress to settle just for a moment here.

And then bring your attention to your head,

The back of your head,

And breathe in soft green light inside your brain.

This is just a mind game,

Just breathing in this soft,

Soft green light into your brain and just see if you can send a message of health and healing and of equilibrium and balance and wellness to your brain,

To your neurons,

To the synapses,

To your neurotransmitters,

To the structures in your brain,

To the limbic system,

To your amygdala.

May your brain be healthy.

May it be well.

May it be calm.

May it be supportive.

Maybe you'll also be willing to tune inward.

You notice what you're feeling.

Can you notice any emotions that you're having?

Maybe there's happiness.

Maybe there's peace.

Maybe you feel fear or rage or grief or numbness.

Maybe it's all of them.

Maybe it's none.

Just the noticing is enough.

You don't have to wrestle it.

You don't have to fix it.

You are feeling exactly what any awake,

Sensitive,

Alive human would feel in this moment.

And that's okay.

Maybe that's your nervous system doing exactly what it was built to do to protect and care for you.

Just breathe with it.

Let the storm be named and let it pass without needing to push it away.

I want you to imagine yourself standing barefoot in a wide open field.

The grass is soft,

Slightly cool beneath your feet.

It might be early morning.

This isn't perfection,

Yet it's alive.

It's real.

It's here.

You are standing in a space that has known struggle and yet it has returned to life.

Feel your feet pressing gently into the earth.

Use your mind's eye to reconnect to those roots that you dropped deep into the earth.

Inhale and exhale through the roots back down into the earth.

See if you can feel rooted.

See if you can feel supported.

There is wholeness available,

Remember.

And even if your mind has forgotten,

Your body remembers how to belong here.

Remember,

You are still here.

There's no need to rush toward meaning.

There's no need to hold it all together,

Just notice.

Beneath it all,

A hum of life still moving through you.

A truth whispering from deep within,

You're still here.

And in the silence beneath your thoughts,

You begin to feel something older than language.

A mystery in your bones.

A whisper in your blood.

You come from a long line of survivors.

You carry their strength in your spine.

Their defiance rides your breath.

Their fire didn't die.

It lives in you now.

Let's breathe with that knowing together.

Let's inhale,

I carry their strength.

Exhale,

I honor my breath.

Again,

Inhale,

I carry their strength.

Exhale,

I honor my breath.

Let's count back from the number 10 together.

Just allow your mind to listen to my voice.

We'll start with 10.

And 9.

And 8.

And 7.

And 6.

And 5.

And 4.

And 3.

And 2.

And now let your body remember you were never meant to do this alone.

There is a place inside you steady and undefeated.

And still believes in your resilience.

Let it rise.

Let your body remember you were never meant to do this alone.

This is a place inside you steady and undefeated that still believes in your resilience.

Let it rise.

You don't have to hold it all alone.

You don't have to collapse either.

Just come back.

Come back to the one place that's always been with you and is you.

Your body.

Your breath.

Your choices.

Not to make everything better.

Not to pretend.

But to stay with yourself.

And maybe,

Just maybe,

That's the most radical thing you can do today.

Let the noise fade.

Let the clarity return.

Like a signal cutting through static.

You are here and that still means something.

Let these words anchor you.

You can say them in your mind.

You can whisper them.

Or you can just feel them.

I am here.

I am present.

I am here.

I can do this.

I am here.

I am connected to community.

One more time.

I am here.

I am capable.

Let that truth settle in your bones without even trying.

You may already feel more rooted.

You don't have to rush back into the noise.

Just stay here a little longer.

Let the silence hold you.

Let your breath settle like dust after a storm.

Let your spine remember how to rise.

Let the world wait while you remember who you are.

Reviews

What you said and the sound of your voice together were powerful and helpful. TY for your wisdom.