Hey there,
I'm Annie Hunting,
A business and embodiment mentor and meditation guide.
I am here today in the beautiful Alberta Badlands bringing you a meditation of release.
The kind where you're going to notice already what has loosened,
What you've stopped gripping,
And what no longer needs your hands in it.
So begin by getting comfortable.
You can sit or stand for this meditation.
And if you are outside,
Let the air be part of the practice.
And if you're inside,
Imagine a wide,
Open landscape.
Dry earth.
Big sky,
Warm stone,
And a horizon all around.
Let your eyes close down when you're ready or take a soft gaze.
Take a deep breath in.
All the way to the top and just hold it for a moment.
And then breathe it out.
Again,
Deep breath in.
And hold.
And breathe it out.
One more time,
Big deep breath in right to the top of the breath.
Hold it for a moment.
Sigh it out.
Begin to feel your body relaxing.
Let your jaw unclench.
Let your eyes relax.
Let your belly release.
And go inward to the body.
Watch your shoulders drop.
Allow your hands to rest.
And then notice your hands for a moment.
Are they open or curled?
Are they soft or tense?
No need to change anything,
We're just noticing.
Now I'd like you to imagine yourself standing in an open stretch of Badlands.
The land around you is ancient and wide.
Layered Earth.
And carved hills.
Quiet stone.
And the sky so open that it makes the body remember how much space exists.
The wind moves quietly,
Gently through the landscape.
Maybe it brushes against your face and your skin.
Moves through your hair.
Maybe it slides across your arms.
Like.
.
.
Cool silk sheets.
Feel the air around you.
This breeze has patience.
Knows how to carry only what is ready.
Take a breath in.
And as you exhale,
Feel the wind move past you.
Now bring to mind something that you've been carrying.
That maybe feels heavy.
Worry.
Conversation,
Pressure.
A role or timeline.
Fear.
Be a version of yourself that you keep trying to keep alive but that is ready to move on.
Just let one thing come forward.
Choose what is ready to just be seen today.
And if you can,
Imagine this thing in your hands.
Maybe it looks like a piece of stone.
Or paper,
Or dry grass,
Or.
.
.
A shell or a leaf.
Let it take whatever shape it wants.
And if you're not a visual person,
Maybe it's a word.
It's a feeling.
Just hold it.
Notice its weight,
Whether that be physical or energetic.
And notice how your body responds to it.
Feel it in your chest.
Throat and your shoulders.
No judgment here,
We're just noticing how much work it has taken to carry this.
Let's sit with that for a moment.
And then ask yourself.
Is there any part of this that is ready to loosen?
We're not going to force a yes,
So just feel into it.
I feel one small edge of it even soften or pull free,
A corner lift.
One letter of that word start to lose its grip and just stay with that for a moment.
Begin to notice the wind move around you.
Gentle,
Steady and patient.
Just wait.
You do not need to do anything here.
You only have to just stop holding.
And let the pieces.
Loosen,
Let the pieces Begin to soften,
Begin to divide,
Begin to break away.
Just a little.
Take a slow breath in.
Long breath out.
And say quietly to yourself,
I release.
But no longer needs to be held by my hands.
And notice what happens.
Maybe this object,
This word,
This feeling becomes a bit lighter or smaller.
Maybe a piece of it lifts into the wind.
You notice the breeze becomes a little stronger.
It picks up what is ready to move and takes it away.
Pause and ask yourself,
What part of this is still mine to care for?
The answer,
Just be simple.
Maybe the feeling is still yours,
Maybe.
The boundary gets to be yours.
Maybe the next step,
The responsibility is yours.
Maybe the grief?
Still requiring some tenderness.
Maybe the desire is still alive.
Whatever remains,
Let it remain without shame.
We're not abandoning what still needs care.
The intention is only to release what has become extra weight.
So imagine that object in your hands changing.
What is yours to keep becomes smaller and clearer and easier to hold.
And what is no longer yours.
Loosens at the edges.
And the wind moves again,
And this time you open up your hands a little bit more,
Letting those loose pieces lift off into the wind.
Old pressure.
Someone else's opinion.
The need to replay it in your head again and again and again.
The responsibility for how someone else feels.
Or the urgency to solve what cannot be solved today.
Or maybe an old fear that has delivered its message.
Allowing the wind to carry it away,
What is ready to be caught.
But is ready to go.
Out into the open sky.
No longer in your hands.
And take a breath in.
Feel your palms,
Feel the space between your fingers.
Now bring your awareness to your heart.
And if it feels good,
Place one hand there.
Let that hand be warm and steady.
This release may touch something tender in you.
Let the tenderness have some room.
You might affirm quietly to yourself,
I let go gently.
I can keep what needs care.
And release the rests.
Another slow breath in.
Long breath out.
Imagine the wind moving behind you.
Across your back.
Along your spine.
It lists the weights that maybe you didn't even know you were bracing under.
Need to be ready for everything or explain yourself perfectly or to hold every possible outcome in your mind.
Let this wind move across you.
Allowing your shoulders to drop.
Allow your neck to lengthen.
Your face to soften.
You are standing in a landscape that has been shaped slowly.
Stone became canyon through time.
The earth opened through time.
And the wind works by returning again and again.
Gentle but persistent.
Patient.
This is how we release today by returning to softness.
By noticing what has loosened.
By opening your hands when the moment comes.
And now visualize the horizon.
And imagine that wind carrying the loose pieces far enough away that you no longer have to track them.
You do not need to follow them.
You do not need to know where they landed.
Let the horizon take them.
Let the sky have them.
Breathe in.
Deep long breath out.
Now notice what remains in your hands.
Maybe it's something small.
It's just a corner of that stone you started with.
Or a small note.
For a seed or a stem.
And this is the piece that's still yours.
Your care.
Your truth.
Your softness.
Your desire,
Maybe your next step.
Be her integrity.
Hold it gently and this piece gets to come with you.
You're going to want to put it somewhere safe.
Maybe in your pocket or in your heart or in your palm.
Or in a small imaginary pouch at your side.
And ask yourself,
What am I keeping with love?
And what did I let the wind carry?
And now ask yourself,
What will help me to keep my hands open today?
Let the answer just be something simple like a walk or a reply or a boundary or drinking water or writing it down or saying less.
For touching grass.
Let just one thing come forward.
And now feel the wind one more time around your body and your face.
And your hands.
This wind has no interest in punishing you.
It's here to help you travel lighter.
Take a slow breath in.
Long breath out.
And say quietly to yourself.
A release that no longer needs my hands.
Keep what is mine with love.
I let the wind carry the rest.
And now begin to feel into your body again.
Surface beneath you,
The air on your skin.
Your hands.
Your heart.
Take a breath.
Notice if your hands feel different than they did at the start.
Perhaps more open.
Warmer,
Lighter,
Whatever is true.
It's perfect.
And before you return,
Choose one small release for today.
One thought that you will stop feeding.
.
.
An old message that you will stop rereading.
Pressure that you will leave where it is.
One final breath in.
And release.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
Move slowly.
Let the air meet you,
Let the day be a little wider,
More expansive than it was.
Let the wind carry.
Whenever feels ready today.
And if you love to journal,
You'd like to take a prompt away from this meditation.
Try this one.
What am I ready to let the wind carry today?
And just even write a few simple lines.
Honest.
And then let it move.
If you've enjoyed this meditation,
Please follow me,
Leave me a review so that I may continue to share this magic with others.
We'll see you soon.
