Find Connection In The Present Moment

The complications of life can leave us feeling disconnected and separated from those we love. In this practice, we use the breath and work with the present moment to find a deeper connection within ourselves, with our loved ones and those we are missing. Cultivate the connection, feelings of love, joy, peace, calm, and ease. Gentle piano helps us ease into a place of relaxation and moment to moment awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation.

I'm so grateful you chose this time to sit together,

To listen,

To turn inward.

Moving inward is a journey,

And it takes time to settle the mind,

To settle the body.

And there's things that we can do to help us ease into that transition,

Working with our breath,

Stretching,

Getting comfortable,

Getting curious.

And then it's the work that we do to keep coming back over and over again.

This is a reminder that meditation practice is not either good or bad,

That it's a practice.

It takes showing up and putting in that effort over and over again.

So that's what we'll start doing today is putting in that effort.

While our intention is to turn inward,

It is also to connect with others during a time when we may feel so disconnected,

Estranged,

Alone,

Yearning to be near and among the people we love so much.

So to prepare for our journey to go inward today,

Let's get our bodies settled in.

That might mean reaching out your arms if you are able-bodied enough to do so,

And reaching above you,

Reaching up towards the sky,

Stretching,

Maybe leaning back a little,

Expanding the lungs.

And as you bring the arms slowly down by your side,

You're just feeling the movement of body.

If it feels good to stretch up again or perhaps out to the sides,

Maybe leaning to the right,

Before swaying like a tree in the wind and leaning to the left.

If you feel inclined to gently close your eyes and just start to feel the body from the inside,

The creaks and the pains.

Bringing the arms down,

Perhaps we'll roll the shoulders backwards or forwards a few circles just to get an attention paid and then released at the end,

Just letting go.

Getting comfortable might mean adding pillows and getting into supportive pose.

Maybe you're leaning up against a wall or a chair.

Your knees nag you,

Just propping something up.

Removing anything that can take us out of the inner journey.

Taking a deep breath in and together through the nose,

Let's fill everything up in the body.

Letting the lungs expand,

Feeling that beauty of breath coming in over this life force.

And then a big exhale out through the mouth.

You feel the body settle when that happens.

When you let go of breath,

Can you maybe let go of any tensions?

So a few more big breaths together,

Breathing in through the nose,

Filling up the whole belly and the chest.

A little hold at the top so you can feel some tension,

Pressure before you release fully through the mouth.

Letting it all go,

Thinking about the shoulders settling in,

The hips feeling heavier,

The weight of gravity pulling you down.

Another deep breath in through the nose.

Belly,

Chest full,

Holding and expanding.

Maybe breathing in a few more sips of that beautiful air before you release and let it all go.

And just be in stillness for a moment with that.

This is this reminder of being in stillness while everything outside of you is moving.

It can be so challenging to be still when all life seemingly is moving around you.

But this inner world is everything.

This is where you're supposed to be right now.

If you haven't gently closed your eyes already,

Please do or soften the gaze.

Begin to feel for the breath moving in the body at its natural rhythm and just becoming familiar with your own breath.

Checking in to see if it needs more movement and relaxation of the body to let it be free.

And begin to notice where you feel the breath most physically coming in and out of the body.

Is it the belly or the chest,

The nose?

And stay with that spot for a few breaths,

Just noticing the breath pass in and out at that space.

We're not here to judge the breath,

Just to watch it,

Let it running its own course in and out of the body.

This breath is your anchor of our practice today.

It is our anchor that holds us in the present moment,

Like a boat bobbing on the top of the ocean.

If it's not anchored down,

It could float.

The mind of its own,

The ocean could take it far away from its destination.

Perhaps you place a hand on the chest or the abdomen and feel this as it is the anchor,

The symbol.

That breath is like a wave crashing up and down on the anchor.

We can find so much suffering in our days when we are too busy living in our past,

Too busy worrying about our future.

This can be the main cause of all the anxieties or fears,

Confusion.

And the greatest way we can stay connected to what's true and authentic is to just show up in our moment.

Breathing and watching this breath here.

On the inhale,

Feeling that wave rise up against the boat.

Release and exhale.

Every time we are missing someone in our life,

Someone we love or care about,

We tend to be living in the past with memories that we've made,

Good or bad or whatever they are for you.

When we live in memories that are invoking of sadness,

They pull us out of our present moment,

Our breath.

We also tend to wish for our future to come.

Living a better days or maybe even missing someone,

Projecting how sad we might be,

What we're missing out on,

What we've lost.

But just like the breath,

There is only this present moment.

And so how can we navigate these troubled waters and feel connected without diving into the memories or painting future pictures?

We do this by going deeper within the mind,

Using the breath to help us travel there.

Working with your anchor,

Breathing in and watching the inhale move throughout the body.

And when we have feelings that arise of the sadness or missing,

We simply notice if we are living in that past or that future and gently bring ourselves back to breath.

Whether this person is alive or no longer with us,

We can cultivate the feelings within that are of joy and peace and calm and connectedness to them.

Begin to imagine that your loved one or loved ones are standing before you.

In this moment with your eyes closed,

Like you're looking at a movie screen,

You see them with smiles on their faces.

Just picture them in all the details of who they are and what they mean to you.

Just imagine them on this movie screen.

Imagine where you are together,

Are you in a home,

In a place you love,

Just bringing all the details to this movie screen in your mind,

Starting to paint it all out.

Not a past moment but in your present being with them.

Imagine how they extend their love and caring to you.

How does it feel when they express this?

The warmth irradiating from them,

Maybe it's from their eyes,

Their smile,

Just their overall presence being in front of you.

If you catch your mind wandering,

Coming back to your anchor and being in this moment with this feeling of joy and connectedness.

Aru mon sh Female.

Beginning to feel yourself returning that joy and that love from your heart to theirs.

All of your wishes and your hopes in this moment.

With each breath,

Breathing in,

Feeling that love and energy and light just pouring over them now coming from you.

What does this feel like within the body?

Can you notice where you feel this joy or this love or maybe you're still finding sadness but tapping into where does that feeling live in the body?

Is it in the heart space?

Is it warmth and tingling in the arms or the fingers?

Does it spread with a smile across your face or a tear in your eye?

Physical limitations of not being close to the people we care for does not mean we cannot feel the love in the moment,

We cannot cultivate and tap into it.

Now the movie screen is no longer playing but can you hold on to those feelings of lightness that you created?

It came from within you and just bringing to mind another being.

Can you simply hold on to those feelings?

Like a boat hanging on to the anchor,

Can it just be here?

Reasing a hand if you're able in the heart center and the chest.

Feeling your anchor and connecting with all the joy and love that lives within you in any moment.

Knowing that your breath can easily bring you back to this place.

Not throughout your day when you are feeling sad or needing to reconnect.

Placing your hand on the heart space and taking a breath.

Feeling that from within you create love and joy and peace and light from within you and you spread that in the world.

Taking a deep breath in through the nose.

We offer cleansing and release on the exhale.

Again a breath in through the nose and release and exhale.

We encourage you to sit in stillness for a moment or two and be with breath until the next time.

Believe in your spirit or assume your name will be obtained as it takes you under the Oh You You You

Reviews

This is lovely but honestly it's hard to hear you and so I ended up listening to the music which is in a minor.key and I just felt very sad 🙏

Thank you so much Elizabeth. Very calming and peaceful meditation.