Establishing Boundaries: The Deep Work (With Music)

Setting boundaries can help support us in our relationships with others, and with ourselves. Boundaries can help us find clarity, shed light on our values, and help us find our way back to our Self. They can also help us manage our energy well.

This practice begins with an extended centering process to prepare the body and nervous system for moving into the heart space, engaging in visualization, and working with affirmations to help develop clarity and confidence in setting boundaries. This practice features background music from Chris Carter to further support ease in the body.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice.

Taking a moment to establish a comfortable position either seated or lying down.

Choosing what will be most supportive for your body for the duration of this practice.

You might choose to cover yourself with a shawl or a blanket to help maintain your body temperature and to signal and add a degree of comfort and safety to your nervous system.

Taking a few more moments to make any additional adjustments to your body to increase your comfort so that you can find stillness and ease for the duration of the practice.

Once you are there you might choose to close your eyes or find a soft gaze a few feet on the ground in front of you.

Inviting a full breath to come in through the nose and then releasing the jaw and softly sighing out loud.

Softening through the forehead,

The inner and outer corners of the eyes,

Nose and the jaw.

And inviting another full breath in through the nose feeling the lungs expand as you receive the breath.

Then again releasing the jaw sighing slowly out loud as you soften through the shoulders and the whole length of the arms.

Another full breath in like this in through the nose feeling the diaphragm drop as the belly expands.

And then softly sighing out loud as you release the breath slowly.

Allowing the whole body to sink into the support beneath and behind you.

And allowing the breath to find its natural rhythm.

Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other.

Effortless,

Easeful rhythm.

As you scan the body from head to toe and toe to head just noticing if there are any sensations in the body calling for your attention.

Any areas of discomfort or tightness.

And allowing the breath to move into those spaces.

You might even greet them saying ah hello discomfort I see you.

Thank you for letting me know that you're tender today.

Moving through the body in this way welcoming all sensations.

All that is in the body is welcome here.

You might notice if there are any emotions that are present with you today.

And again welcoming these saying ah hello emotion.

Thank you for letting me know that you're here with me.

All emotions are welcome here.

All sensations,

All emotions.

All is okay.

As you gently now bring your awareness to the very top of the head.

And softening through the top of the head.

Smoothing out the forehead.

Softening through the temples.

The inner and outer corners of the eyes.

Softening as the eyeballs rest a little deeper into their sockets.

Softening through the nose,

The cheeks.

Allowing the teeth to separate.

The tongue rests floating inside the mouth.

The jaws soft.

Softening through the neck and the throat.

Shoulders,

Elbows,

Wrists.

All ten fingers softening.

Softening through the whole front of the body.

The whole back of the body.

The hips soften.

Upper legs,

Knees,

Shins and calves,

Ankles,

Tops and bottoms of the feet and all ten toes softening.

The whole body just soft.

Sinking into the support beneath and behind you.

Allowing it to be held.

As you bring your awareness back to the flow of the breath.

You might imagine the next inhale coming in through the crown of the head.

Traveling down into the center of the heart.

Then exhaling from the center of the heart down through the base of the spine.

Then inhale coming back up from the base of the spine into the heart space.

Exhaling from the heart back up through the crown of the head.

Continuing to breathe in this way.

Following the breath up and down the spine.

With your attention honing in on the space and the transition of the breath in the center of the heart.

Awareness resting at the center of the heart.

Here within the heart space you might begin to sense a small circle of light.

And within this you might begin to see or sense an image of yourself here held within your heart space.

An image of you tenderly resting in the light of your heart.

You might see or sense a cloud forming around this image of you.

A cloud that contains all of the things and people that are perhaps drawing energy away from you with requests,

With simply presence.

All of the things and people that are drawing energy away from you floating in this cloud.

And you begin to notice the color,

The weight and texture of this cloud.

You might also notice the posture of the image of you beneath this cloud.

How old do you feel?

Noticing any thoughts,

Emotions,

Sensations or feeling tones that arise as you assess and see and sense this image of you beneath this cloud.

You might now find yourself gently approaching this image of you.

Perhaps sitting alongside them beneath this cloud looking up at it together.

You might gently offer these words.

I see you calling your name to yourself.

I hear you and I see you.

I'm learning to take care of you.

I'm here for you.

I love you.

Calling your name to yourself.

I hear you and I see you here.

I'm learning to take care of you.

I'm here for you.

I love you.

Calling your name to yourself.

I see you.

I hear you and see you here.

I'm learning to take care of you.

I'm here for you.

I love you.

Allowing the vibration of these words to echo through your being as you merge with this image of you beneath the cloud.

Allowing the vibration of these words to envelop you as you feel into the sense of you,

Your physical body,

Your breath,

The space around you between you and this cloud of expectation.

And sensing into the space around the body extending it outward two to three feet in all directions above,

Below,

Side to side,

Front to back.

Sensing into the space around you forming something like an egg-shaped container of light around you merged with the image of you.

Creating a space in a way that feels welcoming,

Comforting,

Perhaps even safe.

The space is yours defined by you.

Creating an edge of light around this space.

A light that is a color that you associate with clarity.

You can adjust this edge,

The space and the light at any time.

Expanding it outward or drawing it as close to you as you would like.

You might notice that the cloud of other,

The cloud of all the things asking for your energy is outside this circle of light.

You determine what enters and what is kept outside.

You have choice.

You determine what enters and what is kept outside.

You have choice.

With each in-breath feeling into the support of the circle of light.

And with each out-breath the circle becomes more vibrant.

The color and edges more clear and defined.

They're as close or as distant as feels right for you right now.

Gently breathing into the heart space in the center of the circle of light.

You might gently offer the following words.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say no to that which does not support me.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say yes to that which calls to me.

May I take on only that which is in alignment and release the rest with love.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say no to that which does not support me.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say yes to that which calls to me.

May I take on only that which is in alignment and release the rest with love.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say no to that which does not support me.

May I give myself permission to lovingly and clearly say yes to that which calls to me.

May I take on only that which is in alignment and release the rest with love.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

With each breath in,

Allowing these words to settle into the spaciousness of your heart.

With each exhale,

They support and reinforce the boundary of the field of light around you.

Inhale.

Clarity.

Exhale.

Boundary.

Inhale.

Clarity.

Exhale.

Boundary.

Continuing to breathe in and out with this intention for the next few moments.

Clarifying,

Defining the boundary around you.

Sensing into the spaciousness inside the sphere of light that you have created.

As you begin to gently deepen the breath,

Feeling into the support of the earth beneath you.

The spaciousness around you.

The container of the circle of light around you.

The cloud off in the distance outside of the circle of light.

Dissipating.

Dissolving.

Next inhale,

You might gently close your fingers into a fist as they gather strength.

Feeling the strength in the body.

As you exhale,

Gently expanding the fingers,

Releasing expectations.

Inhale.

Closing the fingers,

Gathering strength.

Exhale.

Expand and release.

Continuing to deepen the breath and feeling into that sphere of light around you one last time.

Noticing that it is always with you.

That you can always reconnect with it to reestablish and reaffirm your boundaries.

This light is yours.

Taking another full breath in and softly exhale as you bring both hands together in front of the heart and begin rubbing them together to generate some heat.

Once the palms begin to feel warm,

Resting one hand on top of the heart space and the other on top of that as you pause here in this very gentle posture,

Affirming the boundary around your heart space.

Feeling into the warmth of your own hands holding your tender heart as you inhale here and exhale with a soft,

Slow,

Steady sigh.

Gently inviting a soft grin to form on the lips here.

A soft grin that says,

Yes.

I move forward with clarity.

May I take on only that which is in alignment and release the rest with love.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

May my heart be peaceful.

May my mind be clear.

Gently blinking open the eyes and bringing your gaze and your gentle grin with you as you move clearly and confidently into your day carrying this clarity of defined boundaries with you.