Inner Strength & Courage Meditation

Cultivate your inner strength and courage by connecting more deeply to your inner world, without judgment. Perhaps something has happened where your self-doubt has increased. Perhaps something or someone has dimmed your inner light. Whatever it is, you are welcome here! Bask in your greatest with this guided meditation through breath, introspective questions, and gentle pauses.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. My name is Brenda and I will be guiding you today through your Inner Strength and Courage meditation. And perhaps you're arriving to this meditation and something has happened that has perhaps dimmed your light a bit or increased your self-doubt or whatever it is that you are arriving with today, You are welcomed here. And I hope that through this guidance and through our intention of connecting to our body, Our breath, And our mind that we can cultivate this inner strength and courage to step out of this meditation with our inner light, Our inner radiance beaming in our day today. So let's go ahead and get started. You're going to come into your meditation position. And for some of us that might be sitting in a chair with our feet to the floor, Our spine relaxed to the back of our chair. For some of us that might be sitting down on the floor, Perhaps with a cushion or a blanket underneath you. And for some of us, It might mean that today it's lying down. Lying down with not the intention to fall asleep, But with the intention of being in our most comfortable self, Our most comfortable position. Perhaps you bend your knees if you are lying down as a way to tell your body that it's not really a sleeping position that we're taking. Go ahead and start to close your eyes. Allow your body and mind to go inward now. And just see or notice what it is that you're arriving with today in this moment. How does your mind feel? Are there many thoughts, No thought, Or a reoccurring thought? Without judgment, We just observe. And then tune into your body. Where is it right now? Is it tired? Is it energized? Are there any aches, Pains, Or numbness that you can tune into? Again, Without judgment, We're just observing. And then notice the breath. How's your breath right now? Is it shallow? Is it deep? Without trying to change the breath, Just see where it is. Does it live more in your chest, Your belly, Or you're unsure? Whatever your answer is, That is the right answer. Without judgment, We're just observing. Just allow whatever it is that you are experiencing in this moment to be here. However you're arriving, That is what we want to observe, Expand, And perhaps let go or detach from any judgment that may come from how we experience life based on society or based on things we've seen or things we've heard or maybe somebody said something that provides or increases our self-doubt, Decreases our inner radiance and light. And now I invite you to take a big breath in through your nose and just let it out the mouth slow and steady. Again, Like that, Big inhale through the nose. Fill up your chest slowly. Fill up your ribs. Fill up your belly. And then part your lips open and let the breath slowly out the mouth, Letting it all go and wash away. Breathe in again all the way up. Fill up your chest. Fill up your ribs. Fill up your belly. And then a slow breath out the mouth, Letting it all go and wash away. Breathe in again. Not as big, Just a nice gentle inhale and a nice gentle exhale right out the nose. Breathe in again a few times. Nose, Inhale and nose, Exhale. We'll begin to connect to our breath a little bit more so we can slow down, Observe more inwardly and create a spacious mind, A spacious heart. As you're observing your inhale, Imagine like you're tracing a circle. You're tracing the top of the circle as you're inhaling. And as you start to get to the middle or the edge of a circle, You'll begin and descending the bottom of your exhale, The bottom of the circle. And then you'll once again inhale, Trace the top of the circle. And once again, Exhale, Tracing the bottom of the circle. Good. And now this time, We'll add a little other technique. As you're breathing in again, You might observe and trace this imaginary circle. And then as we descend the bottom of the circle, We're exhaling. And as we round out the end of that exhale, You're going to pause the breath just for a little moment. We're not straining, We're just pausing and gently, Gentle breath. Allow the inhale to arrive naturally and breathe in again. Trace the top of the circle, Descend downward and you're on your exhale. At the end of your exhale, Just a very gentle pause. It can be one second, It can be two. Allow the inhale to arrive naturally. Let the exhale slowly out. And at the end of that exhale, Pause and wait. Let the inhale come to you, Arriving naturally. An invitation, Keep going. Just about four more rounds on your own. Stay connected to the breath in this simple stop and wait technique. Just let the technique fall away and observe again. Observe your body. Maybe some things have changed. Maybe nothing has changed from when we last checked in. Observe your mind, Observe your breath. And however you are right now, See if you can invite this inner strength. See if you can invite and welcome in the sensation of courage. Very similar to how we wait gently for the inhale to arrive naturally. Wait for a moment and see how does courage arrive to you? Do you feel courage in your body? Is it an image that comes to you? Do you hear or notice certain phrases or words that connect to inner strength and courage? However it's arriving to you, Welcome it without judgment. Your way is the right way. Your way is the right way. And as you find your own answers with how this shows up for you in your body, In your breath, And in your mind, Imagine that it's gently washing over you. It's infusing into all the corners of your body, Of your cells, Of your organs, Through your bloodstream. And this inner strength, This inner light and radiance is already inside you. You just have to wait for a moment to allow it to arrive to us similar to how we wait for that inhale to arrive. It is natural. It is there. You connect it to the breath. Allow your mind to feel spacious receiving this as we sit a little bit more in silence. Notice if there's moments when the mind starts to wander, Trickle off, Not a big deal. It's totally normal for the mind to drift. When we sit to meditate, Our intention is to simply bring it back to our attention. Bring our awareness back to our techniques. Bring our attention back to that inner breath, Inner strength, That natural courage that lives within you. Very similar to that natural inhale. These last few moments, We'll take a few breaths together, A few words to complete our meditation. You can repeat them silently to yourself or in a whisper. You can inhale and repeat, I am whole. Breathe in and repeat to yourself, My voice is important. Take a breath in and repeat to yourself, I deserve to be seen, Heard, And appreciated. Take one final breath here, Telling our body it's going to be time to move soon. Final reminder, That inner strength, That inner courage is inside of us, Filling all of the corners of our body, Of our organs, Through our bloodstream, Filled in our breath and arrives to us like an inhale. Begin to blink your eyes open gently, Perhaps looking down to the floor, Whatever is right in front of you. Bringing yourself back into this physical space and taking with you whatever it is that you need to take away without judgment. Perhaps it's nothing, Perhaps it's something, Whatever it is, That is your experience. Make a few movements, Maybe toes and fingers, Just bringing a little bit more awareness to the physical body after being still for a moment. And as you start to feel ready, You can go back into your day. I welcome you to this inner strength and courage meditation anytime that you need it, Anytime of day, Anytime of day, And really, Really cultivating that awareness within yourself. Thank you so much.