As we move into March,
The seasonal shift becomes tangible.
The light lingers a little longer.
The air changes.
In my garden in Scotland,
More voices have joined the dawn chorus.
It sounds brighter and full of promise.
Yet there's a real sense of transition.
Winter still unfinished,
Spring still gently stirring.
As a result,
This time of year can feel a little in between.
While the natural world is busy preparing for the new energy of spring,
We too can take a moment to gently clear space within ourselves.
Not by forcing anything out or striving to become different,
But by softening,
By allowing,
By making room,
By becoming ready for all the things that have never been.
These are the words of Reiner Maria Rilke and I just love how they capture the promise of the year ahead.
So hello my friends,
A warm welcome if you're new to my meditations and a very grateful welcome back if you've practiced with me before.
Today's practice is simplicity itself.
We notice,
We breathe,
We create space.
To find a comfortable position,
You could be seated or maybe lying down.
Allow your body to feel supported.
Relax your hands.
If it feels safe,
Gently close your eyes or maybe just soften your gaze.
Take a slow breath in through the nose and a steady breath out through the mouth.
Again,
A slow inhale and a long unhurried exhale.
And then release the breath back to the body.
Allow it to return to its natural rhythm.
There's nowhere you need to be,
Nothing you need to solve.
Just be here with your breath and your body in this precious moment.
We'll begin our practice with some breath awareness.
This means allowing our attention to really focus on the sensation of the body breathing.
Be curious.
Where do you feel the breath most clearly?
Is it in the nose,
The air moving into the nostrils,
Moving out of the nostrils?
It might be the sensation of that air moving,
It might be the temperature of the air that catches your attention.
Or maybe you feel it in the chest,
The ribs expanding and contracting.
Or perhaps in the belly,
You can feel it rise and then fall with the breath.
Choose one place and allow it to anchor your attention.
There's nothing special you need to do with the breath.
Simply noticing each inhale and each exhale.
And if the mind wanders,
And it probably will,
Gently acknowledge it and then return to the breath.
Noticing the inhale.
Noticing the exhale.
You might begin to slightly lengthen the exhale now.
Not dramatically,
Just enough to feel a sense of softening,
Of release.
So inhaling naturally,
And then exhaling just a little longer.
You might want to imagine that each exhale is just clearing a thin layer of dust from within.
Making just a little more room.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Now I invite you to release the breath back to the body again,
Because we're going to move our attention to our physical body.
Not to analyze,
To fix,
Simply to notice and allow whatever we find let it be there,
Without judgment,
Without wanting to change it.
Bring your attention to the top of your head.
And then the forehead.
Softening the space between the eyebrows.
Allowing the eyes to rest heavy in the sockets.
Inviting the jaw to relax.
Unclenching the teeth.
Maybe pulling the lips apart just slightly and allowing the tongue to rest gently in the mouth.
Bring awareness to the neck and the shoulders,
Noticing if there's any tension.
This is a space where we often hold a fair amount of tension.
In the body.
So maybe with your next exhale you can invite the shoulders to drop away from the ears even slightly.
Moving your awareness down each arm,
Go one at a time.
Shoulder to elbow.
Wrist into the hands and the fingers and the thumb.
Allow the hands to feel effortless.
The fingers may naturally curl quite gently.
Let your awareness rest on your chest.
Or move it inwards into your heart space,
Noticing the steady rise and fall with the breath.
And then moving around to the back of the body.
The back of the shoulders.
Down the spine through the upper back and mid back.
Down to the lower back.
There's no need to move or adjust unless the body is truly asking you for it.
Here we're just noticing.
Bring the awareness now around to your belly.
Allow it to be soft.
And guarded.
Hips and pelvis feeling heavy.
Just as you move down each arm.
Move down each leg,
The thighs,
Knees.
Calves,
Ankles,
Feet.
All the way to the soles of the feet.
Now can you sense the whole body all at once?
Notice where there is ease.
Notice where there is holding.
Again,
There's no judgment.
Just a gentle,
Kind awareness.
And now with each exhale,
Can you imagine creating a little more space around any areas within you that feel tight?
We're not pushing anything away.
We're just gently loosening the grip around the edges.
Now imagine,
If you can,
That each exhale opens a window inside you.
Just fresh air moving through you.
Nothing dramatic.
Inhaling into that space within.
Exhaling,
Releasing the breath through that window.
Inhale into the space.
Exhale,
Releasing.
You don't have to name what's leaving.
There may be more than just the breath.
Allow the breath to carry whatever feels heavy.
Whatever is unneeded.
Whatever will create a little more space.
Inhaling into that space.
Exhaling,
Softening.
Let's stay with this visualization for another minute or so.
Allowing the breath to carry away what feels heavy.
Each inhale creating space.
Each exhale,
Releasing.
As the season shifts outside,
You're invited to have this quiet shift inside.
Making room for whatever is next.
Let's finish our practice with a couple of minutes of mantra.
Still on this theme of creating that space within.
Begin to silently repeat on the inhale,
Making.
And on the exhale,
Space.
Inhale,
Making.
Exhale,
Space.
Let the words move with the breath.
If the mind drifts,
Gently return back to the mantra.
Making space.
I invite you to release the mantra from your mind.
And return the breath back to your body.
And as we close our practice,
Take a moment to notice how you feel.
Not how you think you should feel,
But actually what is here.
In your body.
In your mind.
Meet whatever you find with compassion.
There is no right or wrong answer.
And as you begin the transition from your practice into the rest of your day,
Remember that this time of year doesn't rush.
The earth doesn't bloom all at once.
And you're allowed to move that way too.
You don't have to know what's next.
You don't have to force growth.
Just keep clearing a little space.
When there is space,
There is choice.
When there is space,
There is possibility.
And may you leave this practice with just a little more room inside you.
And may that be enough.
Until next time.
Goodbye.
