Being Blessed By The Fruits Of The Spirit

This meditation begins grounding in the body, connecting with the breath and the breath of the Holy Spirit, and connecting with the divine light within the soul. Once grounded in body, breath, Spirit, and soul, we open to receive the fruits of the Spirit that may best assist us exactly where we are. Then using a brief body scan opening to the ways in which receiving a fruit of the Spirit might bless every fiber and cell of our bodies in addition to our soul and spirit.

Transcript

This is a meditation called being blessed by the fruits.

Being blessed by the fruits of the spirit.

So I invite you to get comfortable wherever you are.

You may be seated on a cushion or on the floor in a chair.

You may be standing.

You may be lying down.

Just taking a position that feels responsive to wherever you are in this moment.

I invite you to notice the feelings and sensations in your body making contact with whatever is beneath you.

So if you're sitting,

Noticing the feelings and sensations of the backs of your legs connecting to whatever you're sitting upon.

If you're lying down,

You may notice the feelings and sensations all along the backside of your body making contact with whatever is beneath you.

If you're standing,

Noticing the feelings and sensations in your feet making contact with the floor.

And see if there is a way in which you feel supported.

Supported and strengthened by whatever you're making contact with.

I invite you to close your eyes or cast them down.

If you're driving,

Of course,

You'll want to refrain from that.

But outside of driving,

If it feels responsible to you,

Closing your eyes or casting them down,

Drawing your attention more to your inner landscape to then to the visual scape around you.

And drawing your attention to your hips.

Pulling through your hips to elongate your spine.

So that even though your eyes are closed or cast down,

There's still an openness in your body to be present.

To be aware and awake to this present moment.

And if you want to,

You can roll your shoulders or do some shoulder shrugs,

Which might be easier if you're lying down.

Inviting the body to release any tension that is built up in this area of your body.

When that feels complete,

Leaving your shoulders in a back position,

Creating an opening through your chest.

So now here you are,

A nice elongated spine,

Open chest.

Taking a couple deep breaths in this position,

Really grounding yourself in the present moment by way of the body and the breath.

And in your mind's eyes,

Seeing yourself in your wholeness,

Your totality.

Taking a moment to notice if there's any particular thoughts that are moving in your mind.

Just notice them without any judgment.

Meditation is such a beautiful practice.

It's just a beautiful opportunity to whatever we notice in this sacred space of meditating,

We notice and we welcome it without judgment.

You can even hold it with a sense of compassion and kindness,

A sense of love.

Beautifully done.

Coming down into your heart space,

Noticing if there's anything stirring in your heart in this moment,

Any emotion.

Noticing any feelings and sensations in your whole body connected to any emotions that might be present.

And again,

It's simply a noticing.

It's not cracking open an opportunity to judge yourself for how you're feeling or even wishing that it were different.

It's simply being present to what's already here,

What's already present within you.

Seeing whatever emotion is present with warmth and kindness.

Then lowering your attention down into your soul.

I imagine my soul sits somewhere kind of underneath my rib cage and maybe around my belly button.

But you notice for you,

Where do you sense the divine flame housed within you?

Which I call that the soul.

The soul is the place within us where there is a divine flame,

Alive and well.

And so we give ourselves the gift of connecting with our own souls and noticing,

Is there anything stirring within my soul this moment?

It could be something difficult stirring within you.

It could be something light and joyful,

Wonderful stirring in your soul.

But whatever it is,

Good or bad,

We welcome it.

We hold it with a kindness and love,

A sense of curiosity,

Maybe even a playful curiosity.

Just giving ourselves the gift of being with our own soul,

The place where the divine connects within us.

And taking in your body as a whole.

Noticing any feelings and sensations within your body,

Being present to them,

Again with a sense of kindness and love,

A spirit of generosity,

A willingness to be with,

With compassion.

Just breathing with any felt sense you have in the body at this time.

Beautifully done.

Drawing your attention back to your soul,

To this divine flame within you.

And see if there is a way in which when you breathe,

When you take an in-breath in your lungs,

Your diaphragm,

Fill with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

There's a way that breath with each inhale touches down in that divine flame and nourishes it.

And then on the exhale,

You're releasing anything that doesn't serve you.

So on the inhale,

Filling with the spirit,

The movement of the spirit touching that divine flame within you,

And then on the exhale,

Releasing whatever doesn't serve you.

Just a willingness,

An openness to release whatever is no longer needed.

So the invitation is to simply stay with your breath,

Both the inhale and the exhale,

Staying grounded in the feelings and sensations within your body as you breathe,

As your human breath connects with the divine breath and touches down within the divine flame within you.

Meditation is this glorious opportunity to be broken open,

To come home to what is most alive within us,

To what is most divine within us.

And every time we come,

Every time we practice coming back home,

It strengthens our connection to ourselves,

To the spirit,

To the divine flame within us.

Using the rhythm of your own breath,

And if you ever notice that your mind has drifted away from the breath,

The spirit,

The soul,

Use it as an opportunity again to practice non-judgment and to simply guide yourself back,

Back home once again to the breath,

The body,

And the divine light within the soul.

So every time you notice that your mind has wandered,

It becomes an opportunity,

An opportunity to practice coming back home with intention,

Offering yourself grace.

Breathing right here with the breath,

Noticing how the breath can connect the divine flame within you.

So on the exhale,

We're noticing how we're releasing,

Releasing whatever doesn't serve us.

And on the in-breath,

Let us notice what do we need to receive,

What the Holy Spirit may be trying to offer us,

Deliver us by way of the breath.

We can think about this in terms of being curious,

Bringing a playful curiosity of what fruit of the spirit might help me in this present moment,

What fruit of the spirit might help me in a situation in my life that I'm struggling with,

A particular relationship,

Or just facing the day ahead.

What fruit of the spirit might help me sleep if I'm doing this meditation before I go to bed?

So dwelling with your soul,

Connecting your soul and the spirit together by way of the breath,

I'm going to read to you,

Remind you of the fruits of the spirit that we find in Galatians.

The fruit of the spirit is love,

Joy,

Peace,

Patience,

Kindness,

Generosity,

Faithfulness,

Gentleness and self-control.

So just continuing to breathe with,

Breathe with the spirit,

Staying with the presence of the divine light within your soul.

Just stay open to the awareness of which one of these fruits the spirit is trying to offer you,

Which fruit would meet you exactly where you are and offer the very thing that will help you be still and also help you to move forward.

See which one lands within that flame.

Notice which fruit your soul yearns for more of in this present moment.

The fruit of the spirit is love,

Joy,

Peace,

Patience,

Kindness,

Generosity,

Faithfulness,

Gentleness,

Self-control.

Now you may be thinking to yourself,

I need all of these.

That's usually what happens to me.

I'm like,

I need all of them.

And that may be true.

See which one has the most yearn.

Your soul has the most yearning to receive one of these in this present moment.

And so if your soul had to choose one to receive with bountifulness and abundance,

What would it be?

Maybe you recognize that even just a glimmer of one of these would be exceedingly helpful.

So taking that fruit,

Allowing it to sit right there within the divine flame,

Seeing if you can really receive by way of the breath,

The spirit delivering that fruit over and over again with every breath as it joins you in the seat of your soul.

And then just breathing with the presence of that gift,

Filling your soul with every breath.

Beautifully done.

The next part of this meditation is doing a slight body scan and seeing if there is a way in which as we anchor our attention in each part of the body,

We're also receiving the fruit that you've chosen,

That your soul has chosen for you to bless this part of your body.

So there's a way in which the fruit is being fully received within the soul and then also blessing the body as we move through this body scan.

So starting at the top of the head,

Alight your attention on the crown of your head,

Breathing with the top of your head.

See if there is a way in which the presence of this fruit is blessing this part of your body.

Simply by opening yourself to receive the blessings this fruit has to offer you in this moment.

And just breathing with that awareness,

Allowing your breath to absorb and receive the blessing of the fruit.

Dropping down into the face,

Coming around the eyes.

Notice if there's a way that this fruit of the spirit can bless your eyes.

So the ways that you see yourself are blessed with this fruit,

The ways you see each other,

You see other people in the world about you is through the lens of this fruit of the spirit.

Dropping down into your cheeks and your jaw,

Noticing how your jaw and your cheeks receive the blessing of the fruit.

Allowing the breath to really empower the receiving,

Allowing you to take in this fruit.

Let it be integrated into every fiber and cell of your body.

Dropping your attention down into your throat and your neck.

Maybe having some curiosity and wonder of how this fruit of the spirit might bless the words you say to yourself,

The words that you share with another person today.

Just receiving,

Receiving this fruit right there in your throat.

And coming down into your shoulders,

Just alighting your attention ever so gently on your shoulders.

See if there's a way in which you can receive the blessing of fruit in this part of our body that tends to hold so much stress and tension.

As the spirit alightens the attention on your shoulders,

Oh,

There you are blessed.

Coming down through your arms,

Letting the fruit of the spirit radiate down through your arms,

Blessing your arms,

Your hands,

So that the people that you touch,

Including yourself,

The animals,

The pets that you touch,

The earth that you touch,

That all of it may be blessed by the fruit of this,

This fruit of the spirit.

And coming back up to your shoulders and now dropping down into your chest.

Notice this,

How this fruit may offer a blessing to your chest,

Your lungs,

Your shoulder blades,

Your heart space,

Just receiving this fruit right there in your heart space,

Breathing with the presence.

And lowering your attention down into your torso,

Noticing feelings and sensations in the sides of your torso,

In your back and your belly,

Allowing yourself to notice feelings and sensations all through your torso of receiving this fruit of the spirit.

See how this fruit may be blessing you in this moment by simply being open to receiving it.

And dropping down into your hips,

Moving down through your legs,

Receiving this fruit all through your hips and your legs.

Imagining how this reception,

Being able to receive this fruit of the spirit,

May shift the way in which you walk through this day.

Literally walk through this day,

Walk upon the earth.

How might this fruit enhance,

Reorient,

Transform the way you move?

Now taking in the wholeness of your being,

Taking in the wholeness,

So every fiber and cell of your body,

Your soul and your spirit,

Just sense how it has received and continues to receive this fruit of the spirit.

How you are feeling blessed in wholeness.

So fully receiving whatever the spirit has to offer by way of this fruit.

Checking your posture one more time,

Pulling through the hips to elongate the spine,

Opening the chest to create even more room for the spirit.

And in this wholeness,

In the awareness of your whole body,

Soul and spirit,

See how you are a vessel,

A vessel for this fruit.

And you may be able to imagine from this place,

Moving from this day,

Moving from this moment into the rest of your day and night with a ripple effect.

That the blessing doesn't just come from the moment of meditation,

But there may be a rippling effect throughout this day and night and in the days to come of having given yourself the gift of coming home.

Coming home to your own body,

The breath of the spirit moving through you,

The divine light within your own soul,

And the openness,

The willingness to be vulnerable to receive,

To receive love,

Joy,

Peace,

Patience,

Kindness,

Generosity,

Faithfulness,

Gentleness,

Self-control.

Every time you do this meditation,

You may land on a different fruit.

Wonderful.

Every time you do this meditation,

Your soul may seek the same fruit over and over again.

Let it be so.

As we come to the end of this meditation,

I invite you to open your eyes if you've had them closed,

Taking in the visual scape around you.

You may want to take a couple of deep cleansing breaths here at the end,

Elongating the breath in and out to really cleanse the body and to settle more in receiving this fruit.

You may want to pat yourself on the back,

Offer a moment of gratitude for taking the time to come home to yourself and to the spirit and to the divine light within you.

My prayer is that you will be blessed,

That you will be blessed every time you come home to the spirit that moves within you.

And the rest of the moments of your day will continue to carry those blessings outward,

Both for yourself and to the others that you encounter.

So be well and take good care.