Well,
Hello and welcome to this guided meditation,
Finding peace in the midst of the storm.
I want to invite you to take just a moment and find yourself a comfortable position.
If you'd like to,
You can close your eyes,
But simply let your body settle into stillness.
There's no need for you to change the rhythm of your breath.
Simply let it come in and go out just as it is.
With each inhale,
Feel your chest gently rising.
With each exhale,
Notice the natural release.
Your breath is always here to bring you back to the present moment.
Now,
Before we go further,
I want you to imagine that you are walking along a peaceful path through the woods.
The air is fresh and crisp.
The sound of birds and rustling leaves surround you.
Now,
Ahead,
You see a small cabin,
A safe and quiet sanctuary waiting just for you.
As you approach this beautiful cabin,
Just outside the door,
There's a wooden table,
And on your back,
You've been carrying a heavy backpack filled with the weight of situations,
Circumstances,
And all of the cares of the world.
You do not need any of these items inside of this space.
So,
For now,
I invite you to take off the backpack and set it down on the table.
It's safe.
It'll be waiting for you,
And when this meditation is over,
You can pick it back up.
Feel the lightness as you've taken off that backpack,
Carrying all of that weight on your shoulders.
Now it's time to step inside the cabin.
You are inside of a place of calm,
A place of peace.
I invite you to sit in a comfortable chair and take in a deep breath,
And then let your body soften with the exhale.
Now,
If you came here today with feelings of overwhelm,
Stress,
Anxiety,
Know this.
Those feelings are not caused only by the situations that you've experienced.
They are shaped by the story that you've told yourself about that situation.
And there's a simple truth that whatever you focus on is what you are going to feel.
And that's why before looking at strategies or solutions,
We first want to come and focus on our state,
Our emotional state.
You see,
When you shift your state,
You open the door,
The pathway for the possibility of a new story.
And when you shift the story about your situation,
It's only then that the right strategies and solutions will appear with ease.
So let's shift your state together.
I'd like to begin by inviting you to bring your attention to gratitude.
Think for a moment.
When you woke up this morning,
The sun was exactly where it needed to be to sustain life on earth.
You did not have to earn that,
And you didn't do anything to control it.
And it has always been this way.
Your heart has been beating since the day you were born without you ever needing to remember to command it to do so.
Breath has been flowing in and out of your body,
Moment by moment,
Keeping you alive.
There are people in your life who have shown you great kindness,
Who have given you love in big and small ways.
You see,
There are an infinite number of things,
Seen and unseen,
That have always been working in your favor.
Let gratitude fill you now.
Now,
Take a moment and just think of one or two things that you are absolutely grateful for.
Notice how this is shifting your body,
How it softens your breath.
Next,
I want to bring your attention,
Your awareness,
To rest in peace.
And I'm not talking about the absence of problems,
But the presence of calm that is within you.
If it helps,
Think back to a time when you had faced something incredibly difficult,
Something that you thought would never work out.
Yet here you are.
Somehow,
In ways you might not have ever expected,
It did work out.
You learned,
You grew,
And you became who you are today as a result of it.
Just think of how many times where you might not want to go back and relive those experiences,
But boy,
If you were given the opportunity to go back and change them,
Knowing that it would change some of the experiences that you're grateful for today,
You would not go back and change them.
Let that reminder anchor you.
Life has a way of carrying out things for your good.
Life has a way of carrying you through whatever situation or circumstance that you face.
And in this moment,
It's no different.
And if you choose to do so,
This piece right here is already within you.
Accessible any time you choose to take this walk through these woods,
To come to this cabin,
This sanctuary,
To take that backpack that you've been carrying and all of the weight of the world and just leave it outside on the table and place your focus on the gratitude and this calm,
This peace.
Let's bring your attention now to love.
Gently bring to mind somebody that you love deeply.
I want you to picture their face.
As you think about this person,
I want you to feel the warmth of your connection.
Let yourself appreciate them fully,
The way this person makes you smile,
The joy that this person has brought into your life.
Notice how that love feels in your body right now.
Expansive,
Open,
Strong.
Let that feeling spread throughout your chest,
Into your arms,
And into your heart.
Let that feeling spread throughout your body,
Into your heart,
And into your whole being.
This state that you are experiencing right here,
Right now,
In this present moment,
This is your true state.
This is your true state.
Gratitude,
Peace,
Love.
This is who you are when the noise of fear and negative stories fade away.
I invite you to sit in this state for just a moment.
Now,
As we come toward the close of this session of meditation,
I want to remind you that the table is still waiting outside of this space.
Your backpack of worries and circumstances and situations,
It's still there.
But now that you have shifted your state,
You can choose a different story.
You can ask different questions.
For just a moment,
Think about the answer to this question.
What outcome do I truly desire given what I'm currently going through?
And from this place of peace and love and gratitude,
What different story can you tell yourself about this situation?
And now that you have clarity about what it is you truly desire,
And because you have come to your natural home of peace,
Gratitude,
And love,
You've seen your situation from a different perspective.
You're telling yourself a different story about the situation.
From this different perception of what's going on in your life,
Knowing what you truly desire,
Answer this question.
What next step feels most aligned for you now?
What next step feels wise?
What next step feels empowering?
I'll give you a moment to ponder that next step.
It's amazing what happens when we shift our state before we go looking for solutions.
This is how new strategies appear.
Solutions and strategies come best from clarity and calm,
And you can always find them in this space.
Now,
As we come to the end of this meditation,
I want to invite you to just take one more deep,
Slow breath.
And as you breathe out,
Feel gratitude for this time that you've given yourself.
And when you're ready,
Stepping back out of this cabin,
See that the table is there.
You can choose to pick up the backpack exactly as you left it.
You could choose to take a few items out and just toss them into the trash bin that's next to the table.
Either way,
Whatever you do from this state,
You are now carrying peace in the midst of the storm.
And the backpack that you carry on your back will be lighter.
And never forget that you can always return to this state,
Your true state,
Whenever you choose.
