Good morning and welcome to the Artist's Morning.
My name's Darius and today's meditation practice is on the theme of building courage.
Today's meditation will also be a visualization practice built for humans that are interested and excited in creating,
In expressing themselves,
In living a life full of adventure.
Let's begin our meditation now by landing in our seats this morning.
Your eyes are open.
Close them now and just begin to feel what's alive inside you this morning.
Slowing things down before we go too far in.
Just allowing yourself to connect with yourself.
Connecting with your breath this morning.
Just noticing if your breath happens to be deep or shallow.
And if you take a nice deep breath,
Pay attention and see if that feels different in your mind,
Body and soul.
Well done dear artist.
A reminder before we go any further that this is your morning.
This is your meditation.
You get to decide how much you lean into today's practice.
You get to decide what it means for you.
I want you to imagine you are sitting in a theater.
There's a few hundred people in this theater with you.
Just take a moment to hear the sounds of their voice.
The show has not started yet.
People are excited for the show.
Can you hear all the chatter?
Can you feel the excitement?
You are sitting at the back of the theater.
The lights are still on.
And as you look at the stage,
You instantly can feel the energy of some sort of incredible performance.
There's something epic about the energy on stage.
It's expressed.
It's creative.
It's bold.
There's nobody on the stage,
But there is an essence to the energy on the stage.
It captivates you.
Can you feel the energy of a fully expressed human?
And now I want you to imagine that energy actually belongs to you.
As all these people are chatting with each other,
Are eager to see a performance,
In this moment you realize the energy on that stage is the energy of your highest self.
A version of you that is so confident,
So expressed,
So full of joy and aliveness.
And now,
Dear artist,
You have an opportunity to stand up and walk to that stage and bask in that energy that is your energy.
When you feel it in your body,
All you have to do is stand up and walk to the stage and become who you have always been.
Simple,
But not easy.
Because you have to stand up and allow all these people to look at you.
I invite you now,
If you are ready,
If you are willing,
To stand up from your seat and begin to walk towards the stage.
As you stand up people start to look at you.
As you stand up people become more quiet.
What does it feel like to have them look at you?
All answers are okay.
You could feel excited,
Nervous,
Both or something completely different.
Just feel.
Just feel what it's like.
For many of us to get all the way to the stage we have to break through a comfort zone.
We have to break through an old belief.
Maybe you have to be okay and accepting that in the audience there could be your family members.
It could be your parents,
Your children,
Your siblings.
And for some of us to break through to the other side of our comfort zone we might need to accept that none of our family and friends might show up.
Are you still willing to take your place on that stage?
To step into your highest self without any attachment to what the audience might feel or not feel.
Can you let go of their experience and give yourself permission to have your own experience?
It's okay if your answer is no.
And if you'd like to push past old stories,
Old narratives,
Old attachments and continue walking onto that stage,
Now is your time.
As you step on that stage I want to give you permission to feel all of it.
Feel it in your body,
Feel it in your heart,
Feel it in your breath.
Whatever your stage is you are worthy of space.
You are worthy of a stage that allows you to express your voice,
To spread your wings,
To be you all the way.
Maybe the audience will give you a standing ovation,
Maybe they won't.
Maybe it doesn't matter as much as you think.
Maybe the joy,
The adventure is simply in deciding to stand up from your seat and take one step at a time towards your stage.
Before our meditation ends just take a moment to celebrate your courage for doing what most people would not.
Breathe this courage in,
Breathe this excitement,
Even the nervousness,
Breathe it in.
Bravo dear artist.
Our meditation has come to an end but I promise you if you are open to it you can take in some of the energy that we have cultivated this morning into the rest of your day and into the rest of your life.
As always for those of you joining us live at the artist morning I'm going to put 15 minutes on the clock and invite you to do some private personal journaling.
You're catching us on a replay of course you can do the same 15 minutes on your own clock and just see what is here and ready to express through you.
My name is Darius thank you for meditating with me and we will see you next time.
