Good morning and welcome to the Artist's Morning.
My name's Darius and I'm so grateful we get to spend this time together.
Today's meditation practice will be an exploration of the concept of safety.
There is a seeming conflict between safety and self-expression,
Between safety and the act of creation.
To bring something to life,
To birth an idea,
Whether it's a meditation,
A book,
A meal,
A conversation,
A child.
It requires stepping into something new,
Something unfamiliar,
Something uncharted.
And oftentimes this can bring up feelings where we do not feel safe.
Perhaps there is a connection to our first moment of creation.
That moment for all of us where our first home,
Our mother's womb,
This place that initially felt infinitely welcoming,
As we get bigger.
This initial home becomes more and more uncomfortable.
And perhaps at that moment of our birth there is a part of us that is afraid that this is it,
This is the end.
And then of course we realize this is just the beginning.
We are just beginning.
Begin our meditation now,
Our exploration of safety.
If your eyes are open,
I'd like to invite you to close them now.
Let's give ourselves a moment to land here.
Connecting with your breath.
Accepting your breath wherever it is.
If it's deep,
If it's shallow,
If it's quiet or loud.
Just taking a moment to be with your breath.
These glorious lungs of yours that have been here from the beginning.
Bringing new life,
New air,
New oxygen into your system.
Since the beginning,
Since your little lungs,
Your little body.
Let's do this moment now.
Connecting to that baby version of yourself.
Beautiful,
Precious,
Tiny little baby.
Taking a nice deep breath here.
How many things have happened to you since that time when you were that infant,
That child?
All of us have been through so much.
So many ups and downs.
So many moments.
So many moments where perhaps we felt unsafe,
Afraid,
Undone perhaps.
And yet we persevered.
We made it.
Through all of it,
We made it.
So many moments that may have felt overwhelming,
May have felt unsafe.
And yet we made it to this moment here together.
Just like that first moment of creation where we had to step out of what we knew into something totally new.
Just like that first moment where part of us thought,
This could be it,
This could be the end.
And then of course we realized,
This is the beginning.
We are just beginning.
You dear artist are just beginning.
On the other side of that thing,
That scary creation thing,
That thing that maybe has you feeling like this could be the end.
Maybe just maybe there is a beautiful beginning.
Maybe there is a reason that expressing ourselves,
Creating into the world can feel scary.
Maybe that reason is that our very first imprint in the world,
Our very first act of self-expression,
Our birth,
Was a scary place for many of us.
It could have felt very unsafe leaving our mother's womb and stepping into this new world.
And you dear artist are an adult now.
All those decades,
All those experiences,
All those ups and downs,
All that education.
Maybe we are ready to lovingly,
Gently wash away any remnants of unsafety from our system now.
You are safe now.
You are safe now.
Feel your power.
Feel the strength pulsing through you now.
It's okay that fear lives there too.
Because even that fear has made you stronger.
I'm going to stay quiet for the rest of this song and invite you,
If you are open to it,
If it feels like it resonates,
To try out the affirmation just to yourself.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
Repeat that a few times and just feel what's real,
What's alive inside you.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
I am safe now.
Bravo,
Dear artist.
Give yourself a moment to land here.
Your safety does not need to be rushed.
You felt resistant to saying I am safe now.
That's okay.
It's just an invitation.
Maybe you do not feel safe now.
That's okay.
Deep love and empathy for you.
And maybe there is safety for you now.
There is love for you now.
And all it requires is exploring parts of ourselves from the past that maybe didn't feel so safe.
Loving those parts,
Holding those parts until they are ready to let go and clear any imprints of unsafety.
Everyone is on their own journey,
On their own timeline.
So if possible,
Be kind and patient with yourself.
So grateful we got this time to meditate together.
If you are joining us live at the artist's morning,
As always,
I'm going to put some time on the clock to allow us to do some private personal journaling.
A wonderful opportunity to really explore what's here for us on this subject of safety.
I'm going to put 20 minutes on the clock and allow us to journal together in private as a community here.
If you're catching us on a replay on Insight Timer,
Of course you could do the same.
Put some time on your clock and see what's real and accessible for you here.
My name is Darius.
It's been an honor meditating with you here and I will see you next time.
