Hey there,
Welcome to this meditation bringing shadow into light so you can get comfortable wherever it is that you're sitting.
Settle into your body and just notice if there's anything that your body needs right now.
If it wants to move or stretch in any particular way,
Just give it whatever it needs.
Maybe you need a big deep breath and a big sigh out.
Just give your body whatever it needs before settling into this meditation.
And you can let your eyes float closed.
Take a deep breath into your belly.
Imagine that there is a magnet above the crown of your head and allow this magnet to collect up all of the energy that's out in the universe that is yours.
All of your own unique energy that might have gotten away from you.
You can see this energy as a gold light that's collecting up above the top of your head,
Creating a great big ball of golden light with your name on it.
And this magnet is just drawing all the bits and pieces of your awareness,
Your consciousness.
Watch that big ball of golden light grow really big and when you're ready you can pop it and invite it to come into your body.
Let yourself soak in all of that you energy.
You can watch or feel it fill yourself in from the top of your head all the way down to the tips of your toes.
Really soak in that energy and feel it fill you up entirely.
Allow this gold to connect you on a deeper level to your inner self and allow yourself with your breath to just kind of come to the center of yourself.
I like to picture it as kind of the center of my chest,
Kind of near the heart space.
Just imagine or intend that you are coming into a deeper part of yourself.
Kind of venture into that space near the heart and you can kind of imagine that it's like being in the ocean and you fall deeper and deeper to the floor of the ocean.
So you can envision doing that within yourself.
It might feel like a slow falling or like something that's spinning that's slowly becoming still.
And just kind of feel yourself land within yourself.
Find a place within yourself that is a forest and when you find yourself there just notice the sounds that you hear in this forest and what the trees look like around you and what the temperature is here.
If there's a breeze,
What does the breeze smell like?
You can begin to walk through this forest and listen to the sounds the ground makes as you walk.
And as you're walking you come across an opening to a cave.
You look through this opening and it's all dark but part of you wants to enter this cave.
So you walk towards the opening and you find a little lantern at the opening of this cave that someone's left for you and you pick up that lantern and you start to walk inside.
As you enter this cave you feel the temperature drop.
Notice what this cave feels like as you walk deeper into it.
Do you see anything on the walls as you walk by with your lantern?
Do you hear any sounds other than your footsteps in here?
Is it damp inside this cave?
You walk deeper and deeper into it and you feel the darkness engulf you in this space and it becomes quieter the further you get from the opening.
The deeper and you go the more you can hear your own breathing and your own thoughts.
The more you feel alone with yourself.
You travel deeper and you begin to reach almost the end of this cave.
It's quite dark.
Your lantern is casting a light just a little bit in front of you but you hear a noise up ahead.
There's a creature that you're approaching and you begin to hear them and see a little bit of their shadow.
What do you notice about it so far?
You approach.
You find this creature chained up inside this cave.
You hold up your lantern to get a better look at it.
What type of being is this?
Is it a human?
Is it another type of animal?
Is it a type of creature you haven't seen before?
How do they appear to you?
How does it behave?
How does it greet you or regard you?
Does this creature have a name?
As you watch it you ask it a question.
What does it want?
What does it need?
What has this creature been deprived of?
And you listen to it.
You watch it.
What is this creature telling you or showing you?
You go ahead and rest the lantern on the ground and you begin to unchain this creature as you release it from its chains.
You want to bring it to a place of light and with a lot of ease you transport yourself and this creature to that place of light.
You find yourselves there and you can feel the light of the sun against your skin.
What does this place look like?
Maybe it's a place you've been before.
Maybe it's an imaginary place.
You can feel light coming from all directions here and you soak it into your body and you watch this creature do the same.
Watch how it behaves in the light.
Give it permission to change.
Allow it to transform.
Watch what the light does to this creature.
Does it change its colors?
Do its eyes change?
Does its skin or feathers or fur change?
How does it move here without any restrictions?
How big can it become?
How much space can this creature take up?
And what does it say?
How does your creature use its voice here?
What does it tell you about what it can become?
Just listen and watch it.
How do you interact with this creature here?
You can spend your last few moments in this place of light with this being that you freed and brought with you.
You can have gratitude for the healing that you've given to it.
You can embrace it as a friend and a part of you and you can say goodbye to it.
Allow it to live in this space going forward.
You can bring your awareness back to your body.
Notice that you're still in the center of that body in this deeper part of yourself where the light lives.
You can take this time to collect up another big ball of golden light above your head using the magnet as before.
And as you do that,
I'm going to read a poem called The Cave.
The Cave by Paul Tran.
Someone standing at the mouth had the idea to enter,
To go further than light or language could go.
As they followed the idea,
Light and language followed like two wolves panting,
Hearing themselves panting.
A shapeless scent in the damp air.
Keep going,
The idea said.
Someone kept going deeper and deeper.
They saw others had been there.
Others had left objects that couldn't have found their way there alone.
Ochre stained shells,
Bird bones,
Grounded hematite.
On the walls as if stepping into history,
Someone saw their purpose.
Cows,
Bulls,
Bison,
Deer,
Horses,
Some pregnant,
Some slaughtered.
The wildlife seemed wild and alive.
Moving when someone moved.
Casting their shadows on the shadows,
Stretching in every direction.
Keep going,
The idea said again.
Go.
Someone continued.
They followed the idea so far inside that outside was another idea.
When your ball of golden light is nice and big and full,
You can pop that and bring it into your body.
Fill yourself in entirely with your own energy,
This healing gold.
Fill in your entire chest.
Fill in the fronts,
Backs,
Sides of your body.
And with this gold,
Just honor all of the parts of you,
The parts that are obvious and the parts that are hidden,
The parts that you know well,
And the parts that you are only beginning to get to know.
See yourself entirely full of your own light,
Your being of light.
Bring that light with you into the world.
When you're ready,
You can stretch and open your eyes.
