Good morning,
I'm Desi and this is Meditations with Desi.
I'm so happy to be with you this morning and so excited to start your day with this intuitive prayer and meditation.
Wherever you are,
I want you to go into your safe space if you're not already here.
I want you to get comfortable,
Close your eyes whenever you're able to just see your seat and let your breathing be whatever it is.
As long as you're breathing deep into your belly,
The face doesn't matter right now.
We're just getting our day started.
So let's start off with a prayer.
Benevolent ancestors,
Creator of the universe,
I thank you for this morning.
I thank you for this moment where we can sit and pause and replenish and pour into ourselves before we even attempt to pour into someone else.
I thank you for this moment where we made time and carved out space for ourselves in this day.
May you honor this sacrifice.
May you honor this moment of intentionality.
May you honor this moment of mindfulness and may we remember how much we love ourselves.
And this thought comes,
Or that thought comes,
Of all of the things you have to do today or tomorrow,
This year,
It could be the bills you have to pay.
That's the first thing in my mind this morning.
Or the things you have to do around your house,
The things you have to do with your family,
Your friends,
The ways you have to show it for yourself that can feel overwhelming right now.
The first thing that happens when I wake up every morning is something usually comes before I can carve out a moment for myself.
Something tries to come and carve out the rest of the day for it.
Whether it's anxiety,
Whether it is a thought about something that I'm trying to regret,
Something tries to come first thing in the morning.
So think of this as your little morning intervention.
This will be the moment to go ahead and close now.
Let's just take a deep breath in.
For one,
Two,
Now let's hold our breath for one,
Two,
Three.
Let's breathe out for one,
Two,
And three.
Let's do it again,
But this time we're gonna do it for now.
So let's breathe in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And hold your breath for one,
Two,
Three.
Let's breathe out for one,
Two,
Three.
Very good.
Let's try it one more time.
We're gonna stay in for four.
Let's breathe in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold your breath for two.
Breathe out for one,
Two,
And let's pause for one,
Two,
Three.
Let's do one more round of box breathing.
We're gonna do a full workout all around.
Breathe in for four seconds,
Hold your breath for four seconds,
Breathe out for four seconds,
And then hold your breath again for four seconds.
So let's breathe in for one,
Two,
Three,
And four.
And hold for two,
Four.
Deep breath out for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now hold for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Very good.
I want you to picture yourself walking.
You could be walking anywhere you want.
I want you to picture yourself walking somewhere you would normally walk.
This doesn't have to be a magical or a great place.
The place that you picture yourself,
I want you to picture being somewhere that you might freak out often.
Somewhere you might see.
And I want you to picture yourself walking.
As you walk,
Fill in the picture of your surroundings.
What trees do you see?
What buildings?
What structures do you see around you?
You can't help but to hear a loud fluttering.
The sound starts to get closer.
And it sounds like wings flapping.
I want you to picture yourself turning around,
Facing the flat earth.
And what you see is something that you didn't quite expect.
You see a chain of paper doves flying towards you from the horizon.
They shimmer and light.
They shine.
They are very obvious.
And they're each coming towards you.
Their wings flap gently in the breeze.
They are flying gracefully,
Linked together by a single string.
I want you to look closer at these birds.
As you look closer,
You notice that each bird is made from an old bill or invoice.
And they belong to you.
These doves represent your financial obligations.
And that loud fluttering,
While it is attached to something beautiful,
It is loud and it is constant.
And it is annoying.
I want you to extend your hand out and let the doves land in your hand.
And as they land,
I want you to feel the texture of the paper that they're made of.
I want you to imagine the details of the obligations,
Whether it's a gas bill,
A light bill,
Internet bill.
It could be anything.
But just imagine what this bird is making.
And once you have the imagery,
I want you to take a deep breath in,
Breathing into your belly for four seconds.
And before you breathe out,
I want you to picture as you exhale,
The chain of doves flying away as you release these obligations.
We all have financial obligations.
Yet,
We also have to find new ways of relating to them.
Just like the doves fly,
We too can handle these obligations with grace and calmness.
These obligations are a part of life,
But the way you handle them can be done smoothly without disturbing your peace.
I want you to watch these doves disappear into the sky.
And once they have made their way out of your view,
I want you to picture yourself walking back down your street.
You're about halfway there now,
And you're almost at the end,
But you still have some ways to go.
Now,
As you're strolling,
Continuing your walk,
Something catches your eye.
You see a big old tree.
It's precious,
Stretched and wide.
Like it's calling you in for a hug.
But this isn't just any tree.
As you get closer,
You see on this big tree with all of its branches,
There are hundreds of tiny birds,
Each one vibrant in color.
You see reds,
Greens,
Blues,
Purples,
Pinks,
Even rainbow birds.
Each one of it has its own unique qualities.
Some are bigger,
Some are smaller.
But the one thing they all have in common,
They're all singing.
They all have something that they want to say to you,
A song that they want to hear from you,
Or a worm that they want you to help them catch.
Each bird has its own unique song.
Some of them sound familiar.
Some of them,
Their singing sounds like a family member that you love so much.
Some like the chattering of your best friends.
You look at them in front of other birds that sound like people you work with.
Seeing and passing.
All of it,
It sounds beautiful.
And it starts blending together.
Just like the many demands and expectations and needs that we juggle in our relationships every day.
I want you to go and sit down under the tree and put your back up against it just to feel the sheer power of all of these voices.
They're so strong that you can feel the tree hum just a bit.
You can feel the vibrations of these birds.
I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath into your belly.
And when you breathe out,
I want you to picture that these birds,
Their songs become quieter.
You find some calm within this storm of demands and expectations.
And the calm you find,
It sits on your breath.
So let's take one more deep breath in and hold it in for four seconds.
Holding in the security of that oxygen.
Holding in the fortification that it brings.
And as you release it,
I want you to picture yourself standing up and walking away from this tree.
It's still there.
All of the people you know,
They are a big part of your life.
You aren't leaving them behind.
You're just learning to engage with them in a way that feels healthy and that doesn't leave you drained.
And remember that as many voices as this tree has,
Sometimes you just got to walk away from them.
Sometimes your voice is the only voice that you need to hear.
There are moments when all of that noise,
You need it.
You need the people's opinions.
You need the people's thoughts.
You need the people's demands and expectations of you to keep you focused and to keep you towards your purpose in this life.
But there are other times when you just need quiet to take care of you because you are important.
So keep walking.
Keep seeing this perfect tree.
You find yourself just reaching the end of the tree.
But then something big and beautiful and bright catches your eye.
Look to your right and there is this big old mural sitting up there.
And it is as vibrant,
As beautiful as anything you have ever seen.
It's the most beautiful mural you have ever seen in your life.
Hands down.
It is like God himself,
Themself,
Herself,
Whatever pronoun you use in there,
Painted this mural.
And in the middle of it,
You see a mirror image of yourself,
Painted,
Surrounded by beautiful flowers,
Beautiful imagery.
This is a monument to you.
The closer you get,
It seems like this mural is almost alive.
Look to the left,
It looks to the left.
And you look to the right,
It looks to the right.
Intrigued by this painting that seems alive,
You walk closer and then something weird happens.
This version of you that is painted on this wall,
It begins to step up.
Transforming from a flat image to a living,
Breathing figure that looks exactly like you and acts exactly like you.
This feels like a very strange interruption on a peaceful walk,
Really.
This is another opportunity for a person like you that has been needing to talk to this entire meditation.
I want you to look at this mural version of you in the eye and see all of the strength that exists inside of this mural.
I want you to have yourself a heart to heart with this painted version of you.
I want you to look them in the eye and see all of the strength that they got.
The same strength that you got deep within you.
And I want you to recognize that this person,
This version of you symbolizes your ability to face yourself,
To face your day to day interruptions.
But also that your power in navigating them comes from you.
Imagine this version of you giving you some wise words.
What does it say to you?
It's brief,
Because it has to go back to its real world.
After it finishes talking to you,
Like it never happened,
This beautiful,
Larger than life version of you steps right back into its mirror.
And now it's just you again.
And when you turn away from the mirror,
You notice that you have reached the end of the street.
That unexpected meeting that felt like another distraction ended up pushing you much closer to your end goal.
You reach the end of the street and you feel an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
An overwhelming feeling of gratitude.
That even though things came to distract you,
And even though things came to stop your journey,
You kept going,
You acknowledged them and moved on.
Similarly,
In our real life,
When distractions come,
When things hit the fan,
We can't just bury our head in the sand.
That was always my solution when I had to encounter things that I didn't like.
The best way is to face and acknowledge these things.
We give them so much power by not acknowledging them,
By not acknowledging ourselves,
Whether we're acknowledging our own hurt,
Our own pain,
Mistakes.
We make them bigger than they need to be by ignoring them.
So today,
That no matter what distractions comes,
No matter what obligations or whatever pops up inside of you that might scare you or surprise you,
May you confront it with grace,
May you face it face on.
And may you hold yourself with the gentleness and with the loving kindness that you will hold those that you love with.
I pray all these things in the name of our benevolent ancestors,
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Ashe,
Whatever you want to say to end this prayer and meditation,
Please say it in this moment.
I thank you for sitting with me and for starting your morning with me in this lovely visualization.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
I'm Desi,
And this has been Meditations with Desi.
Thank you.
