Hello and welcome to this guided meditation,
Creating a container.
To begin with,
Just find yourself in a comfortable position,
Perhaps in a chair or on the floor or even lying down.
And if stillness is uncomfortable for you,
Then this meditation can also be done,
Either walking or moving.
But if you choose to do that,
Keeping the eyes open,
Wherever you are,
Begin to deepen the breath.
Inhaling through the nose,
Allowing the belly and chest to expand,
And exhaling out through the nose.
Slowly beginning to elongate the exhale so it is just a bit longer than the inhale.
Inhaling through the nose,
And without hurry,
Slowly exhaling out through the nose.
Exhaling the rhythm several times,
Allowing the exhale to become slower and more relaxed,
But more sustained without rushing into the inhale.
And then begin to bring an awareness to the thoughts that are stirring in the mind.
Without necessarily engaging,
Participating in their story,
Noticing what comes up.
Notice if there are to-do lists,
Remnants of conversations,
Worries or anxieties,
Or even bits of stuck emotional residue.
What is coming into the mind right now?
Then keeping the breath easy,
Remembering that long,
Relaxed exhale.
Trying to visualize gathering those thoughts,
Those anxieties,
Those little pieces of conversation that are stuck within us,
Or maybe even stuck on replay.
Gathering all of that up.
And then visualizing a container before you.
Perhaps it is something small,
A box with a lock and key.
Perhaps today it's a giant shipping container.
It can be beautiful and ornate,
Or very simple,
As simple as just a hole dug in the ground.
We're going to take all of those pieces we've gathered and place them into this container.
We are not suppressing them or forgetting them.
We're just placing them in the container until there is a more appropriate time to engage.
Perhaps a moment where we just have time where we're not in the middle of a meditation or an activity,
Or perhaps a time where a bit more supported and have some resources available to process and digest.
But either way,
We place them in the container and gently close the container,
Whether that is closing a lid or door or covering up the hole in the ground.
And as we release these pieces,
I invite you to consider all of this as little irritants,
Like grains of sand that get stuck within an oyster shell.
They're a bit rough,
A bit grating on the skin,
Perhaps even a bit aggravating.
Instead we place them in this container,
Just like those irritants in an oyster,
To allow the edges to become smooth.
So they're not quite as irritating to the touch,
Allowing them to be rounded out and slowly turned into pearls.
That we can handle and appreciate.
That we can take the goodness from,
The lessons from,
Without it being harmful.
Now with these pieces in a container,
Now return to the breath.
Breathing deeply into the nose,
Exhaling out through the nose.
Allowing the mind,
The breath,
To be a bit more relaxed,
A bit less encumbered.
You may continue to stay here,
Enjoying this ease of breath,
Or slowly begin to return to the space,
To the body.
Thinking open the eyes,
And returning once again to the world around you.
Thank you so much for being here,
Being with this meditation.
May it be one that you return to,
Both to process the pieces within the container,
Or to place other pieces in until you're ready.
Thank you again,
And namaste.
