It was the poet Hafiz who said,
How did the rose ever open up and show to the world all its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being.
Otherwise,
We all remain too frightened.
So right now,
As we're entering into this meditation together,
I want you to be aware that you are taking time to.
.
.
Reflect light against your being.
That's what this time is.
Because there's a lot of fear out there.
And we need this.
We need to come together more than ever.
And we need to take time to feel a sense of light against our being.
Take a couple.
.
.
Take a couple deep breaths.
And realizing you're taking a couple deep breaths with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people around the world right now.
And checking in with your body as we're beginning.
Notice if there's any areas that are feeling tension or holding.
And if you do notice that,
Seeing if you can actively relax those muscles or actively soften those muscles,
Whatever word you want to use there.
One way of doing that is just seeing if you can adjust your body or do a gentle stretch.
Gently stretching,
Opening any areas that are tense or holding,
Including your face.
You can even take this moment to massage your face or open up any muscles that are there.
Our body's a barometer for how we're feeling.
And it sends signals to other areas of our brain that influences our focus.
So we can get caught in an anxious loop.
Tension in the body,
Focusing on what's negative or fearful,
Creates more tension in the body,
Which then just loops on itself.
So sometimes softening our body or opening and stretching our body or massaging certain areas that feel tense is important to mediate those signals.
We just don't need them all the time.
In fact,
They're harmful to our immune system.
They're harmful to the cells of our body when experienced in a chronic way.
And taking a moment to recognize the act of choice right now of taking this time out of your day for your own health and well-being.
This is an act of self-care.
Just taking this space,
Just this moment right now.
So take a moment to acknowledge yourself for taking this time.
Becoming aware right now of what you're needing in your life right now,
As it is in this moment and also in general.
What you're needing in the form of maybe more connection or more sense of being kind to yourself or to feel safe and protected,
To feel more at ease and calm throughout the day even in the midst of what's happening.
To be more accepting of yourself as you are,
A bit more forgiving.
To feel healthy in your body and your mind.
What is it that you're needing?
Taking this space to just pause and actively reflect on that for yourself.
And then also being aware of what you're wanting to let go of.
What is it that you're needing to let go of that's unhealthy for you right now?
That's not nourishing to you right now.
It's not what you need right now.
Is it self-critical thinking?
Being hard on yourself?
This type of toxic thoughts?
Maybe it's unrelenting stress?
Maybe you need to let go of the anxiety and fear a little bit.
Maybe not fully let go of the fear.
Fear is not 100% unhealthy.
It's not part of it is healthy,
But it quickly becomes unhealthy.
What is it that you're wanting to let go of or needing to let go of right now?
And so settling in again into your body and beginning to notice how your body,
If you haven't already,
How your body is just naturally breathing.
And so without needing to control the breath,
Here's an opportunity,
A window of time where there's no need to control anything.
There's nothing to analyze or figure out even.
You can just allow your body to naturally breathe.
Shallow,
Deep.
It doesn't matter.
Just allow it to do what it needs to do just in its flowing in its natural rhythm.
Breathing in,
Sensing the breath coming in.
Breathing out,
Just settling in a little bit more.
Maybe releasing any busyness of mind,
Any holding in your body.
Settling into a sense of being here.
Breathing in,
Just aware that you can take this breath in and if your nose is clear,
There's no congestion.
Just being aware of the ease of inhalation.
It's not always there,
But in this moment it is.
Maybe an appreciative awareness on the inhalation for that.
Exhaling,
Just again releasing any tension,
Any holding,
Any busyness of mind.
Just letting be.
Now taking a moment with the inhalation as you're breathing in,
Remembering what it was that you were needing more of in your life.
Breathing in and sensing that,
Whatever that is flowing into you.
Acceptance,
Health,
Feeling safe and protected.
Feeling loved,
Connection.
You can imagine the words coming in.
You can imagine just a light coming in on the inhalation.
Breathing out,
Releasing whatever it is that you're needing to let go of.
Self-critical mind,
The abundance of stress,
Tension in your body,
Self-critical mind,
Comparing yourself to others,
Whatever it might be.
Breathing in what's nourishing to you,
What you're needing.
Breathing out,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing in,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing out,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing in,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing out,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing in,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
As you're breathing in,
Sensing whatever it is that's nourishing to you,
As if it's filling the cells of your body,
As if the cells of your body are being nourished,
Healed by this breath as the breath is nutrition for our body.
It's literally what feeds us the nutrition,
Keeping us alive.
Breathing in,
Sensing the nourishment of this breath,
Bringing in whatever you're needing.
Breathing out,
Releasing whatever it is that you're wanting to let go of.
Breathing in,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing out,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
Breathing in,
Relaxing,
Releasing,
Settling into being here.
If at any point during this practice your mind gets pulled away,
Distracted by a sound or a thought,
Of course just recognizing that's just the nature of our mind and we can be aware of that and soften our bodies.
Release with the exhale,
The distraction that's there.
Maybe even taking note of what it was.
Very gently coming back to this practice as beginning to think about someone in our life who's easy to care about in our mind,
Someone who the presence of them makes us smile or makes our heart smile.
An animal or a person is bringing to mind anybody or it could be a few people and that's okay too.
Imagining them sitting there,
This person or animal or people sitting there with you.
Just looking at you in the eyes.
Breathing in whatever it is that you are needing for yourself.
Breathing out and sending that also to this person or animal or people.
As if you're breathing in one for me and you're breathing out one for you.
Sensing into the connection that's there.
Breathing in one for me,
Breathing out one for you.
Breathing in one for you.
Now expanding that out a little bit,
Expanding that circle out a little bit to also imagine someone in your neighborhood that you might not know very well but you are aware of them.
Maybe you've seen them walking on the street.
Maybe you've walked by their house and seen them going into their door but you don't really know them so well.
Sensing them coming into this circle now.
Settling into the awareness of this person there.
Settling into your breathing.
And continuing,
Breathing in one for me,
Whatever it is that you're needing.
Even if it's just light against your being.
Breathing out one for you,
One for all of you,
Including this new person now.
Sensing into your heart.
Breathing in as you breathe in one for you,
Maybe even noticing how your breath can touch your heart.
Feeling the sense of warmth and caring as you breathe out and breathing out one for you.
I'm beginning to expand this circle a little bit more,
Inviting in one more person,
Someone who you know who's suffering right now.
This might be someone who you know who has the coronavirus or someone who you know who's suffering in another way out of deep fear or their own pain that's already there or maybe a relationship has just broken up or something has happened that's challenging their life.
They're struggling financially now,
Whatever it might be.
Imagining them coming into this circle,
This circle of warmth,
Of caring,
Of support,
This circle of connection.
Breathing in again,
Breathing in whatever it is that you're needing for yourself,
Even if it's light against your being.
Breathing out one for all of you,
Including this person too.
All these people just like me who want to feel cared about,
Who want to feel understood,
Who want to feel a sense of belonging,
Want to feel safe and protected.
Breathing in one for me.
Breathing out one for you.
I'm beginning to expand this circle out a little bit further and imagining all the people who are here right now practicing this meditation just like you.
All these people around the world,
You can almost envision the globe since we have people all over the globe here present with us right now.
People who want to feel safe and protected just like me,
Who want to feel a sense of belonging to feel loved just like me.
All these people who are currently being active participants in their own health and well-being just like me.
Breathing in whatever it is that you're needing,
This light against your being.
Breathing out one for you,
For all of you.
All these hearts beating together,
All these bodies breathing together,
All these minds present together.
Breathing in one for me,
Breathing out one for all of you.
Even imagining on the inhalation,
Breathing in and receiving the hundreds and hundreds of intentions coming towards you in that moment.
Breathing out one for you.
Imagining the circle out a little bit further to include everyone in this world and with a special and highlighting sense of all the healthcare workers and the first responders and everyone who are on the front line of saving our lives literally through this time.
Imagining everyone around the world right now,
Everyone who wants to feel safe and protected,
Everyone who wants to feel a sense of belonging,
Wants to feel loved and with a highlighting sense as if all the healthcare workers and all the first responders and everyone out there,
The people in the grocery stores,
Everyone out there.
Once you see an extra light a little bit,
Really kind of being aware of everyone including them breathing in one for me,
Breathing out,
Imagining your intention,
Your heart wrapping around the globe.
More than ever there is a sense that we are all in this together.
More than ever there is a sense of our common humanity.
More than ever we need each other more than ever before.
At least there is an awareness of that.
Sensing into this interconnectedness.
Sensing into this one heart,
This one mind.
How did the rose ever open up and show to the world all its beauty?
I felt the encouragement of light against its being.
We all recognize the importance of shedding light against this interconnected being of humanity right now.
It starts with us individually.
Becoming aware of your body right now,
Sensing how you are feeling,
What is present.
May you bring this sense of connection and heart into the moments that follow in your day.
Taking time for yourself,
Caring for yourself.
Shedding light to other people who need it.
When you are ready,
Taking a couple deep breaths.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
When you are ready,
Beginning to gently open your eyes.
Let the light seep through,
Opening your eyes.
