Find your place.
This meditation could be done standing,
Seated,
Or lying down,
But certainly the less energy you can devote to your actual body,
The more you can allow yourself to drift and not focus on muscle tone or activity,
The deeper we might go.
So let yourself settle into your feet,
Into your backside if you're sitting,
Your entire spine if you're lying down,
Surrendering to gravity,
The pull of the earth,
And using less musculature,
Less energy for the next few minutes.
Meditation doesn't have to be many things,
But it could be relaxing,
Can be unstructured,
Letting your thoughts meander,
Because you can't conquer thoughts.
People have been trying for millennia and still the brain works and generates imagery and ideas.
You might close your eyes and take your breath from where it begins to a deeper place,
Deeper in,
Slower out,
And when you get distracted you could listen to my voice and come back,
Or just notice your body and breath,
And call yourself back to the sensory experience,
Sensations of your body as you breathe,
Even perhaps your pulse or digestion.
Those are all useful cues.
You may be in a quiet space,
But you'll notice that it's not silent.
Vibrations in the building or air around you,
Birds,
Other small animals,
Leaves rustling,
A kettle,
The electrical hum of an appliance,
Many pleasant sounds,
Maybe even some agitating sounds,
But they're there.
Your ears are working,
You're becoming more still,
Your blood is always rushing,
Your muscles are twitching involuntarily,
Heart still going,
But you are slowing down and maybe trying to relax into all of that.
No need to resist.
If or when at any point this meditation becomes distressing,
Where you get lost in thoughts or fantasies,
You can take a break,
Or you could listen to my voice,
Or just notice yourself,
Send yourself a little love and compassion,
For being the best you that has ever been created.
Noticing the world outside you,
Sensing its season and diversity,
Breathing as you notice that,
The natural world and what it's going through,
Always changing and aching.
Take stock of the human world.
Barrage of news,
Some good,
Much bad,
Local and international.
What thoughts and feelings is the world experiencing?
Allow yourself just the right amount of empathy,
That you can touch the world's difficulties,
But not be overwhelmed by them.
Breathe into what the world is and what it might need,
Discovering and rediscovering the world you live in.
You are its witness.
Draw your attention in more deeply,
Perhaps as you inhale,
Attending to yourself,
Listening for what is particular to you,
Whether it's thought,
Feeling,
Capacity,
Energy,
Experience,
Skill.
What do you have that is uniquely yours and almost no one else's?
As you inhale,
Invite that awareness to come up.
What is special about me and my particular gift to the world?
Breathing to discover your most central self,
Drawing it up.
The awareness of your core may be verbalized or subverbal,
Or just a sensation,
Or even just a dimly possible awareness that there could be something.
We have all the time in the world to figure it out,
But knowing that each of us was created uniquely,
And reflecting on the aching of the world as you breathe,
Is there some level of empathy or compassion that you can take on anew,
Perhaps even a task?
Breathe now to see what we can discover.
How is the world?
Who are you,
And what new responsibility might you lift?
Continuing to breathe,
Absorb any lessons that come up.
How is the world?
Who are you,
And what might you take on?
How is the world?
Who are you,
And what can you carry?
