Let's begin with a bell.
Come and settle in with a few deep and slow breaths.
Enter this special moment that you've given to yourself to meditate.
Check in with your body and spirit.
Note where they are and how you find yourself at this moment.
Giving yourself grace to be just that way for right now.
Is there any compression in your spine?
Any tightness in muscles or joints?
Invite that to expand,
Release,
And relax.
Notice the deepening quiet around you and the growing stillness.
Never perfectly silent nor completely still and immobile.
Passing background noises,
Rumbling of a stomach,
Shifting of a joint,
Sniffling.
Tender and delicate sounds and movements within and around you.
When you get lost in anxiety,
Worry,
Fantasy,
Reflection,
Confusion,
Just come back to my voice.
Notice your body.
Feel your breathing.
No one has ever had the capacity not to be distracted.
It's in the nature of our neurons.
And you can cultivate returning to this moment with every moment.
That's the practice.
See if you can inhale a little deeper and exhale a little slower with each subsequent breath.
Each breath fractionally more full than the one before it.
And using the breath to find a deeper settling,
Stronger quiet that embraces you.
And when your mind wanders,
As it will,
Just come back.
Hear my voice and know it's time to meditate and be present in this moment.
Sometimes we feel like so much depends on us.
Me,
You,
So much to carry,
Heavy to lift,
Details and to-do lists to manage.
And we can't do it all.
Breathe into that.
Accept that there are so many worries and anxieties available to you.
But you don't have to carry them all.
Take on each and every one.
The world is big and round and beyond it,
The universe and its vastness.
And there is more than just you.
And you can surrender your striving into the awesome power of the universe.
Breathing into that and exhaling and letting go into that.
Letting yourself and especially your worries and needs become smaller in the infinity of the cosmos and a loving universe.
Take it all in and let it take you in.
Coming back to listening,
Breathing and settling whenever you get distracted,
As you will.
Taking a few deeper breaths all the way in,
Long out.
We're going to spend some moments in daydream memory and reverie.
I won't tell you which,
But you can reflect on some beautiful moments of your past,
Recalling times when you were supported,
Loved or simply found your own deeper strength.
Looking back in recollection,
It might seem like a simpler time.
It probably wasn't that simple at the time,
But you can look back with kind,
Even euphoric recall.
Letting memory fill you with joy,
Delight and courage.
If your mind goes to difficult moments,
You can come back,
Listen,
Slow down,
Breathe and then re-enter kinder stories,
Compassionately.
Take a few deep breaths all the way in,
Gently out.
Now we'll consider what draws you forward.
Listen,
Attend a small voice inside you,
A chime or even a horn outside you,
Luring you forward,
Calling you towards your best self,
The person you aspire to be.
Take time to hear it.
What is the world seeking of you and what do you seek for yourself?
Listen,
Perhaps you begin to feel yourself drawn toward the sound,
The calling to become it calls to you.
The world is seeking you out for what only you can do and be.
Attend to that.
Continue listening to the voice,
Like the voice of conscience and continue staying present to it.
Take three more deep,
Full,
Serious and joyful breaths as we conclude.
Blessings.
