Welcome to today's meditation.
I am strong.
We'll sit today in either cross-legged seat or finding saddle pose sitting on the shins,
Perhaps with a block or a cushion underneath your bum.
As soon as we come onto the seat of the body,
Let's relax the hips and the buttocks and the genitals,
Allowing the root of the body to plug down into the support beneath you.
I want you to imagine a golden thread that runs from the tailbone through the length of the spine all the way to the crown of your head.
And imagine that I am gently lifting that golden thread so that the spine wriggles up,
The belly softens down towards the pubic bone and the ribs lift away from the belly.
And as you settle and relax your shoulders down the back,
There's a sense of the heart beginning to bloom open.
Let's gently tuck the chin just a slight amount in towards the throat.
And then draw the whole upper body back a few millimetres so that we feel the back of the head lining up with the back of the spine.
If you haven't already closed the eyes,
Lower the eyelids now.
And as you next breathe in,
Imagine that you're drawing energy from that connecting point at the tail all the way up the length of the golden thread through the spine into the crown.
And as you exhale,
You're exhaling anything that you want to be free from.
Inhaling again,
Drawing that energy from the base to the crown.
Exhaling what no longer serves you.
Just taking a few breaths in this same way,
Lengthening the breath up the length of the spine and letting that golden light radiate out above the crown so that you've got a halo of light around the head.
As you exhale out through the nose or the mouth,
Take that breath nice and slow and visualize whatever darkness you're wanting to excavate and expel from the body.
Just take three more rounds of breath in this same way.
Filling up with light,
Exhaling darkness.
Exhaling again,
Drawing that energy from the base to the crown.
Let's allow our natural breath to return to the body as we take our gaze up to the third eye between the eyebrows,
Focusing the gaze and the mind,
Keeping the awareness drawn inwards.
Notice any tingling in the body,
Any patterns of light behind the eyelids.
We've begun to invigorate and stimulate energy in the subtle body.
You may notice that perhaps you feel a little more alive,
A little bit stronger.
From here,
I invite you to bring your hands together in front of the heart and to keep the thumbs touching one another and the little fingers touching one another as you peel open the other fingers,
Letting the sides of the hands bridge together as the other fingers open up into the shape of a lotus flower.
You might just become aware of the space between the fingers,
Perhaps that same feeling of aliveness in the fingertips themselves.
Reminding ourselves here that the lotus has to grow through the dark and the mud,
All the way up through the water towards the light in order to blossom and open its face to the sun.
And a reminder that we too can transmit pain,
Struggle and suffering into higher energy.
We can alchemise that struggle so that we can sit with challenge more easily and open to the possibilities of growth that it brings.
So let's return here to our breath work,
Inhaling,
Drawing that energy up from the base of the spine through the length of the upper body,
Travelling through the fingertips and the heart and all the way to the crown of the head.
Exhaling,
Expunging darkness.
Keeping the eyes focused on the third eye,
Once again inhaling to energise the body.
Holding that energy at the top of the inhale,
Visualising that halo of light around the crown of the head.
Before when you're ready and only when the body is ready,
Exhaling completely.
Just do three more in that same way,
Keeping the heart and the lotus flower open.
Waiting for the next breath to draw in,
Visualising the journey of that breath all the way from the tail,
Through the spine,
The hands,
The heart and to the ground.
And as you hold that breath at the top,
Keeping the gaze fixed on the third eye and visualising this halo of light around the top of the head.
Only releasing when the body is ready to release,
Long and slow and full.
Breathing again as the body is ready.
Holding,
Resting in that full potential and power.
Exhaling to release.
And one more round of breath in your own time.
Keeping the hands open at the heart,
Keeping the gaze settled on the third eye.
Just let your natural breath return.
Releasing what you notice.
We'll use an affirmation,
Repeating mentally after me.
I am strong.
I have faith.
I am abundant.
I am love.
I am strong.
I have faith.
I am abundant.
I am love.
I am strong.
I have faith.
I am abundant.
I am love.
I am strong.
I have faith.
I am abundant.
I am love.
Allow the mouth to turn into a smile.
As you hold yourself here,
Upright,
Supported,
Strong,
Faithful,
Abundant and loving.
When you are ready,
Bring all the fingertips back to touch together.
Hands in prayer position at the heart.
We'll bow our heads towards the hands in a gesture of gratitude.
Giving thanks for body,
Breath and connection.
Namaste.
