Letting Go Of The Expectations Of Others (Visual Guided)

Feeling overwhelmed by the expectations placed on you by others? Take a break and join me for a guided meditation to find compassion, forgiveness, and freedom. This visual practice will take you into a tranquil wooded area to help you process, explore and ultimately release those expectations. Best experienced with headphones. I hope you find it helpful.

~ Julie

Transcript

This is Julie with Soul Science and welcome to a guided meditation. So let's begin this meditation by settling into our bodies and take some cleansing breaths starting with a nice deep inhalation and then let out a healthy sigh on the exhale letting go of the day with the power of the breath and let's take a few more cleansing breaths like this and you can let your breathing come back to a natural rhythm and become aware of the outline of your body where the skin ends and the room begins and starting at the feet start to trace along the outline of your toes from big toes all the way down to the pinkies and now trace down the sides of the feet and around the ankles and moving upwards trace along the lower legs across the knees and along the upper legs and trace the hips and the sides of the torso and along the curves of the armpits and begin to follow the outline of the fingers from thumbs all the way over to pinkies and trace around the wrists and up to the elbows and the biceps and all the way up to the shoulders and trace the delicate curves of the neck and follow the lines from the temples down to the jaw tracing further to the chin and feel the outline of the face and starting from the forehead down outlining the eyebrows the cheeks the outline of your lips all the way up to the tip of your nose and feel the outline of the whole body now and for a moment just contemplate what is within this outline of a body what being is in there what unique energy resides within this outwardly visible shape of a person and just sit with this for a moment allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go as they please and welcome some fresh air into the nostrils and watch it travel down and land in the belly and allow it to remove any old energy as the lungs exhale and moving your awareness from the body into the mind's eye now begin to see yourself in an expansive field and feel the rays of sunshine on your skin like a warm hug from mother nature and delight your senses as you walk through the tall grass that make up the ground of the lush meadows surrounded by wildflowers and birdsong and in the distance you see a dense wooded area and as you make your way to the wooded area just observe the path you're taking is it a path that's been explored or are you creating a new one no matter which take in all that nature has to offer from the plants that may be gently brushing your ankles as you make your way to the moss covered logs and trees that extend outwards into an enchanting forest and move ever closer to the wooded area and allow yourself to be immersed in the beauty of nature that surrounds you feel the warmth of the sun's caress on your skin and hear the birds delightful chorus in your ears and smell the sweet scent of flowers and take in the sight of tall grass swaying with each gentle breeze and feel your worries melt away as you observe this captivating landscape and let yourself be rooted in this moment finding joy in just being here suspended between what was and what could be surrounded by nature's gift of life and as you immerse yourself further into the wooded area feel sheltered by the vast trees and allow yourself to arrive at a place of peace and let the warmth of the sun rays kiss your skin and allow your worries to drift away with each gust of wind that passes through this serene landscape and take a few more steps and find yourself entering a circular clearing and just take in the tranquility of this place and feel the gentle hug of the trees that wrap around you like a cushioned barrier blocking any gusts of wind and providing shade from the sun and let yourself be drawn into the center of this clearing where a large boulder awaits you one that is perfectly molded to hold your bottom as you take a seat and as you look around observe how everything seems so still and peaceful here and feel into the connection between your body and the rock on which you are now seated take a nice deep breath and allow yourself to relax into this moment absorb this natural sanctuary that has been created just for you calming each sense until nothing else exists except the harmony within you and from this place of tranquility i'd like you to call forth someone from your life who you feel has placed expectations on you whether a partner a parent a boss a co-worker whoever comes to mind just allow them to come into form as you continue to experience the peacefulness in this calming setting and allow your awareness to shift and imagine this person emerging from the trees and witness them approach you as they carry a small linked chain in their hands no smaller than the size of a long dangling necklace and allow that chain to take on whatever color shape and shape and thickness that comes to mind and as they come to a stop in front of you watch as they gently place the loose chain over your head and note how the weight of this chain feels against your chest and feel its temperature as it delicately touches against the back of your neck and notice any emotions or sensations that arise from its presence acknowledging that the chain does not become part of you but is instead simply dangling temporarily from your neck and watch as the person before you takes a step back and simply observe them for a moment notice the features of their neutral facial expression and if it's possible for you today make some eye contact just allowing any feelings that arise to be acknowledged and this person standing in front of you just like you doesn't want to feel pain and just like you they want to feel joy and love and take a few deep breaths and ask your heart to soften recognizing that no story or judgment needs to be attached to this moment if feelings are arising try to stay with the feeling but drop the story and continuing with the breath feel into the sensation of the chain that rests on your chest when someone places expectations on us it's often because they have felt a deep pain or fear that they wish to protect us from and behind these expectations lies a vulnerability and a genuine desire to keep us safe look at the person before you and with this new possibility for understanding in your heart try for a moment to suspend the inner chatter and see if you can sense their concern their vulnerability and their deep-seated albeit misdirected love for you and just open to the possibility of this knowledge serving as a moment for healing felt throughout your body and now step away from the boulder towards the person that has come to meet you in the clearing and gently remove the chain from your neck a representation of all the expectations placed on you by this person and hold it up for them to see and look into their eyes and say thank you for trying to protect me and place the chain around their neck transferring back any burden that was never meant for you in the first place and step back and observe them with a newfound sense of appreciation feeling your own neck liberated from the weight of the chain as a cool breeze caresses your skin connecting you with a moment of pure freedom and now watch as this person turns and walks back into the wooded area and feel into the solitude of this moment and when you're ready you can make your way back to the boulder and take a seat and press your hand against your heart bringing focus to the open area in your chest and imagine a glowing green light emanating from this space an effortless expression of who you are and what you stand for and feel it slowly growing in light expanding out further until it covers the entire clearing and then beyond and beyond into the woods through the meadows around it and allow this green light to keep growing extending its reach until the velvety green glow has blanketed the entire world with its gentle warmth a gift to the world around you allow your impact to be felt and experienced on this planet and connecting back to the breath feel yourself suspended in this soft green light and allow silent communications and exchanges to take place between your energy and that of all beings all plants and all animals on the planet let go into the flow of your breath and allow the breath to be a space for these profound conversations to occur without needing to do a single thing and bring your awareness back to the breath once more and feel the coolness of the air as it enters the nostrils and the warmth as it exits and anchor yourself in your body by directing your focus to the weight of your clothes hanging from your shoulders and feel into where your body is making contact with the chair the floor below you and let yourself be taken back into the room by connecting to the sound of my voice and start to visualize the room that you're in imagine what colors surround you how furniture is placed where the door is and before we welcome movement back i'd like you to place your hand on your heart and say to yourself here i am let's take one more deep breath and you can begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes and when you're ready gently blink your eyes open and welcome yourself back and thank you so much for meditating with me today