Welcome to this Balancing Kidney and Bladder Meridian Meditation.
In ancient Taoism,
It was observed that our kidney and urinary bladder meridians govern our water metabolism,
Longevity,
Reproduction,
Physical development,
And bone strength.
They also provide energy and warmth.
These meridians need to remain balanced for all our other organs to function well,
As the kidneys are considered the gate of life and store our Jing.
Jing translates to our very essence,
Our vital energy,
So as we age it becomes even more important to spend time nourishing and balancing our kidney meridians.
The kidney and urinary bladder meridians correspond to the water element,
And emotionally the kidney meridian is associated with feeling fear and dread,
Whilst the bladder meridian is associated with paralyzed will,
So feeling like you have to do something that you don't want to,
Or perhaps wanting to do something but you can't.
When our kidney and urinary bladder meridians are balanced and in harmony,
We are courageous and confident,
We are calm and clear-thinking,
We are comfortable being our authentic selves,
And we mature and age gratefully.
So let's nourish these meridians together,
And remember where our attention goes,
Our energy flows.
So please take a few moments to find a comfortable position.
If you're sitting,
Sit open and upright.
If you're lying down,
Lie balanced and symmetrical.
Palms open wherever they're resting,
And I invite you in joining me to start with a big face-stretching yawn.
So when we take this yawn,
Allow yourself an audible release,
A big sigh as you exhale,
As this audible release helps you to let go and relax that little bit more.
Let's try that together.
Allow the muscles of the face to soften.
Gently draw your shoulder blades in and down your spine to help open your heart space,
And take another conscious deep belly breath,
Relaxing,
Awake and alert.
And please remember there's nothing you need to achieve or accomplish during this guided meridian meditation.
This is your time,
And you might like to follow my words,
Or you might like to just gently let them sit in the background.
And I invite you now to begin to draw your attention to the space in front of your closed eyes.
It's like a field of darkness,
And perhaps there are some muted shapes or colors there,
But we're not looking for anything.
We're just simply resting our attention in this space,
With relaxed eyes and a soft gaze.
And I invite you to begin to draw your attention to sounds,
Sounds coming to you from outside.
Just listen with a gentle curiosity.
Allow the sounds to come and go without resistance,
And I invite you to begin to draw your attention to sounds inside,
Inside the room.
The sound of the music,
And perhaps you can begin to notice sounds coming from inside the body.
Listen to the subtle sound of the breath,
Digestion,
Heartbeat,
Just listening.
Allow the sounds to help call you into the present moment.
And I invite you now to begin to draw your attention further to the breath.
Not only to the subtle sounds associated with the breath,
But also to any sensations associated with your breath.
Feel a slight movement of your chest and your belly,
Rising each time you inhale,
And falling each time you exhale.
Notice that gentle softening of your body each time you breathe out,
And feel the flow of air passing by your nostrils.
Cool as you breathe in,
And warm as you breathe out.
Just your natural breath.
Let your breath breathe you,
And allow the breath to help anchor you in the present moment.
And I invite you now to draw your attention to your body,
All the way up to your face.
And again,
Notice the space in front of your closed eyes,
And become aware of any sensations in and around your eyes.
Feel your eyelids gently touching,
Or perhaps your eyelids are gently lowered.
Feel through your eyebrows and across your forehead,
And just notice whatever sensations are there,
With a gentle curiosity.
And as you feel around the eyes and across the forehead,
Feel the flow of your breath.
And I invite you to begin to remember the ancient meridian lines of the kidney and the bladder.
And let's begin by visualizing the external bladder meridians,
Starting at the inner corners of our eyes.
The bladder meridians are the longest in our body.
And from the corners of the eyes,
They run up over the forehead,
Over the top of the head,
Down the back of the head,
And flow down,
Down,
Parallel,
Alongside the spine.
All the way down the spine,
Flowing down to the buttocks,
And flowing down the back of the legs,
All the way down to the outer ankles.
And then finishing in our little toes,
Our fifth toes.
And then there's an internal connection from our little toes to the soles of our feet,
Where our external kidney meridians start.
And the external kidney meridians start at the soles of the feet,
And then flow up,
Up,
Inside of the leg.
They flow past the inside of the knees,
Flow up the inner thighs,
All the way up to the coccyx,
That's the base of your spine,
That tiny little triangular bone.
And then the kidney meridians flow either side of the pubic bone,
Up the abdomen and the chest,
To finish at the inner edges of the collarbones.
So we can visualize energy flowing freely,
All the way up to those inner edges of the collarbones.
And I invite you to visualize this free-flowing energy as a dark blue light.
Dark blue nourishes our water element.
So again,
Start with the external bladder meridians,
And begin to visualize a dark blue light glowing at the inner corner of the eyes.
And then it flows up over the forehead,
The top of the head,
The back of the head,
Down the spine.
This blue-black light flowing down,
Down either side of the spine,
Down the back of your legs,
Past the outer edges of the ankles and into your little toes.
And perhaps you can begin to feel a warmth or a tingling as you visualize this blue-black light flowing freely.
And then it flows from the soles of the feet,
Starting with the external kidney meridians,
Flows up the inside of the legs,
Up,
Up,
Over the pubic bone.
This blue-black light flowing up over your abdomen,
Either side of your navel,
Either side of your belly button,
All the way up over the chest to the inner edge of your collarbones.
Let's visualize this for the third time again,
Starting at the corner of the eyes,
This glowing blue-black light.
The bladder meridian flows up over the head,
Down the back of the spine,
Flowing freely down either side of the spine,
Down to the buttocks,
Down the back of the legs,
All the way down past the outer edges of your ankles and into the little toes.
Flowing freely this blue-black light.
And from the soles of the feet,
The kidney meridians are flowing up the inside of the legs,
All the way up.
This blue-black light flowing all the way up to the pubic bone,
Over the pubic bone,
Up the torso,
All the way up the torso,
Up the chest,
To finish at the inner edges of your collarbones.
And as you feel this subtle sense of energy,
This subtle sense of aliveness flowing through these ancient meridians,
Flowing through the eyes,
Head,
Back,
Legs,
Feet and torso,
Feel the flow of your breath.
And if you notice your mind wandering or becoming caught up in a stream of thought,
That's okay,
That's what the mind does.
Just gently and kindly redirect your attention back to your body,
Back to these ancient energy lines with this blue-black light,
The kidney and the urinary bladder meridians.
Draw your awareness back to the space in front of your closed eyes.
Notice sounds,
Notice your breath,
Allow each breath to help calm your body and mind and allow your thoughts to clear.
With each breath,
Particularly your exhalation,
Allow your mind to let go of any fear or paralyzed will.
And let's rest for a few moments here.
And as we come towards the end of our practice together today,
You might like to join me in dedicating its value and its virtue and sending some kind thoughts.
So as we breathe in,
Say silently to yourself,
May I be authentic,
Courageous and confident.
And as you breathe out,
May you,
May others be authentic,
Courageous and confident.
Breathing in and allow your heart to fill with this intention.
And as you breathe out,
Send these kind thoughts out to an individual or to a group of people.
So breathing in,
May I be authentic,
Courageous and confident.
Breathing out,
May you be authentic,
Courageous and confident.
May we all be authentic,
Courageous and confident.
May we all be wise and may we all mature and age gratefully.
Let us slowly start to reactivate and re-energize the body.
Perhaps a little wiggle of the fingers,
A little wiggle of the toes.
If you're lying down,
You might like to give your knees a squeeze and gift yourself a little low back massage by slowly rocking side to side.
And let's all give ourselves a warm,
Loving hug,
Wrapping our arms around ourselves.
And then when you're ready,
Let us come together in a comfortable seated position.
Bring our palms together in front of our heart with a slight bow of the head.
Draw the thumbs up between the eyebrows to the third eye centre as a gesture of honour,
Respect and the deepest of gratitude to ourselves,
To each other and to the practice we've shared together today.
Namaste.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you.
