Welcome to this balancing liver and gallbladder meridian meditation.
In ancient Taoism,
It was observed that our elemental liver and gallbladder organs are primarily responsible for detoxification,
Maintaining even qi flow,
So energy flow,
And the promotion and storage of our blood.
The liver and gallbladder correspond to the wood element.
Emotionally,
The liver meridian is associated with anger and frustration.
The gallbladder meridian is associated with resentment and feeling galled.
When our liver and gallbladder meridians are balanced and in harmony,
We grow at our own pace.
We are kind and compassionate.
We are flexible and able to adapt to change with ease.
In our modern world,
The liver is commonly the most congested and overworked of all the elemental organs.
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.
Have your palms open wherever they're resting.
And I invite you to join me in a moment with a big face stretching yawn.
And I really encourage you to allow yourself an audible release as you exhale,
As that audible release helps you to relax and let go that little bit more.
So let's try that together.
Allow the muscles of the face to soften.
Draw your shoulder blades in and down your spine.
And let's take another conscious,
Delicious,
Deep belly breath.
Allow the breath to sink down into the abdomen.
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 allow them to sit in the background.
Just let your breath settle now.
Let your breath breathe you.
And I invite you 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 colours 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 now to begin to draw your attention to sounds.
Beginning with sounds coming from further away.
Coming to you from outside.
And just listen with a gentle curiosity.
Allow the sounds to come and go without resistance.
Begin to draw your attention to sounds closer by.
Listen to sounds inside the room and begin to listen to sounds coming from inside your body.
Subtle sound of your breath,
Digestion,
Heartbeat.
Just listening.
Allow the sounds to help call you into the present moment.
And I invite you now to draw your attention further to the breath.
Not only to the subtle sounds of the breath but also to any sensations associated with the breath.
Feel the slight movement of your chest and your belly.
Rising with the in-breath and falling with the out-breath.
Notice the gentle softening of your body as you breathe out and feel the flow of air passing by your nostrils.
Cool on your inhalation and warm on your exhalation.
Just your natural breath,
Following each breath.
And as your breath continues to settle,
Know that it calms and settles your body,
Heart and mind with it.
Calming and settling.
Just allowing the breath to breathe you and allow it to help anchor you into the present moment.
And now I invite you to begin to draw your attention all the way up to your face.
Again to the space in front of your closed eyes.
Become aware of any sensations in and around your eyes.
Feel your eyelids gently touching or lowered.
Feel through your eyebrows and across your forehead.
Noticing 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 now to begin to remember the ancient energy lines of the gall bladder.
So begin by visualizing the external gall bladder meridians,
Starting at the outer corners of each eye.
And from the outer corner of each eye,
They begin to zigzag in front of the ears,
Then behind the ears,
Zigzag forward along the side of the head,
Zigzag back along the side of the head,
And then all the way down to the tops of the shoulders.
From the tops of the shoulders,
They flow down the front of the shoulders and begin to zigzag down either side of the torso,
All the way down to the outside of the hips.
And from the outer hips,
They flow down,
Down the outside of the legs,
All the way down past the outer ankles,
And then finish at the tip of our fourth toes.
And there is a little internal connection from our fourth toes,
Where our external gall bladder meridian finish,
To the inner edge of our big toes,
Where our external liver meridian start.
So now,
Let's begin visualizing energy flowing up,
Up from the inner edge of our big toes,
Up the inner legs,
Up,
Up along this external liver meridian,
Up to the sides of the groin,
Flowing up the outer side of the torso,
And then finishing just below the nipples.
And let's try that again.
This time,
Visualize this free flowing energy as a bright green light,
A bright emerald color.
So again,
Start at the outer edges of the eyes with the gall bladder meridian,
And imagine this bright emerald light zigzagging along the side of the head,
Down in front of the ears,
Behind the ears,
Zigzagging back along the side of the head,
To the front,
Then zigzagging back along the side of the head,
All the way down to the tops of the shoulders.
Again,
Zigzagging down the torso,
This bright emerald light flowing over the outer hips,
Down the outer edges of the legs,
All the way down,
Flowing freely,
All the way down to the tip of the fourth toes.
And perhaps you can begin to feel a warmth or a tingling.
Visualize this bright green light now flowing from your big toes,
Your external liver meridians,
Flowing up,
Up the inner legs,
All the way up,
Up to the pelvis,
Up along the sides of the torso,
And then finishing just below the nipples.
Again,
Starting at the outer corners of the eyes,
The external gallbladder meridians in a bright emerald light are flowing freely,
Zigzagging along the head,
Zigzagging down to the tops of the shoulders,
To the torso,
Zigzagging down the sides of the torso,
To the outer hips,
And then flowing all the way down the outside of the legs,
All the way down to those fourth toes.
This emerald green light is flowing from our big toes,
Our external liver meridians,
Starting here,
Flowing up the inside of the legs,
All the way up,
This bright green emerald light,
Up the inner legs,
Over the pelvis,
Up the torso,
And finishing just under the nipples.
And as you feel this subtle sense of energy,
This subtle sense of aliveness flowing through these ancient meridians,
Through the head,
The torso,
The legs and the feet,
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 back to these ancient energy lines,
To the gallbladder and liver meridians,
The external gallbladder and liver meridians.
You can draw your awareness back to the space in front of your closed eyes.
Notice sound,
And notice your centering breath.
Let's rest for a few moments here,
With these ancient energy lines,
Flowing freely,
With a bright green emerald light.
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 filled with loving-kindness.
And as you breathe out,
May others,
May you,
Be filled with loving-kindness.
So as you breathe in,
Visualize yourself,
And allow your heart to fill with that intention.
And as you breathe out,
Send these kind thoughts out to an individual,
Or a group of people.
Breathing in,
May I be filled with loving-kindness.
Breathing out,
May you be filled with loving-kindness.
May we all be loving and kind,
Both to ourselves and to others.
May we all be patient and tolerant.
May we all grow at our own pace.
Let us slowly start to reactivate and re-energize the body now.
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 with a little low back massage by slowly rocking side to side.
And let's all gift ourselves with a big warm loving hug.
And then when you're ready,
Let us come together in a comfortable seated position and bring our palms together in front of our heart with a slight bow of the head into Anjali Mudra.
And we can draw the thumbs together 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.
The light in me sees the light in you.
Thank you.
