Welcome to this balancing pericardium and triple warmer meridian meditation.
In ancient Taoism,
The fire element corresponds to four principal meridians and today we're going to focus on two of these,
The pericardium and the triple warmer meridians.
The pericardium and triple warmer meridians are the protectors of the elemental heart organ.
The pericardium protects the heart from attack from heat and emotional shock and the triple warmer has no physical form but it plays a central role in mobilizing and spreading chi throughout the body.
Emotionally the pericardium is associated with expressing and feeling emotions and the triple warmer is associated with feeling overwhelmed and out of balance.
When our pericardium and triple burner meridians are balanced and in harmony,
We are resilient to sudden shock.
Strong emotions do not harm the heart or imbalance the nervous system.
We feel balanced and we can express ourselves clearly.
So let's nourish these meridians together.
Remember where your attention goes,
Your energy flows.
So please take the first 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 start with a big face stretching yawn,
Bringing the breath into the belly and allow yourself an audible release as you exhale.
Allow the audible release to help you 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 through the heart space.
And let's take another delicious deep belly breath together,
Allowing the breath to sink down into the abdomen as we breathe in.
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 can follow my words or you might like to just gently allow them to sit in the background.
Just let the breath settle now.
Let the breath breathe you and begin to draw your attention to the space in front of your closed or lowered 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 now to begin to draw your attention to sounds.
Sounds coming from further away,
From outside.
Just listen with a gentle curiosity.
Allow the sounds to come and go without resistance.
Begin to draw your attention to sounds coming from closer,
From inside the room.
Perhaps you can begin to listen to sounds coming from inside the body.
Subtle sound of the breath,
Digestion,
Heartbeat.
Just listening.
Allow the sounds to help call you into the present moment.
And I invite you to begin to draw your attention further to the breath.
Not only the subtle sounds of your breath but also to any sensations associated with your breath.
Feel a slight movement of your chest and belly.
Rising with the in-breath and falling with the out-breath.
Notice that gentle softening of the 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 as your breath continues to settle,
Know that it calms and settles your body,
Your heart and your mind with it.
Calming and softening.
Center yourself with the breath.
Allow the breath to help anchor you into the present moment.
And I invite you now to begin to remember the ancient energy lines of the pericardium and triple warmer.
And let's do this by visualizing the external pericardium meridians beginning at the outer edges of our chest at the level of the armpit.
And from here they arch over the armpits and flow down the middle of each inner arm,
Through the middle of the elbows,
Down through the middle of the wrists and palms,
Down down to the tip of the middle fingers.
And there's a small internal connection,
A small internal branch from the tip of the middle fingers where the external pericardium meridians finish to the tip of the ring fingers where the external triple warmer meridians start.
And so let's tune in to the tip of each ring finger,
The beginning of the external triple warmer meridians and visualize energy flowing over the back of the hands,
Through the back of the wrists,
Up up along the back of the arms,
Up to the tops of the shoulders.
And from the shoulders they flow back towards the lower neck then run up along the sides of the neck to the back of the ears.
They circle from the back of the ears to the front of the ears and then flow up to finish at the outer edges of each eyebrow.
Visualize this free flowing energy as a bright red ruby colored light.
And again let's start at the external pericardium meridians at the outer edges of the chest.
Visualizing this bright ruby red light arching up over the armpits and then flowing down the middle of each arm.
This ruby red light flowing down down through the palms,
Down to the tips of the middle fingers.
And perhaps you can start to feel a warmth or a tingling in the arms.
And now visualize this ruby red light flowing from the tips of your ring fingers,
The start of the external triple warmer meridians,
All the way up,
Up up,
The outside of the arms through the middle of the outside of the arms,
Flowing up to the shoulders,
Across to the lower neck and then up,
Up the sides of the neck,
Circling around the ears and then finishing up at the outer edges of the eyebrows.
And once more let's start at the outer edges of the chest at the external pericardium meridian.
Starting this bright red ruby light flowing freely arching up over the armpits and down,
Down,
Down the inside of the arms.
Coming to finish at the tip of our middle fingers and then flowing on to the external triple warmer meridians.
This ruby red light flowing from the tip of the ring fingers up the back of the arms,
Up,
Up to the tops of the shoulders,
The sides of the neck,
Circling around the ears and then coming to finish at the outer edges of the eyebrows.
And as you feel this subtle sense of energy,
This subtle sense of aliveness flowing through these meridians,
Through the arms,
Neck and head,
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 kindly and gently redirect your attention back to your body.
Back to these ancient energy lines of the pericardium and triple warmer meridians.
Back to the awareness of the space in front of your closed eyes.
Notice sound and notice your centering breath.
Let's rest for a few moments here,
Feeling into the body,
Noticing these ancient energy lines,
This subtle sense of aliveness through the body.
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 resilient.
And as you breathe out,
May you,
May others be resilient.
As you breathe in,
Allow your heart to fill with this intention.
And as you breathe out,
Visualize a group or an individual and send these kind thoughts out to them.
Breathing in,
May I be resilient.
Breathing out,
May you be resilient.
May we all be resilient.
May we all feel balanced and stable.
And may we all express ourselves clearly and with ease.
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 draw the knees up towards the chest,
Give the knees a squeeze and give yourself a little low back massage by gently rocking side to side.
Let's all wrap ourselves in a big warm loving hug and bring a smile to the face.
And then when you're ready,
Let's come together in a comfortable seated position,
Bringing your palms together and drawing the thumbs up between the eyebrows with a slight bow of the head as a gesture of honor,
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.
