Welcome to this Balancing Spleen and Stomach Meridian Meditation.
In ancient Taoism,
It was observed that our spleen and stomach meridians are primarily responsible for our digestion,
Nourishment and metabolism.
And both these meridians correspond to the earth element.
Emotionally,
The spleen meridian is associated with worry and low self-esteem.
The stomach meridian is associated with feeling nervous and over-concerned.
And both can escalate to anxiety.
So when our stomach and spleen meridians are balanced and in harmony,
We feel grounded,
We feel peaceful and we feel at ease.
We are creative and have good self-esteem.
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 to join me with starting with a big face-stretching yawn,
Gifting yourself an audible release as you exhale.
Allow that audible release to help you relax 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 to help open your heart space.
And let's take a delicious 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 let them sit gently 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's 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 begin to draw your attention to sounds inside the room.
The sound of the music.
And perhaps you can begin to listen to sounds coming from inside your body.
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.
Begin to notice any sensations associated with your breath.
Feel the slight movement of your chest and your belly rising as you breathe in and falling as you breathe out.
And notice that gentle softening of your body each time you breathe out.
Feel the flow of air passing by your nostrils.
Cool on your in-breath and warm on your out-breath.
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 your natural breath to help anchor you and keep you in the present moment.
Now begin to draw your attention all the way up to your face.
And 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.
Feel through your eyebrows and across your forehead.
Noticing whatever sensations are there.
And as you feel around the eyes and across the forehead,
Feel the flow of your breath.
And I invite you now to remember the ancient meridian lines of the stomach and the spleen.
Begin by visualizing the external stomach meridians beginning below the middle of each eye.
And from below each eye,
They run down the middle of the face,
Curve around the mouth,
Flow over the jaw and down each side of the neck to the sternum.
Visualize these ancient energy lines,
These meridians,
Continuing to flow down from the front of the body,
Your sternum,
Passing through the nipples,
Down the front of the legs,
And all the way down,
Down,
Finishing at the tip of the second toes.
And from here,
There's a little internal pathway connecting our second toes to our first toes,
Our big toes.
And this is where our spleen meridian starts.
So let's begin visualizing energy flowing from the tip of each big toe,
The start of our external spleen meridians,
And running up the inner feet,
Up the inner legs,
Up,
Up across from the sides of the groin,
Flowing up the outer sides of the torso,
And finishing at the armpits.
Let's visualize this free flowing energy as a yellow golden light nourishing our earth element.
Again,
Starting at the external stomach meridians,
Just below each eye,
Visualize this golden light flowing down either side of the face,
Over the jaw,
Down the sides of the neck,
Golden light flowing down the front of the body,
Through the nipples,
Down the front of the legs,
All the way down to the tip of our second toes.
And perhaps you can begin to feel a warmth or a tingling along these ancient energy lines.
And visualize this golden light flowing from your big toes,
The start of the external spleen meridian,
Up the inner legs,
Up across from the sides of the groin,
And all the way up to the outer sides of the torso,
Finishing at the armpits.
And again,
Starting below the eyes,
Visualizing this free flowing golden light flowing freely down the face,
Down the sides of the neck,
The torso,
The legs,
All the way flowing down to the second toes,
And then flowing from our big toes,
The external spleen meridians,
This golden yellow light flowing all the way up the legs,
The torso,
And finishing at the armpits.
And as you feel this subtle sense of energy,
This subtle sense of aliveness flowing through these ancient meridians,
Through the face,
The torso,
Legs,
And 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 ancient energy lines of the stomach and spleen meridians.
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 in this space.
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 peaceful and at ease.
And as you breathe out,
May you,
May others be peaceful and at ease.
As you breathe in,
Allow your heart to fill with this intention.
And as you breathe out,
Send these kind thoughts out to an individual or a group of people.
Breathing in,
May I be peaceful and at ease.
Breathing out,
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May we all be peaceful and at ease.
May we all feel grounded.
May we all love ourselves fully and trust in the mystery of life.
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.
And 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.
I invite you to give yourself a loving hug and then when you're ready,
Let us come together in a comfortable seated position,
Bringing our palms together in front of our heart with a slight bow of the head.
We can draw the thumbs up to just between the eyebrows to the third eye center.
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.
Thank you.
