To begin our time,
I invite you to focus on your breath,
Noticing any ways that your body might be holding on to tension as you inhale or exhale,
Thinking about any ways you would love to be able to take a deeper breath,
Anything that feels like it's standing in the way of being able to take one of those really nice,
Deep inhales and let out a nice,
Deep exhale.
Really being curious about if there are any burdens that any part of you is carrying,
Any burdens that are causing stress,
Anxiety,
Fear,
Tension,
Maybe a burden that's causing exhaustion,
Woundedness,
Grief,
Whatever you might be experiencing and in whatever way any part of you longs to be unburdened.
I invite you to notice what that feels like inside,
Being really intentional to continue some nice,
Deep breaths so that those feelings don't overwhelm or take over.
If it's helpful,
You can run your fingers over a material that's near you.
That might be fabric of your clothing,
The upholstery of a couch or a chair,
Letting that be a little grounding point,
Maybe noticing the ground underneath your feet.
Things like this and focusing on nice,
Deep breaths can help us stay grounded whenever there's a big emotion,
Something overwhelming that otherwise feels like it might take over.
As you continue your breaths,
As you continue bringing your attention to a burden or maybe more than one burden that you're carrying,
I invite you to visualize how you see yourself carrying this and how you see yourself worn down by this.
Letting your mind be curious to consider,
As I go into my day,
In what ways am I almost dragging or weighed down?
How does this shape and impact the me that goes to work or interacts with my family or loved ones?
What would it be like if I wasn't weighed down in this way?
Continuing some nice,
Deep breaths,
I want to acknowledge that there are of course circumstances in our lives that we often cannot change.
I want to be respectful of that and make sure you know that I'm not saying we just hand our burdens over to God and everything's okay.
If only life were that simple,
Knowing that life is much more complex than that.
What I'd like to invite you to do in this meditation is imagine anything that you would like to be free from that you're experiencing inside of you.
So rather than circumstances outside of us that we can't control,
Something happening inside of you that might feel very much out of control,
Something that you very much would like to be free from and burdened from,
A weight or a wound that you feel like you're carrying or dragging behind you.
You can be curious to see what happens if you imagine placing this into God's hands and if that doesn't feel possible,
You could be curious and see what it would be like to ask God to take this from you.
See if it's possible to imagine him removing the burden,
Even if it feels like you are unable to remove that.
Maybe it feels like you're under a big heavy rock and you just can't move.
You can see,
Is it possible for my mind to imagine God lifting this rock,
Creating room and space for me to breathe,
To catch my breath,
To rest.
Whatever kind of visual comes naturally to you,
If there's any positive association that comes up with this,
Any sense of relief that comes up from this,
I encourage you to breathe into that,
Letting that sense of relief,
Even if it's a really small sense of relief,
Increase as you deeply breathe in and breathe out,
Noticing any increase of breathing room,
Any sense of lightness,
Even if it feels like the smallest shift in a burden,
If that feels relieving in any way,
Soaking that in.
And if you'd like to spend any more time with this imagery and this breathing,
I invite you to pause the audio now.
Whenever you're ready,
I'll close us with a prayer.
Lord God,
We can cognitively know that there's nothing too big for you,
But it doesn't always feel that way.
We can cognitively know that you can carry us through anything,
But that's not always what we feel or experience.
I pray that in your grace and your mercy,
You would make yourself known in spaces where it has felt like you're not there.
Spaces where rather than feeling your comfort,
There's been a sense of absence.
Spaces where we are exhausted and weary from trying to carry things that we cannot carry.
Would you bring any ounce of relief from the burdens that we are carrying,
Giving us any glimpse of hope?
I pray that you would refresh and renew as we enter this day.
Amen.
