Welcome to this meditation.
And let's make this a joyous meditation.
Let's close our eyes as we usually do.
As you do that,
Just bring a smile to your face.
And just feel how that act of smiling somehow shifts the feeling.
Maybe not if you've started to listen to this meditation replay and you're just in the middle of weeping,
But maybe it does still.
And it just goes to show what the power of an attitude can be.
If we are able to bring a lighter attitude to ourselves,
It's almost like not taking ourselves so seriously,
Not making everything mean so much.
Perhaps when you're out walking on the beach with friends,
You'll notice that your footprints are not as deep as your companions.
You're just not walking so heavily in this earth.
You're not burdened down by the woes or the ups and downs of life.
And I'm being very careful in my words there.
It's not that you won't experience the ups and downs of life,
But your attitude is not to be burdened by them.
So let's take that walk on the beach.
Let's walk along.
Let's imagine that whoever joins this meditation in person will only be a play.
Let's imagine that we are all walking along this beach.
It's a beautiful day,
The sun is shining,
There's a gentle breeze.
Perhaps we're drawn to hold hands with some of our companions,
Perhaps we're walking freely with our arms swinging,
An easy gate.
And we look back and we see that our footprints are barely visible.
We are walking so lightly.
Walking so lightly on this earth.
And let's imagine that as we're walking along this beach,
At the end of the beach,
We can see a wooden hut and we make our way towards it.
And somehow we know that this hut is representative of life itself.
And one by one our companions approach the hut and have their experience.
Whatever is given to them,
Whatever they're willing to receive,
The door of life.
And you're standing in the sun,
The soft sand under your feet,
The breeze refreshing you and still that smile is playing in your lips.
You check back again,
Can't quite believe that you are walking so lightly.
You think I must be the heaviest earrings,
Have the deepest footprints,
But no,
You're all walking lightly.
And your feet are light and your heart is light.
And you realise that as you're standing there,
It's not really as if anything has gained dramatically,
It's just your attitude has lightened.
And you're excited now,
You're excited to see what might happen when you open the door,
When you approach the door.
And finally,
It's your turn.
You walk to the door.
You stand in front of it.
And you invite the door to open.
You have a sense that you're ready to receive whatever it is that life is going to offer you.
The door opens.
And there's a person there,
But without any particular gender,
Without any particular age.
It's almost like when you look at the night sky and try and see the seven sisters,
You can only see them in focus if you look out of the corner of your eye.
And whenever you look through them,
It's like they're not fully there.
You have this sense of life,
The heartbeat of life,
Standing in front of you and it's wearing clothes to make it feel normal to you so you can enter into this exchange.
And like a magician about to play the trick,
Life holds out.
Both hands,
Hiding what's held inside the hands.
And you take one of the hands.
And life says to you,
Give me something.
Give me something that you are ready to let go.
Breathe deeply.
You might feel some anxiety.
Will I choose the right thing?
Let's not worry about that.
Let's breathe deeply and allow whatever is there to come bubbling up.
Maybe because you're in such a mood of not taking anything seriously,
Maybe it's something really silly that you are giving.
Whatever it is though,
It's heartfelt.
And as you're breathing and holding life's hand,
You realize that instead of life holding something in their hand,
You are now holding something in your hand.
Life opens its palm,
Ready to receive.
Whichever you are ready to give up.
You breathe deeply again.
And flatten your palm into life's palm and let go.
You feel yourself breathing together with life.
You feel yourself as one single heartbeat.
And you realize that life has the capacity to hold you,
To take from you whatever no longer serves you.
Life thanks you for letting go of whatever it is you decided to let go.
And you have a sense of life smiling at you and you become more aware of the other hand that is stretching.
And now it's your turn to receive.
You hold your palm out underneath life's hand.
Take three deep breaths,
Breathing in through the nose,
Allowing your chest to expand,
Your tongue to expand,
Your shoulders to go down.
And exhale.
Take another deep breath.
Chest expanding,
Tummy expanding,
Shoulders.
And then exhale.
And on the third breath,
You have a sense that life is giving you whatever it is that you need in this moment.
And perhaps you have a clearer sense of what that is.
Perhaps you can't really name it at the moment.
Perhaps you don't have a sense of what it is,
But you trust that life is giving it to you,
It's making this available.
And you may not be aware of what it is right in this moment,
But you know that life has given you something precious.
And that this will be revealed whenever you're ready.
You have the sense of gratitude coming over you for receiving but also forgiving.
And you thank this being that you're not quite sure what the form is,
What gender is,
This sense,
This sense of a being that is somehow like you and somehow much more than you.
But you're also deeply connected,
You're somehow included in this being.
So you thank this being and find that that wave of thanks is felt in your own heart,
Thanking yourself for your journey,
For your effort,
For your attention.
You turn away and the door closes.
And your companions are waiting for you.
Perhaps there's less data in this first few moments of walking back.
But as you walk back on the beach,
There's almost a bubble,
Like a good champagne.
You've all seemed to sense it as a bubbling of happiness.
You've all had some experience of release and had some experience of receiving everything that you need to receive in that moment.
And some of you may hold hands again,
Swinging your arms freely.
Some of you may break off and mirror the water's edge to enjoy the cool touch of the water on your feet.
And you're walking back along the beach.
And you look back and you see that your footprints are still light.
You're still walking on this earth in a lighthearted manner.
And you come to the end of the beach and you come up to the grounds and you realise it's time to part.
It's time to leave your companions.
Perhaps you hug,
Perhaps you bow in thanks to each other.
And you turn away and start walking in your own love.
And you start to notice your breath.
You notice your chest rising and falling.
As you also come out of this meditation that just take your time.
Allow the breath to act as the bridge.
To take you back into your physical space.
Whenever you're ready.
You can open your eyes.
Welcome.
