Gain Mental Strength & Courage

Nature can be our biggest teacher. When we feel unstable and unsure about our next steps in life we have the opportunity to open and expand our offerings - especially to ourselves. Let's go deeper. Let's remember the strength we have within and embrace it.

Transcript

Welcome to your meditation manifestation experience.

I am here to be with you in this moment for us to have the opportunity to breathe together and we'll keep it very simple.

Remembering that the brain,

The body are so connected and oftentimes our minds and our bodies are moving in different speeds at different times in different ways.

And it's so incredibly important to spend the time to reconnect both reconnecting the mind and the body but also reconnecting to self.

And so that is what we will focus on during this meditation practice.

So go ahead and find a comfortable seated position that can be in any area of the home that feels most comfortable to you wherever it is that you may be in this moment.

Comfort is paramount at this time,

Especially because it will allow you to focus deeper on the breath.

Allowing yourself to just naturally breathe take a few inhales and exhales at your own pace,

Really just checking in with the body,

Maybe shifting around a little bit maybe moving kind of feeling okay I feel most comfortable this way and just scoot back a bit or I need to kind of open up my chest my shoulders and to drop,

You know,

Drop my ears.

Open up all of these different elements,

Kind of checking in,

Allowing yourself to kind of squirm and warm a little bit as you get settled and present.

You may choose in this time to place your hands on your thighs or on your knees.

Perhaps you've chosen to place your hands palms facing down in the symbol of gratitude and groundedness rooting you a little bit closer to the center of the earth.

Perhaps you may have chosen to have your palms facing up,

Open in a symbol of acceptance and receiving,

Allowing yourself an opportunity to bring that energy into this moment.

As we begin our meditation today I want to offer you an opportunity to dedicate this particular meditation to someone or something.

Many of us are reaping the benefits of meditation in real time,

Whether we are aware of them or not.

And oftentimes there are people in places in our lives,

Whom we wish might have an opportunity to experience this sensation right this community,

Maybe there's even someone we've invited to meditate with us right now tonight who is someone near and dear to us but we know perhaps they're not in the space at this moment.

I believe energy is real,

And that you can move it and transfer it around,

Not even in a physical space so much but energetically crossing the boundaries of time and space.

And so I invite you this evening this morning this afternoon wherever time it is wherever you may be to perhaps dedicate your meditation practice today to someone or something that you care deeply about.

This time right now,

Really gathering the intention,

Kind of in your heart for that person or place or thing,

And really feeling that deeply that sensation that energy that you'd like to send.

And as we move throughout the meditation,

Allowing that energy to like ripple like a wave through your body.

And when two or more gathered things can change.

And we are here together,

I'm here with you and that seems to be enough for the quota.

And so we can change.

We can also affect change,

Simply in our breath and our visualization.

We can begin to move things in our lives in the lives of others.

As we move through gathering our intention for today's practice.

I invite you to take some deep inhales and exhales together,

Sweeping the air in through the nose and excelling it out through the mouth,

Perhaps even opening the mouth a little bit exaggerated perhaps even sticking the tongue out.

That feels most available to you.

Inhaling deep in through the nose and exhaling perhaps opening the mouth a little bit wider than usual or even sticking the tongue out and releasing the breath.

Inhaling deep in through the nose and exhaling releasing letting go letting go.

Inhaling deep in through the nose and exhaling sighing out letting go releasing releasing releasing.

And let's do one more deep inhale into the nose.

And when you exhale,

Opening the mouth a little bit wider than usual perhaps even sticking the tongue out and sighing out the breath.

Continue to allow stillness to come over you.

Oftentimes we feel that when we do something.

We are most valuable.

And so we move a lot.

There is certain value allotted to movement.

Right.

And that is part of the balance of life.

In this moment however we are going to practice stillness sitting still being as still as possible.

And connecting with that intention.

And perhaps you would like to visualize a tree.

Rooted into the ground,

Sprouting from just a tiny seed with a strong trunk and large wavering branches,

Big bellowing leaves.

Perhaps your tree sits in the sunlight.

Feeling the rays of sunshine resting on its limbs.

And perhaps your tree is a home for tiny ants and little worms and flying birds and squirming squirrels.

And in this home of a tree.

You are calm,

Safe,

And strong.

And perhaps this tree sprouted from a tiny seed is not the only tree in the ground.

Despite the tree's ability to be independent and to seek its own water source and to dig its roots nice and deep and to be strong when the wind comes and to grow tall and to spread wide and to accept the sun and to move through all of those practices.

That tree,

Strong as it may be,

Is not alone.

For in fact,

That tree itself bears fruit and seeds of its own.

And those seeds are traveled through the wind and become new trees as well.

And the tree itself has the opportunity to give life,

To renew life,

And also to be alive itself.

See,

It is in symbiotic balance between you and I.

The tree and itself.

The tree is not independent of its universe.

In fact,

The tree sprouted from a tiny seed needed water and sunlight to grow.

It needed soil to grow inside of.

And it works in a delicate balance of an ecosystem.

The tree keeps the world around it alive,

And the world around it keeps the tree alive.

Even the exchange of oxygen and carbon is important.

And when the tree looks around,

No matter how self-sustaining it may be,

It is surrounded by other trees.

Also strong,

Also independent,

But also part of that delicate balance of an ecosystem.

And the tree must never forget how connected it is to each and every other tree surrounding.

In fact,

The tree is not the first of its kind,

Nor will it be the last.

Yet the tree has something special to share with the world.

And perhaps you,

As you are,

Where you are,

Exactly how you are,

May resemble aspects of the tree.

Independent in your nature,

Able to take care of yourself.

You must remember the delicate balance of the ecosystem that you are a part of.

For you are not the first of your kind,

And likely will you not be the last.

And yet,

We often forget how deeply interconnected our worlds really are.

We see difference before we see similarity.

We see other before we see common maladies.

And the truth that lies within is that many of us have come from the same seed,

The same process,

The same opportunity to grow,

Often even the same strength.

And so when we breathe,

We are reminded how connected we are to each and every other tree around us.

The tree both as a metaphor for other human beings,

But also as a literal adjective and noun that we are connected to the earth.

And as many would call nature.

We do not live in silos.

We often cannot survive without one another.

And so we remember the interdependence works alongside the independence.

The interconnectedness is what can sustain us past our own abilities.

For a tree cannot grow big and strong.

Without the soil that it grows in.

Without the air that it needs.

Without the sun that makes its leaves bright green.

And as a tree moves through the cycles,

And the seasons.

So do we.

What season,

Might you be in,

In this moment.

Are you moving through a cold winter of incubation and introspection,

An opportunity for on the outside may look bear,

The leaves are gone.

And there's a chill outside.

But on the inside there is a spark,

A preparation happening for the next season of change.

Or perhaps you find yourself in a spring of sorts.

Budding and blooming renewing growing.

A little rain,

A little sun,

A lot of mud,

But renewed nonetheless.

Or perhaps you find yourself,

Even in a summer,

Hot,

Sweaty,

Needing a glass of cool water.

Quick moving in full bloom and blossom busy active.

Perhaps needing to take a moment to look into retrospect.

And soaking in all the sun you can get.

As you prepare for your next season of change.

You may even find yourself in a fall of sorts.

Beautiful brilliant leaves,

But lots of change.

Once a green turning orange,

Yellow,

Red,

And then brown.

Feeling the chill of the air.

Just warm enough.

Just cool enough.

Imagining you are preparing for a cold winter.

You yourself are in a season of change.

And perhaps this message connects with your story.

And perhaps your breath connects to the message.

And you have an opportunity in this moment to breathe easy.

To recognize that yes,

You are in a season of change.

But isn't that one of the most constant things we can expect?

Change,

Always change,

Things always changing.

If we look to nature as our teacher,

We will notice even in the stillness that appears around a big billowing tree.

If you look very closely,

There is actually a lot of movement.

The leaves are being blown in the wind.

The roots down below are growing deeper.

And so,

Even in the strong sturdy stillness of the tree,

There is life.

And there is breath.

And if we come from nature,

If we are connected to nature,

If we have any resemblance to the natural world around us.

Perhaps also we must be still while in motion.

Come to a space of centeredness and groundedness where we are giving ourselves the opportunity to simply breathe and observe.

What a beautiful experience to be present with our breath.

And now with your eyes closed,

Allow yourself just a few moments of silence to simply focus on your breath.

And to give yourself the experience and the opportunity to breathe deeply.

Noticing when,

Where,

And how the breath feels under your nostrils.

Opening up the airways and the lungs,

The bronchioles.

Being present with the simple sensations of tingling throughout the neck,

The shoulders,

The hands,

The back,

The tailbone.

Maybe even the face.

Giving yourself space and room to breathe.

When we breathe,

We allow ourselves the opportunity to change.

We give ourselves permission to shift,

To grow,

Perhaps to become more rooted and grounded.

Or perhaps to become more expansive,

Reaching up and out and over.

Perhaps we feel connected to the idea of being a house or a home for all the scurrying little animals in our lives.

Or perhaps we feel most connected to the idea that as a tree,

Strong and rooted,

We're not alone.

We are not the first,

Nor will we be the last.

And that the seed that we have sprouted from needed water and light and soil to grow.

And so do we.

We need our light.

We need our water.

We need our soil to grow.

We need our smile.

We need our breath.

We need our community to grow.

We are not alone.

You are not alone.

I am not alone.

And so as we breathe,

We let go of the burden of independence.

We welcome the connection of interdependence,

Of connectedness,

Of community.

And we are reminded that we have everything that we need.

We're not alone.

We are supported.

We're not alone.

We are connected.

We're not alone.

We are rooted.

We're not alone.

And so we breathe together.

Inhaling.

And exhaling.

And exhaling.

Inhaling.

Exhaling.

Taking this moment in time to bring ourselves back into the room,

Back into this body,

Back into this moment.

We give thanks and appreciation for all that we have,

All that we are,

And all that we'll be as we say thank you.