Hello and welcome to this guided meditation.
This meditation will help you get still,
Quiet,
And to give you more clarity and insight into whatever decision you are facing using your body's sensations.
Most times when we want to make a good decision,
What we really mean is we want to control the outcome and decrease the risk.
We are looking to the future and trying to see around corners.
By trying to control and manage the future,
We often overlook important information we have right now.
Perhaps the new job you're considering isn't aligned with your personal values,
Or you're sensing a quiet nudge to speak up about something that feels risky.
This meditation will have a quiet beginning and a more active end.
Please have a piece of paper handy and a writing implement to capture what emerges.
I invite you,
As much as you can,
To trust the responses you get to the questions I invite you into.
Our rational mind can often second guess those answers.
Trust the first hit you get and write it down so you don't lose it.
You can hit pause here if you need to grab some paper and come back.
Once you're ready,
Settle into a comfortable seat and make sure your back is nicely supported.
You want to be upright but not uncomfortable.
You can close your eyes or drop your gaze if that feels more comfortable in your body.
Take a moment to settle your awareness down into your body.
You can imagine your inner awareness like I do,
Like an inner spelunker coming down out of your head and clambering down your vertebrae into your body.
Notice how your body is breathing and where you feel air coming in and going out.
I invite you to feel your ribcage expanding and your diaphragm pressing into your belly.
Really make room in your torso to signal to your body that the sensations that are present are welcome.
Next,
I invite you to let a decision you're facing come up inside your mind.
Take a moment to write down what that decision is.
Remember,
You can't mess this up.
Any decision you choose will be a good one to practice with.
You can always come back and listen again with another decision in mind.
Once you've gotten clear on the decision you need to make,
Take a few breaths and allow your body to feel the sensations that are associated with that decision.
What comes up,
However subtle?
Do you feel tensions arise or perhaps a constriction somewhere?
Do you feel dis-ease,
However vague?
Maybe you don't feel so much in your body as much as you feel overwhelmed in your mind.
Whatever you notice is perfect.
Notice where in your body you feel a sensation and see if you can name it.
For example,
You might say,
I feel my throat closing or my back is getting tense.
It could even be my stomach just doesn't feel right.
It could be a change in temperature or a tingling or fluttering sensation.
You might feel numb and even that is information.
Next,
I invite you to take one or both of your hands and place them on the part of your body where you feel this sensation.
If you feel it in multiple places,
That's okay.
Just pick one.
Take a few breaths here and notice how it feels to have the support of your hands and the connection to yourself.
Allow yourself to notice the sensation.
You can imagine your hand or hands are like an attentive listener to your body.
Making your body sensations aware that they are welcome.
Now,
I want you to invite this sensation to speak.
Remember,
Trust the first thing that comes up.
What is this sensation trying to communicate?
What is this sensation trying to communicate?
Allow that to come up and write it down.
And then you can ask if it has anything more.
Now,
Your next step is to look at what you've written.
Remember,
We have many voices inside of us.
Many versions of us who speak.
Our emotions,
Our conditioning,
Our bias,
Our habits,
And our wisdom all live jumbled up inside us.
It's our job to listen and learn to discern who is speaking and whether or not you want them leading.
Different voices produce different physical sensations,
And by noticing the sensations,
We get more insight into our subconscious mind.
Some voices produce the constriction or heat of fear and shame,
And others make us feel settled and loving.
Your body will experience your own sensations,
And the more you keep track of them and inquire into what they are and what information they have for you,
The more you will learn about yourself and how to navigate with the information you've got.
Is this voice your fear?
A younger version of you that is holding on to an old story?
Perhaps an expression of a family or cultural value,
But not your own?
You can even ask yourself,
Are you me or someone else?
What information does this give you about your decision?
Take a moment and write that down.
Next,
I want to invite you to ask your wise self to speak.
You can put a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly and take a few deep breaths.
If your wisest self could speak,
What would she or he say in this moment?
Take a moment to record what comes up from your wise self.
Notice how it makes you feel.
What insight do you have now about the decision you're facing?
What is the smallest next step you could take?
Take a moment and grab the answers that come up.
For some of you,
Doing this exercise might be the first time you've allowed or invited your body into your decision-making process.
The whole thing might feel a little ridiculous.
Or you might have not felt much at all.
That's okay.
It takes time to wire in a connection between your brain and your body,
Specifically to those places where we have sensation but haven't allowed them to speak.
The more you notice the sensations in your body without judgment and reflect on what they are trying to tell you,
The more you will learn about whose counsel to keep.
Is that voice your inner critic?
Or your fear of being unworthy?
Is it your anger at being rejected?
Or is it your cool,
Pragmatic intellect?
Keep noticing.
Keep asking.
And keep a record of what happens when you listen to each voice.
This is how you will learn.
As we close,
Take a moment to return your hands to your heart and belly.
Take a moment to thank your body for the wisdom it shared today.
I invite you to take heart in knowing that there are no wrong decisions.
You make the decision,
And then you make it right.
