Hi and welcome to Solid and Free Meditation for Finding Balance.
This is Joni.
This meditation was inspired by Zen Buddhist meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanh,
Who used to lead walking meditations accompanied by a poem that he wrote that included the phrase I am solid,
I am free.
Those qualities of being solid and free are in some sense opposite qualities and in this human life we experience and embody a lot of opposite qualities,
Masculine and feminine.
We can experience sadness and happiness.
We can physically feel the quality of heaviness and the quality of lightness.
And this practice is meant to help you hold space for these opposite experiences so that we might approach them with equanimity,
With peace and acceptance for all of life as it is.
So let's get started.
Sit comfortably or lie down.
Make sure that your spine is long.
Take a deep breath in and exhale with a sigh,
Relaxing mind and body together.
As you settle into stillness,
I invite you to focus on the quality of stillness within your body.
The whole body is still,
Moving,
Not making any sounds.
Focus and feel this quality of stillness in the body.
And yet despite that stillness,
There is subtle movement in the body.
There is the movement of the breath.
Feel that rise and fall quality of each inhale and each exhale.
There is movement in the body as the heart beats and blood flows through you.
See if you can have a sense of each heartbeat.
Holding space for both the qualities of stillness in the body and the quality of movement.
Now notice the quality of heaviness in the body.
Heaviness in the body,
Feeling the connection you have to the ground,
To the floor.
Heaviness in the whole body.
The whole body is rooted to this spot.
Now see if you can invoke the feeling of lightness in the body.
Feel lightness in your breath,
A lightness in the hands,
A lightness in the little muscles around the face,
A lightness to the whole body.
Can you hold space for and feel the qualities of both heaviness and lightness at the same time?
Experiencing feeling heaviness and lightness at the same time.
As you feel the body relaxed in this position,
Observe any tension that still remains in the body.
Can you feel both the body relaxing and areas of possible tension?
Can you invoke a sense of heat in the body?
Perhaps focusing right at your core,
The center of your body,
The abdomen,
The center of the chest.
Feel the sensation of heat in the body.
Focus on the sensation of heat and if you don't feel warmth or heat in the body,
Imagine sitting out in the bright sun on a summer's day or sitting in front of a roaring fire,
The heat that would bring.
And now notice the feeling of coolness or cold in the body.
Is there somewhere the body feels cold?
Maybe coldness in the feet or the hands?
If your body doesn't feel cold right now,
Imagine touching something cold right out of the freezer or imagine stepping outside on a winter's day without a jacket.
Invoke the sense of cold in the body.
Can you hold space for both heat in the body and cold in the body?
Can you feel both at the same time?
And now,
Inviting in a feeling of melancholy or sadness.
Perhaps this feeling is already present within you.
Perhaps you can recall a time when you felt sad.
Try to let go of the circumstances and just focus on what it feels like in the body to feel sadness.
And now invoke the sense of joy.
The last time you felt utter happiness or joy,
Perhaps the last time you had a good belly laugh,
You might invite the circumstance in for just a moment so that you might feel that sense of happiness or joy in the body.
And then let go of the circumstance,
But feel the feeling.
What does joy feel like in the body?
Can you hold space for both sadness and joy?
Can you allow space to feel both sadness and joy at the same time?
Though they might seem like opposites,
We often have both feelings present if we allow them to be there.
Finally,
Allow yourself to feel solid,
To feel grounded,
Rooted,
And unshakable.
Finally say to yourself,
I am solid,
Grounded,
Safe,
Secure.
Now say to yourself,
I am free.
And feel that quality of freedom,
Of freedom to be who you are in this body,
In this life.
To fully be yourself,
To love,
To live,
To follow the path that you're meant to be on.
To feel free to laugh,
To love,
To live.
Say to yourself,
I am free.
I am solid.
I am free.
Holding space for both and feeling both qualities within.
I am solid.
I am free.
I am in the present moment.
I am of the earth.
I am of the sky.
I am solid.
I am free.
Allow each inhalation and each exhalation to continue the feeling of balance and equanimity with these two opposites that live in the breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
When you feel ready to bring this to a close,
Invite in small movements and savor those movements as opposed to the stillness that you've been in.
Take one last deep breath in,
Holding your breath at the top for a moment,
And exhale with a sigh.
And as you open your eyes and return,
Stretch a little and return to your day or your evening.
Take care.
