The way out of the cage begins with seeing the cage.
Pema Chödrön.
Welcome wherever you are,
Seated,
Lying down,
Or somewhere in between.
Begin by letting your body rest just a little more deeply.
Let your hands be soft.
Let your face be soft.
Let your breath begin to guide you inwardly.
Not forcing the breath to be anything special.
Just noticing it.
Feeling its gentle rhythm as it moves in and as it moves out.
The breath is always here,
A quiet companion.
A steady anchor.
And today,
It invites you into stillness.
Let your awareness settle into this moment.
The world may keep spinning,
But you don't have to spin with it.
Let this be your pause,
A place of quiet witnessing.
Now,
In your mind's eye,
Begin to picture a great wheel,
Round,
Smooth,
Ancient.
It turns slowly in space,
Silent,
Deliberate,
Endless.
It could be made of wood,
Or marble,
Or iron.
This is the wheel of samsara,
The cycle of becoming and forgetting,
Craving and clinging.
Birth and rebirth.
And you've been riding this wheel for a long,
Long time.
Not just in lifetimes,
But in emotions,
In thought patterns,
In habits that play themselves out like stories on repeat.
And if you look closely at this wheel,
You'll see impressions,
Moments,
Echoes,
Memories,
Etched into its surface.
You might see the pattern of striving,
Always reaching,
Never arriving.
You might see the pattern of people-pleasing,
Trading your truth for approval.
Or you might see the loop of doubt,
Waiting for permission to trust yourself.
Take a moment to notice what arises,
Not to fix it,
Not to shame it,
But to see it.
This is the beginning of stepping off the wheel,
Not resistance,
But recognition.
Each pattern is part of the turning.
And now,
You are watching,
Not reacting.
Feel the breath in your body again,
Soft and steady.
Feel the ground beneath you,
Steady and silent.
And visualize yourself gently stepping onto this great wheel.
Not to get caught,
But to understand.
As it begins to turn,
Feel the familiar sensations surface.
Maybe a tightness in the chest,
A sense of urgency in the mind,
A wave of irritation or a tug toward distraction.
Let them rise,
Let them pass.
You are not being swept away.
You are standing in the center,
Witnessing the motion without being moved by it.
The wheel slows down and you step off.
Step off the turning and feel your feet land on still earth.
Take a breath here and notice what does not move,
What in you remains steady,
Still.
Even as life circles around it.
This is the essence of samsara practice,
To see the pattern clearly.
And in that clarity,
Begin to loosen its grip.
Let's rest here a while.
No need to chase answers.
Let your awareness be like a quiet sky,
Open,
Vast and curious.
As you sit in this stillness,
You may gently ask yourself.
What loop in my life have I been running without realizing it?
What emotion or belief keeps bringing me back to the same place?
What does freedom feel like in my body,
Not as a concept,
But as a sensation?
Let these questions echo and trust what arises.
Now with gentleness,
Begin to return.
Feel your body.
Notice your hands,
Your feet,
Your breath.
The world outside may still be busy.
The wheel of samsara still turns.
But something in you has shifted.
You've stepped back far enough to see the motion.
And in that space,
You remembered something deeper than the spin.
Now,
Let your eyes open when you're ready.
Or stay in this quiet as long as you need.
You're not the wheel.
You're the awareness that watches it.
And that awareness is always free.
From my heart to yours,
With all my love and gratitude.
Namaste.
