Welcome to Meditation for Moms.
I'm Janet Stone,
A mother of two children.
We're going to take a moment to gather ourselves,
Ground ourselves in the center of our own being,
So that we may handle our own moments of fear,
Anger,
Upset,
Attachment,
Grasping,
Feelings of not enough,
Whatever may vex you in the process of tending toward small beings on their way,
Or even large ones as they grow.
So let's take a seat,
Find a moment for ourselves.
When you're ready,
Close your eyes and soften behind the eyes.
We spend a lot of time looking outward and trying to fix and solve and hero and soothe.
We'll take a moment to look inward,
Inward toward our own inner strength,
Our own inner center.
Let's begin with box breathing.
So empty the breath out.
Let's inhale together on one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Hold breath in on one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Exhale,
Empty breath out on one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Hold about out on one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Inhale on one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Hold breath in on one,
On two,
On three,
Exhale,
Breath,
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Hold breath out.
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
One more round.
Inhale,
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Hold breath in.
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
On five.
Exhale,
Empty breath,
Om 1,
Om 2,
Om 3,
Om 4,
Om 5.
Hold breath out,
Om 1,
Om 2,
Om 3,
Om 4,
Om 5.
Inhale,
And exhale,
Empty breath.
It's fine now,
A neutral breath,
This subtle breath.
Now a neutral breath,
This soft in and out.
Watch the breath come in.
Feel it pull into the body,
Into the being,
Into the lungs.
And then watch it empty back out.
Almost like you can see the lungs compress from the bottom of the lungs,
Midlobe,
Upper lobe,
Breath out.
Before the breath washes back in.
And then watching it compress out,
Base lobe of the lung,
Midlobe,
Upper lobe.
We find a tension on the breath.
So that for a moment we're not pulled out into another's world,
Into something we have to tend to.
We find our own internal rhythm.
Take a moment to scan the body,
The periphery of your being.
Where you end and the rest of the world begins.
From the crown of the head to the ears.
Back of the neck,
Armpits,
Between the fingers,
All the spaces of your body.
No judgment,
Just scanning.
The I,
Me,
My of this experience.
And as you scan your body,
All that you've been through,
Every footprint,
Every step you've taken to arrive here.
From birth,
From your own growth,
Whomever tended you or didn't tend you.
But somehow you're here,
Exactly as you are,
Where you are.
Presently assuring others through their journey,
Their individual body,
Their individual experiences.
We take a moment to feel back in to what it takes to find our center.
From the periphery,
Hugging that attention inward,
Say just below the surface of the skin.
Let's hug it in a little bit deeper toward the muscles,
Connective tissue,
Ligaments.
Hug it in a little deeper to the bones.
From the bones into the marrow and hug all the way back in to the space at the base of the heart.
Almost like the foundation of that pulse of open and close that is your heartbeat.
Find yourself here,
The core of you,
Not just your story.
Feel yourself rest here,
Like your shoulders can soften,
The jaw can soften.
The fixing,
Figuring,
Managing can all rest.
Simply sit here and let's witness the breath together,
Not forcing,
Just witnessing,
Falling into that center space,
Moving out from that center space.
Coming home.
You can extend this time here or as you're ready,
Opening the eyes,
Maybe placing the hands on the heart.
Notice and give compassion to yourself when you feel like you overreact or have a big reaction or can't control,
Quote unquote,
Your emotions.
Be compassionate with yourself.
And then offering compassion to yourself,
You'll offer compassion to those you're tending to.
We move back out into our caretaking,
The deeper connection to our center,
Ourselves.
More empathy for self and others,
Even our overreacting.
Pulling ourselves back into the present,
Back into our body,
Back into our breath.
May you be free.
May you be joyful.
May there be a release of suffering for self and all beings.
Loka samasta suki no parantu.
Thank you for joining me.
