Welcome to this meditation.
My name is Jeremiah,
And this practice is for the man who carries a lot and rarely gets to set it down.
So if you are that man.
You are in the right place.
There's nothing to perform here.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to get right.
Just a few minutes to come home to yourself.
Let's begin by finding a position where you can be both relaxed and awake.
Sitting or lying down.
Whatever your body needs right now.
And when you are ready.
Allow your eyes to close.
Take a breath in through the nose.
And let it go slowly through the mouth.
Again,
Breathe in through the nose.
And release the breath out through the mouth.
One more,
Fill the body with air as you breathe in.
And let everything fall as you exhale,
Breathing out through the mouth.
Now let the breath return to its own rhythm.
You do not have to control it.
Just let it breathe you.
Begin to notice the weight of your body where it rests.
The chair.
The floor.
The ground beneath you holding all of it.
All of you.
You do not need to hold yourself up right now.
Something larger is doing that for you.
Bring your attention to your shoulders.
So many men carried the day in their shoulders.
The Providing.
Of pushing through.
The holding it all together.
Just notice if the shoulders are lifted,
Braced.
We're ready.
And on your next exhale.
Let the shoulders drop.
Let them be heavy.
Now your jaw.
Your hands.
Anywhere you are still gripping.
Let the breath find those places.
And on each exhale,
Let a little more go.
And I want you to notice something.
Underneath all the doing.
Underneath the roles you play and the weight you carry.
There is a man here.
The man,
The one who was here before the responsibilities.
The one who is still here,
Underneath all of them.
Most days he does not get much attention.
Today for a few minutes.
We turn towards him.
So ask yourself.
Quietly.
With no need to answer in words.
What am I feeling?
Right now.
Underneath the busy.
Not what you should feel.
Not what is useful to feel.
Just what is actually here.
Whatever is here.
You do not need to fix it or push it away.
You only have to let it be felt.
A feeling is like a wave.
It rises.
It moves through.
And it passes.
But only if you let it move.
The strong thing is not to stop the wave.
The strong thing is to feel it.
And to stay rooted while it moves.
So let whatever is here move through you.
You are not the wave.
You are the one who remains.
After it passes.
Now bring your attention to your breath again.
Into the steadiness underneath everything.
The part of you that does not panic.
The part that has gotten you through every hard thing you have ever faced.
He is still here.
He has always been here.
This is the ground for you.
This is the ground within you.
Not the performance of strength.
The real thing.
The quiet,
Rooted steadiness that does not need to prove anything.
To anyone.
Rest here for a moment.
In the man underneath.
In the breath.
In the ground that holds you.
As we begin to come back.
I want you to carry one thing with you.
The steadiness you just touched is not something you have to earn or build.
It is already yours.
You can return to it at any time.
In any storm.
With a single breath.
It is always here.
Underneath.
Begin to deepen the breath again.
Let a little movement return to the body.
The fingers.
Roll the shoulders if that feels good.
And when you are ready.
In your own time.
Gently allow the eyes.
To open again.
Welcome back,
Brother.
Carry the ground with you today.
And remember.
You do not have to carry it all.
Thank you for meditating with me.
