Welcome to this walking meditation and living art journal practice,
Which offers you a ceremony of release.
Today's practice begins with grounding and centering through breath and body awareness.
You will observe what personal storylines or limiting beliefs emerge in readiness for release.
I will then guide you into a mindful walk to gather natural objects,
Using these to create a small sculptural composition.
From there,
I will offer you two paths of release,
As well as several journal prompts.
This is a practice of gentle ceremony.
There is nothing to fix,
Force,
Or destroy.
This is an invitation to notice,
To gather,
And to let go.
Let us begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
You may be in a chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Or on a cushion with your legs crossed.
Whatever allows your body to feel supported and at ease.
Let your hands rest where they're comfortable.
Your palms may be up or down,
Either is fine.
You may close your eyes if that feels safe,
Or soften your gaze downward towards the floor.
Begin by noticing your breath.
We will not try to change the breath,
Just notice the natural rhythm of the inhale and exhale.
Notice if your breath is shallow or deep.
Notice if it stays high in your chest,
Near your collarbones,
Or if it moves down into your heart space or belly.
Begin now to breathe a little more deeply if you are not already.
Notice the gentle expansion on the inhale,
A brief pause,
And then exhale,
A quiet release.
Continue for a few rounds of breath.
As you now return your breath to natural,
Bring your awareness to the body.
Begin by noticing the soles of your feet.
Notice where your feet make contact with the floor or earth beneath you.
Bring your awareness up through your ankles.
Notice your calves and shins,
Your knees.
Notice the tops of your legs,
And just notice any sensation there,
Any tension or ease,
Warmth or coolness,
The texture of your clothing.
Notice if there is any gripping in the legs,
And soften.
Bring your awareness now to the sits bones and hips.
Again,
Notice where your body makes contact with the chair or cushion beneath you.
Move your awareness now up into your belly.
Notice if there's a sense of tightness or gripping,
And soften.
Bring your awareness now up the spine and into your heart space.
Notice the rise and fall of your breath here.
Now move your awareness up to your neck and shoulders.
Notice the back of your head.
Notice the backside head,
Then your ears,
Then your jaw bones,
And your forehead.
Notice if you're holding tension here.
Again,
Notice if you can soften in the face.
And finally,
Move your awareness to the crown of your head.
Notice any sensation there.
Take a full breath in and out.
Take a full breath in.
Notice the whole body from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head.
And as you exhale,
Imagine releasing tension.
Take one more deep breath in.
And then on the exhale,
Allow your body,
Mind and breath to settle into stillness.
Now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Somewhere in your mind or body,
There may be something you've been carrying,
Not physically,
But the other kind of carrying.
This is a storyline that you tell yourself,
Perhaps a belief about who you are.
It could have been related to being too much or not enough.
Perhaps it's related to being too fixed in your ways,
Or too behind,
Too slow,
Too late.
These beliefs can live in the body.
You may feel one now,
Perhaps as a familiar tightening,
A held breath,
Or a sensation that is experienced somewhere specific,
As you name this storyline.
So just notice,
You may not notice any physical sensation,
And that is fine.
But if you do notice sensation,
Just be with it.
Try to avoid labeling or judging it.
And also,
You do not need to fix it or release it right at this moment.
Simply notice it and acknowledge that it is there.
Now I want to ask you gently,
What have you been tending that no longer serves you?
This could be a pattern or a habit,
Or a way of thinking about yourself that you inherited from elsewhere and never questioned.
It could be a story you told yourself a long time ago that made sense then,
But no longer feels true.
Again,
Just notice if something surfaces.
You do not need to name it out loud.
You do not even need to fully understand it yet.
Just notice.
And now notice again,
Do you feel this in your body?
And if so,
Where?
Is there a tightness in your chest or a heaviness in the shoulders,
Perhaps a held breath somewhere deep?
This may be a familiar sensation.
Perhaps it's something you've been carrying for so long,
You forgot it was there.
Just notice where it lives and breathe into that space.
Again,
Take a deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Imagine softening around that place that may be holding this story.
No,
Not forcing the release,
Just softening.
Making a little more space.
And continue with this self-observation about storylines,
Limiting beliefs,
The places where these might be held in the body.
Continue with this for just a few more rounds of breath.
Observe what emerges,
What no longer serves.
It really doesn't matter if there's a felt experience or not.
Observe.
What do you notice?
And now take one more deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Thank yourself for being willing to look and for being willing to notice what's been waiting to be released.
You may return the breath to natural.
And when you're ready,
Bring some gentle movement to your fingers and toes.
If your eyes have been closed,
Gently flutter them open.
As you return to the space around you,
I invite you now to go for a walk.
Walk outside if you can,
But around your home is okay as well.
I do recommend moving into the natural world even briefly if you can.
It could be your backyard,
A sidewalk,
A park or a path,
Whatever is available to you.
However,
If walking outside is not possible today,
A windowsill,
A house plant,
Even a bowl of water can become your natural world.
Work with what you have.
This is a walking meditation.
And as you walk,
Let yourself move slowly.
Notice the temperature of the air,
The texture beneath your feet.
Notice the sounds and the silence around you.
Look for small natural objects that call to you and begin to gather.
Just gather a few things.
These could be a fallen leaf,
A flower petal,
Or a smooth stone.
It could be a twig,
A pine needle,
Or a feather.
You are not deciding what to gather intellectually.
You are letting yourself be drawn the way children gather things,
The way hands know before the mind does,
With wonder.
As you gather,
Hold this question softly in the back of your mind.
What am I ready to release?
What have I been tending that no longer serves me?
You do not need to answer these questions in words.
Let the objects answer for you.
Notice what your hand reaches for and trust the process.
There is wisdom inside what draws you.
Continue walking and gathering until it feels complete,
And you may wish to pause this recording while you walk and return when you are ready to create your composition.
When you've gathered what feels right,
Find a surface.
This could be the ground,
A tray,
A piece of paper,
Or a small box.
Take some time to arrange what you've found.
Create a small composition.
Arrange the pieces the way your hands want to arrange them.
Just let it be intuitive,
And I welcome you to photograph this.
Here,
You have a choice between two paths of release.
Choose the one that feels true for where you are right now.
If you feel drawn to slow transformation,
If what you're carrying has been with you a long time and you want to honor that,
Place your composition in a small container,
Cover it with water,
And freeze it.
You could freeze it inside your freezer or outside if the temperature cooperates.
Witness the piece when it's frozen,
And perhaps mark the moment with a photograph.
And when you feel ready,
Not on a schedule,
But when it feels true,
Bring the piece outside and let it melt.
Let the release happen at its own pace.
Alternatively,
If you're ready for something more immediate,
Place your composition somewhere that the wind can reach it,
And let the wind carry what it will.
Watch what it takes first.
Again,
Mark the moment with a photograph if you wish.
However you choose the practice of release,
Either path is complete.
Either path is true.
After you've practiced the release,
Consider these questions in your journal.
You do not need to answer each question directly.
Let them plant seeds as you process what this ceremony has revealed.
What storylines surfaced as you walked and gathered?
What did the objects you chose tell you about what you're ready to release?
Did the act of arranging them,
Of creating the composition,
Shift anything in your body?
And what does it feel like to choose your path of release,
To freeze and wait or to let the wind take it now?
Write freely.
Let your words follow the images if you took photographs,
Or let your words follow the process that you experienced.
Let yourself be surprised by what you know.
I will repeat those questions.
You may wish to pause the recording while you write.
Again,
What storyline surfaced as you walked and gathered?
What did the objects you chose tell you about what you're ready to release?
Did the act of arranging them shift anything in your body?
And what does it feel like to choose your path of release?
And of course,
You can journal about anything else that you noticed.
As we close today's practice,
I want to say something clearly.
The sacred fire of transformation does not always look dramatic.
Most of the time it's quiet.
It is found in the steady practice of noticing,
Of gathering,
Of arranging what you found and then choosing consciously and intentionally to let it go.
Today you experienced a small ceremony,
But ceremony doesn't need to be large to be bold.
You are allowed to release what no longer serves you.
You are allowed to do it gently at your own pace,
In your own way.
You are allowed to be creative and intentional.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.
