Welcome to this guided resilience meditation.
The aim of this meditation is to help you process and integrate challenging or triggering experiences.
This practice of surrendering into our feelings cultivates our somatic awareness.
It increases our capacity to step further outside of our comfort zone and allows us to mine these challenging experiences for insight and wisdom.
Before we enquire into these potentially challenging emotions,
It's important that we're first calm and centered with a relaxed nervous system and an open heart.
So before we begin,
Ensure that you're sitting somewhere that you feel safe and unlikely to be disturbed.
Ensure that you're sitting comfortably,
Ideally on a cushion or upright in a chair.
Straighten your lower back and feel yourself grounded through the base of your spine.
Now move your attention to your breath.
In order to relax our nervous system and sync up the hemispheres of our brain,
We're going to do a few rounds of box breathing.
This means inhale to a count of four,
Holding the breath in for four,
Exhaling for four and then holding the breath out for four.
I'll lead you through the first round.
Exhale.
And inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Hold two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Hold two,
Three,
Four.
And complete three more rounds at your own pace.
And as the air rises through your nostrils,
Just pay attention to the smoothness of your breath,
Evening out any of the rough edges.
And allow your belly to be soft.
Breathe into a softening belly.
And if your mind wanders at all,
Then just bring it back to the bottom of your nostrils and feel the air entering and tickling your nose hairs.
Okay,
Please finish the round that you're on.
And notice the breath becoming quieter and perhaps less perceptible.
Releasing all conscious control of the breath.
Now it's almost as if the breath is breathing you.
And from this place of calm,
I'd like you to embody a sense of courageous curiosity.
And enquire into an area of life that you feel challenged by.
Almost as if you're dropping a question into the well of your subconscious.
What am I challenged by?
Maybe it's the frustration of someone cutting you up in traffic this morning.
Or the image of a person that you find it difficult to be around.
Or the feeling of fear evoked by a challenging conversation that you're anticipating.
Don't try to answer,
But just pay attention to whatever arises.
Without any judgement.
Maybe softly repeating the question again.
What is it that I'm challenged by?
And once you've identified this feeling,
The next stage is to notice where it appears in the body.
If it's fear of speaking up,
Then perhaps your throat is tense.
Or if you're exploring frustration,
Then maybe your lower chest and belly are clenched.
Wherever you notice it,
Allow your body to be with the entire physical sensation.
It's almost as if you're mapping out this inner landscape to see where it ends as a felt sensation in this moment.
And if this feeling had a shape,
What shape would it be?
Does it feel heavy or light?
Are the edges soft or sharp?
Is it bright or dull?
Just allow this sensation to reveal itself to you.
And what it does,
And you've traced it out,
Really feel into it.
Don't hold back.
And if your body wants to contract some more,
Then let it.
You're safe to do so.
And maybe your mind has labelled this feeling as negative.
Right now,
It's just sensation that deserves to be felt.
Keep softening into this sensation,
Even if it feels uncomfortable to do so,
And accept it in your body.
It's as if you're inviting a badly behaved child back into the playground.
Allow yourself to soften into this sensation with a kind,
Loving presence.
Say to yourself,
I accept,
I accept,
I accept.
Allow your awareness to let go and almost melt into this sensation.
There's no resistance present anymore.
All tension in that area of your body softens,
As if you're surrendering completely,
Watching the tension evaporate.
There's nothing to do,
Nothing to fix.
Just sink deeper and deeper into the feeling.
Eventually you'll find yourself arriving at a place of great calm and stillness,
Like the bottom of a lake.
Notice how you've opened up and how maybe it feels more light and spacious in this place.
And finally,
From this place of calm,
Ask yourself the question,
What was this sensation here to teach me?
What insight can I return back with and take with me into the future?
And as before,
Don't try to answer,
Just drop that question into the space and pay attention to whatever arises.
Maybe an image will arise,
Or a thought,
Or a knowingness,
Or nothing at all.
Just sit with the inquiry.
Now watch whatever has arisen,
And see in its centre there is a luminous golden light,
Like the filament of a lightbulb.
It's small,
But it's a fuselage,
Fills up your body with its radiance.
Watch this light intensify,
Filling your whole chest,
And down into your legs,
And your thighs,
And your shins,
And your feet,
And then back through your shoulders,
Through your arms,
Through your fingertips,
And finally up through the top of your head.
Watch this light spill out of your body,
Into the room,
And the rest of the world.
And finally take a few moments to rest,
And just be.
And then in your own time,
Please lower your chin to your chest,
And gently open your eyes.
The meditation is now complete.
