Finding Refuge Within (5 Minutes)

This five-minute meditation is a gentle return to safety, presence, and inner refuge. Refuge is not escape from real life. It is the place you return to so you can actually live it.

In this practice, you’ll be guided through simple breath and body awareness to help your nervous system soften and settle. You’ll reconnect with a sense of being held, supported, and allowed to pause, even if only for a few minutes.

Come back to this anytime you feel overwhelmed, overextended, or pulled into urgency. A few minutes of real presence can shift your entire day.

You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to be here.
You already belong.

Transcript

Let's take a moment to pause.

You don't need to feel calm,

And you don't need to change anything.

You just need to pause.

The word refuge means shelter,

Safety,

Protection.

It comes from a Latin word that means a place to return to.

So that's what this moment is,

A returning.

Gently bring your attention into your body.

You might notice your feet on the floor,

Or the support beneath you.

You might notice the sound of your own breathing.

Refuge is whatever increases presence.

Notice what's happening inside you right now.

Your inner world.

Whatever you notice is okay.

There's no right or wrong experience here.

You might ask yourself quietly,

Can I be with my inner world in this moment?

Just as it is.

I'd like you to imagine a sense of care,

A good feeling meeting whatever you're feeling now in your inner world.

It could be a person or a spiritual image,

Or it might simply feel like a warmth.

So let that care be with whatever is here,

Wrapping its warmth,

Or its wings,

Or its sparkling energy around the feelings of your inner world,

And know that you don't need to fix it.

You don't even need to understand what's happening in the inner world.

In this moment,

You can just be here,

Allowed to pause enough just as you are.

And then notice any sensation in your body that feels neutral or even slightly okay.

It could feel good even.

Just one sensation.

This is refuge.

It's not an escape.

It's not numbing out.

It's just being here with care.

This is the remembering.

Take a long breath in through the nose.

Exhale,

Release it out your mouth.

Whenever you're ready,

You can gently return to your day.