Hello.
Welcome to Holding the Light and Darkness Guided Meditation.
I'm Julie Johns,
A life coach and a spiritual coach.
Illuminating dark situations or icky feelings with the warmth of light and love helps us to honor both who we are in this moment and the grace that allows inner peace to grow.
The goal of this meditation is to hold both the light and the icky or the dark sides of life in the same space and to know that they are not mutually exclusive.
Please know that if you become uncomfortable you can stop the recording at any time.
Let's begin with closing our eyes or softly focusing them.
Begin to notice.
Notice what you're feeling right now.
What's your body feel like?
What's happening with your eyes?
Are they tense?
Do they seem to be bolting forward a little?
If so,
Invite them to soften and move back into a more normal position.
When we're charged or triggered,
Our eyes are on the lookout for any threat.
They work overtime watching for injustice,
A natural disaster,
Or perhaps there's a perceived disaster in the making.
Whatever that threat is,
Our eyes seem to move forward and get tense because we're looking,
Looking,
Looking for that threat.
In this moment,
In this very moment,
You are okay.
You are safe.
Allow your eyes to soften and relax.
Now take a deep breath.
Breathe so deeply that you can feel your ribs moving apart as you inhale and coming closer together as you exhale.
Invite and allow your breathing to go deep into your belly.
And as your belly expands,
Allow your lungs to fill completely.
This may seem hard to do at first.
We tend to take shorter breaths when we're feeling stressed.
So just be with your breathing as it is right now.
Just be and allow.
Your breaths will gradually get deeper.
Allow your eyes to continue to soften.
Allow your shoulders to relax and drop down.
In this moment,
You are okay.
Place one of your hands over your heart and notice the sensation of breathing and how your hand moves with the breath.
And now I'd like you to think of something,
A someone or someone's,
A precious pet,
A magical place where you felt or feel whole,
Or perhaps a cherished memory.
As you reflect on this specialness,
Notice the warmth that's growing between your hand and your heart,
The warmth of the memory,
The warmth of the place,
The warmth of the loved one,
The cherished pet.
Notice that your hand can feel the warmth that's in your heart right now.
And this warm feeling is expansive.
It may feel like contentment,
Like tenderness,
Like deep affection,
Or like love.
Just notice and be with this feeling.
Don't think about this feeling.
Just notice and embrace this feeling.
Now let's visualize this feeling as a form of light,
Just like the sunlight on your face on a warm spring day.
Warmth as light.
Light serves to illuminate,
Just like when you flip a switch,
A light switch.
That which is dark now becomes illumined and in a way cared for by the light,
Just as sunlight cares for the trees,
Grass,
And all beings.
I invite you to place both your hands on your lap with the palms up,
And in whichever hand you're holding over your heart,
Notice that the warmth remains.
Now imagine the warmth in the palm of your hand as light.
And in the other palm,
Place what seems dark for you right now in this moment.
It might be people who've been killed or devastated by natural disaster.
It might be people living and dying in war zones and around the world.
It might be politics driving changes that only serve the wealthy or those in power.
It might be a family member who's really struggling,
Who's suffering so much.
It may be your own or a dear one's mind-bending circumstance from a chronic disease,
Abuse,
Or experiencing a senseless injustice.
It could be sheer overwhelm for many or all of these.
Whatever it is for you in this moment,
Notice how that feels.
Notice the icky sensations.
Notice how contracting they are.
No thinking here.
No self-judgment.
No self-righteousness.
No judgment.
Just notice how you feel.
Now if you happen to be feeling too overwhelmed by the icky feelings,
I want you to gently open your eyes and look around the room and name out loud at least five items that are around you.
Feel your feet touching the floor.
Then please go back to feeling the warmth of your special something and that will be enough for today.
You've done well.
Know that warmth,
Hope,
And love are only as far away as your heart.
If the icky is not overwhelming for you,
Let's go on.
Remember,
We're not judging here.
We're just noticing the feeling or the sensations in your body of whatever is going on and how it just feels icky.
Now focus again on the palm with the light in it.
Remember and feel the warmth.
Remember the life-giving special something and what it means to you.
As best as you can,
Be aware of both palms and what each holds.
And this is our life in this moment.
We have the icky darkness,
The mysteriousness of life,
And we have the beautiful light and warmth of caring,
Contentment,
Tenderness,
Affection,
And love.
We now remember and know that light can illuminate the icky if we just remember to focus on it.
Just as the sun rises,
Light always,
Always eases or overcomes the dark.
Now let's hold these two together,
The light in one palm and the icky in the other,
Side by side,
Allowing your little fingers to touch.
Imagine that the light is illuminating and warming the dark.
We can't always change our circumstances.
We can't always change the world,
But we can hold both the light and the dark at the same time.
We can allow the light to balance out the darkness and ease our mind,
Body,
And spirit.
Allow the light to anchor you during challenging moments and difficult circumstances.
And it's a practice.
It's a practice,
Like learning to tie your shoes.
With consistent practice,
This meditation will help you to balance light and dark more easily and quickly over time.
So as best you can in this moment,
With how you're feeling right now,
Allow the light to warm the darkness,
The icky.
That there is only darkness is an illusion.
The sun is always shining somewhere in the world.
Warmth,
Hope,
And love are only as far away as your heart.
There's always some grace available to you at any given time.
Continue to breathe deeply,
Holding,
Acknowledging,
And perhaps even forgiving.
Pause this recording if you want to sit with this a while longer.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes and come back into the space of the present moment in the room.
You've done well.
Namaste.
