Welcome to this informal mindful meditation practice.
If you've been with me before,
You can fast forward to the 2 minute and 12 second mark to begin.
The introduction and the conclusion will have background music.
The silent meditation and reflection will be silent and will have no background music.
Enjoy!
First I'd like to begin with talking about Indigenous ways of knowing and Indigenous resilience.
Our knowing from this perspective is often more clear when we are in the presence of sacred land and water space.
In an excerpt I wrote on Indigenous resiliency I affirmed the land and female archetypes as sources of wisdom that generously offer the answers that we might seek.
I wrote Indigenous people will always affirm the land and the female as powerful beings that create space for a multi-sensory life experience.
The land and body teach us that there is more than just the mind alone to give us information.
Indigenous resilience teaches us that the body in alignment with the spirit of people and land are sources of information available that are beyond our mental capacities to simply hold information alone.
Meyer in 2001 cites Pu'a Kanahele who identifies the na'auao,
The enlightened stomach,
As a cosmic center point.
Kanahele says it has to do with your ancestors coming together with you.
It has to do with your spiritual being coming together.
It has to do with our physical being.
Kanahele's cosmic center point identifies the gut as an internal compass that contains all ancestral and present day memories within our physical,
Mental,
And spiritual realms.
In this informal mindfulness exercise,
You'll need a journal and a pen nearby.
We will be using the inspiration that I shared earlier by engaging in silent mindfulness,
Followed by written reflections.
I will ask a question and you will be invited to open your eyes and write down your responses.
By the end of the session,
You will have gathered inspiration that you can begin or end your day with.
So let's begin.
Settling in here to a comfortable seated position.
Allow yourself a few moments to just open up your awareness.
Notice how the ground is holding you.
Be open to the sounds in the distance.
And begin to settle into a gaze where you can keep your eyes open,
Or you might choose to close them.
Pay close attention to your breath as air passes through your nose.
Your shoulders slightly lift and your diaphragm.
And then it falls.
Just allow that rhythm of your breath to be able to gently ease your body into silence.
Loosen up your neck muscles,
Let your shoulders fall back and gently lift your spine so you sit a little taller.
And hold on to the moment here without pause.
As you settle into this practice,
Use your own language or universal words to think about what it is you need.
It could be peace of mind,
Love,
Connection or reconnection.
What is it that you need?
You might ask,
May I find peace and strength?
Or using your spoken language,
For example,
Hawaiian,
We would say kulia ikanu'u,
May I reach the heights of the summit?
Letting this come from your na'au or your gut.
What is it that you need right now?
What do I need right now?
What would I like to call on to support me right now?
And I want to encourage you just when you're ready to check your recording,
If it's on pause,
Trust that it isn't.
Trust the silence.
Thank you.
I invite you to open your eyes,
Grab your pen and paper and take a moment to write down your words.
And let's settle in back into a slight gaze forward or you can close your eyes here.
You've created this open space now to know what it is that you are in need of right now.
And what a good feeling place to be.
If there were others here,
People who inspire you or motivate you or encourage you,
What do you think you would need to hear from them?
If you heard the voices of your ancestors and people who came before you,
People who love and care for you,
What do you need from them right now?
What do you know to be true that they would say to you that gives you strength?
What message would support you right now?
What would it be like to hear those words?
What would I like to be told right now?
Something like,
Everything will become clear with time.
Or,
I love you,
You have the wisdom to know.
You are brave and strong,
You are patient and strong.
Take a moment to reflect what would I like to be told right now.
And now that you have your messages in mind,
I'd like to invite you to open your eyes and take a moment here to write them down.
And I want to invite you just for a few more moments before we close our eyes again.
We're going to be settling in right now.
Now that you've heard and written the messages that will help center you and help you find balance.
Let's close our eyes and settle back into our breath.
And what is it that you heard from your loved ones and your mentors that stuck with you?
What words or phrases hold a lot of meaning for you that you could turn into a personal intention for today?
For example,
I heard,
You have the wisdom to know what to do next.
Or you may have heard,
Be brave,
Be patient.
And so my intention for today is,
May I be brave today,
May I have courage,
Or may I hold space for the moments that I cannot see clearly.
May I be patient and trust in the wisdom within me to know the next best step.
Or may I simply be aware of signs in my life that will allow me to know which way to go next.
What words hold a lot of meaning for you that you could turn into a personal message or intention for today?
What message do I have for today?
Take a moment here to reflect.
And you can open your eyes here and take a moment to write your messages down.
We have done so much today in a small amount of time.
You have named a need,
A desire,
Or a want.
You've also identified messages that would support you in being able to fulfill that need.
And you've identified an intention or an action step in the form of a phrase that will help support you in accomplishing whatever it is that you would like for this moment.
As we sit in this experience of recalling and remembering,
This is such a key piece of indigenous ways of knowing and being and resiliency itself.
This is a holding a space for ritual,
For setting an intention,
For silent reflection.
It's in these moments where we become even more clear on what it is that we need to do to be clearer,
To be more intentional,
And to take the next right step.
And this is what anti-pua kanahele means about finding your cosmic center point.
These are moments where we commit to our memories,
Phrases made in the present moment that are connected to our ancestral past and move forward into the future with intention,
Grace,
And continuity.
Thank you so much,
And have a wonderful day.
