Hello,
And welcome to your meditation.
You're finding a comfortable seat,
Or maybe you lie down.
You can wiggle around and find that position where you can find yourself for the next little while.
And for this meditation,
We're going to be focusing on the idea of letting go.
Whatever that means for you and your world at this moment.
We'll be taking a closer look at what this really means.
In this time of space we'll spend together,
I invite you to imagine a beach,
Somewhere you can see the ocean or the sea,
Or you can sit on the sand.
And we'll sit here together.
I invite you to imagine this beach,
This ocean that you find yourself sitting next to.
Maybe there's white sand,
Maybe it's a rocky beach.
Perhaps you've been to this beach before.
Or maybe you completely make a new scene in your mind.
Somewhere you can see the ocean waves coming in and out.
The wind is calm,
There might be just a slight breeze.
You can picture this scene happening either in the morning,
Afternoon,
Or maybe it's dark.
And there are stars and the moon in the sky.
You can hold this image in your mind's eye for the entire meditation or letting it go when it suits you.
And starting to breathe.
Breathing slowly in and out of the nose.
Perhaps you make this more of an intentional breath.
Inhaling and exhaling for the same amount of time.
Perhaps it's a count of two,
Three,
Four.
And what this helps us do is to regulate the nervous system.
The calm,
The heart rate.
And by paying attention to the rhythm and the length of the breath,
We also anchor our attention to the present moment.
Similar to an anchor that is put down by a boat.
Your breath can hold your attention.
While even though the boat might sway from side to side according to the unpredictable nature of the waves,
We still stay anchored and still.
Using the breath as a tool to feel present.
Noticing your breath within your body.
Maybe you feel that gentle pressure through the ribcage as you expand on your inhale.
And slowly letting it go on your exhale.
Maybe you feel the breath in the depths of your belly stretching open.
And then contracting back.
Feeling steady.
And maybe you feel a little bit heavier into the sand as you exhale,
Letting your body release tension,
Effort,
Holding.
And watching the waves come in and out of the shore,
Maybe linking this imagery with your breath.
The tide coming in on an inhale.
And then retreating slowly back on your exhale.
And in this meditation,
If you came here with something heavy on your shoulders,
Perhaps a feeling,
An emotion in your body,
Or a thought,
Maybe a scenario that's happened recently in your mind or throughout your days.
We're going to focus a little bit on making this feeling or this experience a little lighter for you.
Too often we carry around with us things that no longer serve our needs.
But we can get so stubborn and so set in our ways that we carry all of these things around in hopes of protecting ourselves for future times,
When really,
It just keeps us from moving forward.
It keeps us from truly aligning with ourselves,
Because we're too worried about letting something go,
Forgetting about something or not being right.
Our ego takes it with us because it wants to ruminate,
Find where it went wrong or find where someone else went wrong.
And in this holding,
We find a lot more tension in our lives.
Not only in the mind,
But in the heart and the body as well.
We clench.
We stress.
We forget to breathe.
We become hardened to this life.
We become closed off and disconnected.
So next to this ocean,
As you sit and admire the waves and breathe,
I want you to imagine a little boat.
Maybe it's a little raft.
Whatever comes to your mind first.
And I want you to set this heaviness,
This weight that you carry with you into that boat.
Whatever that might look like for you.
Maybe it feels like you take it off your shoulders or out of your heart space,
Out of your rib cage or your belly.
And you place it outside of yourself onto this boat.
And with compassion and love,
You set it into the ocean.
You can walk out into the waves a little bit,
Guiding the boat with your hands and then slowly pushing it away.
And walk back through the waves to the sand sitting next to me.
And together we can watch this boat just float away.
Feeling with it what you no longer need.
And take a moment.
Notice your body.
Notice your heart.
Feeling lighter now that you have given yourself permission to let something go.
Not always needing to hold,
To strain,
To use effort.
But bravely leaning into the act of letting something go,
The act of surrendering.
Keep breathing here.
Maybe you close your eyes.
Breathe.
Staying with yourself here in the safety of your body.
Inhale and exhale.
And scanning yourself now from the toes,
Your ankles,
Your shins,
Your calves,
Your knees and your thighs.
Through the hips to your belly,
Your low back,
Your torso up towards your shoulders.
And down the lengths of the arms to your hands,
Your fingers,
And your head.
Your whole body sitting or lying here.
A little bit lighter.
And a little bit more whole.
Thank you for sitting with me,
Dear one.
Be well.
