Hello,
Kimberly Johnson here.
I am so honored you will be sitting with me today,
Exploring your inner world and your outer world.
I have been meditating since 2007 and am currently under the mentorship of the lovely Jack Kornfeld and Tara Brach.
My hope is leading you through meditations that give you access on the cushion and off of the cushion in day to day life to really develop and feel true peace,
True joy,
And true presence.
Today we will be working with cravings.
And so if you're in a craving right now,
I want to just start and suggest that you just take a moment to maybe even place a hand over your heart or maybe one over the belly and just whisper something kind to yourself,
Something that might sound like you can sit with this.
You are safe.
I am right here with you.
Or whatever kind of thing feels like what you need to hear most.
And as you gently speak these words to yourself,
Begin letting the body settle,
Finding your posture.
And as you begin to find your posture,
Maybe your body wants to move,
Do some micro movements,
Or maybe your hips want to move back and forth as you begin bringing the attention and the awareness into your body.
And then maybe the body gets really still.
And if your hand is still in your heart,
Maybe placing it just gently on the legs or right at the pelvic bone,
Rested together.
And maybe the eyes shut down.
And maybe we'll just start by just gently checking in with the body and relaxing any part of the face where maybe we hold eventual tension,
Letting the jawline fall and relaxation.
And then gently relaxing and releasing the shoulders,
The chest,
The upper back,
Creating some spaciousness around your heart.
And then maybe releasing any tension in the belly,
Letting the belly fall open.
And gently relaxing the hands and the hips,
Slowly practicing letting go.
This beautiful practice that we constantly are returning to.
And from here,
Just begin noticing the body breathing.
This beautiful,
Natural rhythm that the body has as it dances with the breath.
And as the mind settles and the body settles,
Maybe just bring to mind your craving once more.
And just gently begin to let it enter into the mental space.
Maybe thinking about what you're craving.
Or maybe thinking about the feelings or the thoughts that arise when you think about not giving in to your craving.
Maybe imagine yourself not giving in.
Imagine yourself pausing.
And now I want you to go right into the body and I want you to notice where you feel the craving most in your body.
For me,
When I crave food,
It always tends to show up first in the face.
This kind of discomfort that starts right in the face.
So just notice where it is for you.
Where are you feeling the discomfort of this craving in your body?
And I want you to meet the sensations in the body like you would meet a close friend or like you would meet your child.
Meeting it very gently and just observing the sensations.
Maybe it's pulsing.
Maybe it's heavy.
Maybe it's tight.
Giving yourself permission to observe the sensation.
As you observe the sensation,
You might notice that it comes in waves.
It also potentially might move into another area of the body.
As you observe the sensations,
Whether they get more intense,
Peak,
And then slowly calm down and then they rise again and peak and slowly calm down or whether they move from the face to maybe the heart area or the belly.
Slowly breathe and just observe the wave of craving.
What does this craving actually feel like?
If it ever feels like it's getting too intense,
You can whisper something to yourself like you can sit with this.
You're safe.
Nurturing yourself as you sit with the waves of craving.
Nurturing yourself as you sit with the waves of craving.
Now,
Ask yourself,
Can I let this be here?
Can I include these cravings as part of my humanity and of all humanity?
Can I for just a moment really let this be here?
Not fixing,
Not changing it,
Not judging it.
Just kindly observing it.
Now,
Notice where in the body you feel it most.
And notice if the intensity has changed or if it's shifted or maybe even gone away.
Gently breathing,
Continuing to ride the waves,
Knowing that cravings come and go,
Knowing that cravings are beautifully human and that every human walking this earth has them.
And as we continue to ride the wave,
Let's choose our response instead of just reacting to the craving.
And the response that we can choose right now together is one of nurturing ourselves.
So gently right now,
Maybe place a hand wherever you feel you need it most on the body.
And I want you to just see yourself and really tap into your desire to do the best you can in life,
Your desire for peace and happiness in your life,
Your desire to be free from your suffering.
And as you connect in to those desires,
Maybe asking yourself,
What do I need to hear most right now?
What do I need to hear most that would comfort me,
Support me,
Help me through this moment of craving?
And just listen really gently.
You might even think of yourself as a small child,
This part of us that craves this little being inside us that wants or needs something.
And maybe asking them,
What do you need to hear most right now?
Gently whispering to yourself whatever you need to hear as an act of nurturance,
Self-support and self-care.
And gently just get still and silent.
And I just want you to notice how you feel now,
How the craving feels now.
We're not looking for anything grandiose.
We're just looking for what's actually here now.
Before I ring the bell,
I just want to extend how challenging I know cravings can be and that I'm standing here right with you.
I still work on my cravings too.
And it's a repetitive process that we can return to,
To sit with our craving,
To respond in a healthy way instead of just reacting.
You are capable of doing this.
You are capable of doing this.
You are capable of doing this.
You are capable of doing this.
As you exit meditation in your own time,
Knowing that you can return to this meditation as often as you need,
Even if it's three more times today.
Each moment we have a choice.
We can act in the good of our highest potential and our highest brightest so or we can act on the craving.
Neither is right nor wrong.
They just lead to different places.
Namaste.
