I will report them to you.
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The following is a guided meditation meant to be used in combination with a labyrinth or dedicated walk.
A labyrinth is a walking meditation which beckons us to move towards our innermost spirit with the intention of living at this time and within this time,
Accepting and intentionally walking towards the very centre of what we feel,
Good and bad.
This do-it-yourself labyrinth guided meditation can really be done anywhere,
In a garden,
A patch of grass,
A driveway,
A back porch or even in a living room.
You might consider taking a few minutes to look into how to design a circular or winding path,
A spiral moving towards the centre for you to follow.
You could mark this with small waymarkers like rocks or even pieces of tape or things you find.
They must eventually lead towards the centre and allow you some time to meander towards that centre.
Ideally you would have a labyrinth nearby,
But that's not always possible.
Labyrinth designs are quite diverse,
But one thing that is common is they never move in straight lines.
They always go in and back out,
Noting the twists and turns,
The subtle setbacks in life that give us lessons and continually move us inward towards our centre.
In this walk,
In all labyrinth walks,
We'll be both figuratively and physically doing so.
What this means for us is that mentally and spiritually we'll be letting go of things that pull us in a certain direction away from our centre.
Rather,
We're only focused on each step,
Right here and right now.
When we begin,
We'll be taking one step at a time slowly,
Taking time to notice each step,
How our foot gently comes across the ground and moves us forward.
It is a path of effort,
But like anything in life,
That effort eventually becomes unnoticeable as we repeat it,
Continuing to focus only on our steps.
We'll be given a few prompts during our walk.
Feel free to bear with those as long as you would like,
But eventually the goal is to let them go as we move more and more inward.
Once we reach the middle,
We'll have a brief meditation and then begin on our spiral journey back towards the outward circle of our labyrinth,
Back towards the world around us and engaging with it,
Reconnecting in a good and holistic way.
Therefore,
Wherever you are standing,
Take a moment to focus on your breath,
Breathing in and out.
Close your eyes for just a moment.
Imagine the walk that you were about to do and imagine setting an intention for yourself.
The intention offered today is one of social justice,
Putting yourself in other's shoes who are suffering.
That is just a suggestion and you may choose to reignite your own intention in other ways or to gently alter it to make it more appropriate,
More realistic for you,
Regardless of which intention you set.
This will allow you to think about how you relate to the world around you in good and holistic ways,
Using our movement and our breath as a way to move inward and then allow that inward transformation to gently transform the world which we encounter all around us.
Let us begin one step at a time.
We'll be pausing twice on our inward journey,
Which will take about three minutes and then we'll have a meditation at the center and then we'll be pausing twice on our outward journey back towards the outward part of the labyrinth.
Let's begin.
Taking one step at a time,
Slowly,
So as to truly notice each step.
We continue to breathe,
Allowing our steps to move with the rhythm of our breath and just allowing the path to take us.
Notice how this moment and each footstep happen by themselves increasingly with less and less effort and less attention.
Okay.
Taking a moment to pause at the sound of the bell.
Just standing,
Breathing deeply,
Noticing how as we move to the center of the circle,
We are also becoming more and more in touch with our own feelings,
Our own breath,
And our own movement.
Now,
Nearing the center.
We might also notice how we are connected with everything that is surrounding us.
How as we move inward,
Somehow,
By becoming more in touch with our center,
We also become more in touch with our infinite loving connection with all beings.
That is always there available for us to touch.
By now we may have reached the center.
That represents our heart space.
When you do,
Take a moment or a few moments to stand here,
Reflecting ever so briefly on what has brought you here today and your intention.
At the sound of the bell,
We will begin to move back outward,
Back into the world which calls us to be present and to be that loving presence that others await.
Perhaps we may even feel the connection with the suffering of others who are very different from us as we take a step outside of our center and outside of ourselves towards that world and towards others.
With each step,
We might breathe a silent prayer or a silent intention to feel as they feel to empathize with how others are suffering or their discomfort.
Therefore our discomfort connects to theirs and only by being in mutual harmony and connectedness,
Listening,
Understanding and feeling with and through others can we begin to transform ourselves.
Let us begin.
Keeper's percent.
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