Welcome to this guided meditation for when you need support.
I invite you to let your eyes close gently.
And exhale out of your mouth,
Making an audible sign.
Take three more conscious exhales,
Just like this.
Not focusing so much on the inhale,
Knowing the next breath is coming.
Letting each exhale be a sigh of grace.
Tuning into the fall and rise of your breath.
Each time you breathe like this,
Your body naturally washes away whatever it no longer needs.
So breathe now.
Becoming the watcher,
Witnessing your body moving as one whole.
Like an endless wave of the ocean.
Oftentimes when I have a problem,
I tense up,
Refuse help,
Become stilted and small.
I wrote this piece to remember the exhale,
The asking for grace.
The letting go,
The simple relief with acknowledging that what I'm facing is too big for my hands to catch.
So I want you to imagine a circle made out of whatever materials you wish.
Perhaps this circle is made out of stone.
Old stone crumbled and weathered by centuries of fellow pilgrims.
Or perhaps the circle is made up of your favorite flowers,
The air filled with the intoxicating fragrance of roses or citrus blossoms or night blooming jasmine.
Or maybe your circle is a grove of redwood trees who naturally grow to form a circle of protection.
Whatever you imagine here,
Approach with reverence,
Kneeling at the mouth of the circle.
We don't need to shoulder the weight of every burden.
So as you enter the circle humbly,
Set your burden down into the sacred place.
Resting here now.
Resting here.
Resting here.
Resting here.
Maybe all you need to know is that your value is not conditional on solving a problem flawlessly or presenting a perfect face to the world.
Or maybe you want to ask for help.
Maybe you imagine yourself lying down inside the circle,
Comforted and held by rich earth,
Protected by unseen forces,
Bathed in love,
Held.
You You These problems are not bigger than you.
But you also don't need to puff yourself up either.
Find your way home to this taste of your formless being,
The one at the center of this magnificent circle.
Whatever you need help with,
Ask and you will receive.
The act of asking sends reverberations through the universe.
Know that you are heard.
That you are setting down some of what makes this so difficult.
And this burden will be held and transmuted.
See if any other burdens want to rest here.
You are not alone.
You are not alone.
You are not alone.
You are not alone.
You are not alone.
Shape and send a heartfelt wish,
One from your heart and not from your mind,
Evoking whatever it is that you need.
Safety.
Love.
Know that at this very moment,
Something is dipping you in gold,
Infusing light in your being.
So ask and you will receive,
Perhaps not a straightforward solution,
But comfort and spaciousness.
You don't need to stand rigid at the mouth of a tidal wave.
You can soften and let the waters guide you home.
There is a part of you that can never be harmed.
It is the part of you,
Even when drowning in sorrows,
Can't help but smile at the dear face of a child or pet or experience momentary delight in a butterfly.
Can you feel the part of you that is impervious to harm?
Know that goodness and kindness are birthed into you from the start.
And sometimes we take the long and windy way home.
Rest here,
Drawing strength from your circle,
Your inner well,
Allowing your humble wishes and desperate longings to drop into the earth.
Your breath,
Your body and your heart,
Holy,
Hold with reverence.
And when you are ready,
Knowing you can return to your circle of protection or safety or support and start to bring your attention back to the world around you.
Taking stock of any change in your body.
Inhale and exhale.
Sigh of grace.
Allow any peace or comfort to seep into the space around you.
Thank you for your practice today.
May you feel the enormity of the support around you,
Seen and unseen,
Familiar and mysterious.
May you know the spaciousness that comes with acknowledging that you're only human and the transformation set in motion when you ask for help.
Be well.
Inhale and exhale.
