Welcome.
This meditation is for female founders,
The women raising money,
Building companies,
And asking rooms full of strangers to believe in a vision only you can fully see right now.
I want to start this by naming something that's true.
What you are doing is rare.
Very small percentage of venture capital goes to women.
If you're doing this,
Raising,
Building,
Asking for capital to grow something you started,
You're doing something that very few women have done before.
That rarity is not a reason to feel small.
It's the opposite.
It means you're a part of a small,
Fierce lineage of women who looked at a system that wasn't built for them and built something inside it anyway.
Today we're going to feel that.
We're going to practice being brave enough to ask for what you actually want.
And brave enough to imagine the best-case scenario,
Instead of the smaller,
Safer version we usually let ourselves picture.
So many of us shrink the request before we even make it.
We round down.
We hedge.
We prepare for rejection so thoroughly.
We prepare for rejection so thoroughly that we forget to picture what it would actually feel like to get a yes.
And today we're not doing that.
Today we're going to dream as big as the dream you've been holding actually is.
And we're going to ask for it like the women who came before you would want you to.
Find a comfortable position,
Seated or laying down,
Wherever you are right now.
Let your eyes close or just soften your gaze down toward the floor.
Let's begin,
As we always do,
With the breath.
Take a long inhale in through the nose.
Let it out slow through the mouth.
One more like that,
And through the nose.
Out through the mouth,
Letting your shoulders settle a little more each time you exhale.
Now let your breath find its own rhythm.
No,
There's nothing to control here.
Just notice it moving on its own.
Notice the movements and the body.
That the breath creates.
Feel where you're supported right now.
That could be the chair,
The ground,
The couch,
Whatever is supporting below the body.
And let it hold you fully.
Maybe give way and release any engagement in the body,
In your muscles,
Any tension.
Just slowly letting that melt with the next exhale that you take.
Just gently unwinding the body and the mind.
To ground a little deeper.
Let's do a few rounds of rectangle breath.
You'll inhale for a count of four,
Hold for two,
Exhale for a count of four,
And hold for two.
We'll take a regular inhale in first.
And a regular cleansing,
Soothing exhale out.
And then you'll begin to inhale 321 hold.
Exhale 3 2 1 Hold 2 Inhale 3 2 1 Hold 2 Exhale 3 2 1 One.
And hold for two.
Last one.
Inhale,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Hold,
Two.
Exhale,
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold,
Two.
Come back to natural rhythm and flow of the breath.
Slowly coming home to yourself.
Returning back to nothing that you need to count or control,
Just softly letting the breath come in and fill up the body.
And exhale,
Clearing the breath out.
For some of us,
It might feel soothing and comforting as you do this exploration and meditation to have your palms somewhere on the body.
You can choose to have one palm on the belly and one on the center of the chest.
Maybe both palms around the belly,
Around the hip points,
So that you can physically feel the breath entering and moving the body.
Remember that our deepest breaths come from inhaling down into the abdomen,
Into the belly.
And redistributing the breath out of the chest.
Notice you can stay steady and calm here in your breath.
That rising and falling sensation can be your anchor.
Your breath can be your anchor throughout this entire practice.
Let's bring to mind for a moment the women who came before you.
It's not necessarily women in your own family.
Though you may want to bring them to mind as well.
But women throughout history who wanted to build something,
Lead something,
Own something,
And were told no.
Women who weren't allowed to open a bank account in their own name.
Women who weren't allowed to sit in the room where the decisions were being made,
Let alone speak in it.
The women who built businesses anyway.
Fiercely,
Without the capital or the credit they deserve.
You are standing on what they built.
Every door you're walking through right now,
Every pitch meeting,
Every term sheet,
Every application exists because women before you forced those doors open with a nothing but persistence and faith.
Feel that lineage behind you for a moment,
Like a hand at your back.
You are not asking for capital alone.
You are standing as a part of a long line of women who refuse to be told their ideas weren't worth funding.
Take a big breath in through the nose and let it out through the mouth.
Now bring to mind what you are building.
Whatever it is,
A company,
A practice,
A project,
An idea that's finding its shape.
And let yourself feel proud of it for a moment,
Exactly as it is right now.
Finding any small or large bits of gratitude that you can find in this moment.
Notice that nothing has to change.
Nothing externally needs to shift in order for you to feel grateful for things exactly as they are right now.
We all have something to be grateful for that we can find.
Now bring to mind what you need to take it further.
Funding,
Capital,
Investment,
Resources,
Whatever word fits for you.
Notice if there's any tightness that shows up around asking for this.
A lot of us were taught that wanting more makes us greedy,
Or that asking for support makes us less capable,
Or that we should be able to do this all alone.
None of that is true.
Every builder needs resources.
Every great vision required someone,
At some point,
To say yes to it.
The women in your lineage needed that too.
And they asked anyway,
Not because they felt no fear,
But because they still moved forward even when the fear was present.
You are allowed to need support.
You are allowed to ask for it directly without shrinking the ask to make it feel safer.
Take a deep breath in to that knowing.
And a big exhale out.
If you notice any emotions stirring inside of you.
No need to judge them.
Maybe just letting yourself explore what's present here in the body and what you notice.
Then always,
Always coming back to a nice deep breath.
And a nice soothing long exhale.
Let's take a moment to really feel the value of what you're building.
Think about the problem you're solving.
Or the gap that you're filling and the people you're serving.
Feel how real that value is.
Think about what's different in the world when your vision is achieved.
You did not stumble into this.
You built it through skill,
Through persistence,
And through showing up on the hard days as well as the easy ones,
Often without the connections or the credibility that the system was designed to hand out freely to someone else.
That has weight and it has worth.
Say this quietly to yourself in your own mind.
What I'm building is valuable.
What I'm asking for is fair.
If it feels supportive to say it out loud now,
It can do so.
What I'm building is valuable.
What I'm asking for is fair.
Let that land in your chest.
Not as a sign that you're being arrogant,
But as simple grounded facts.
You don't have to convince anyone of your worth before you can feel it yourself.
Feel it first and let the asking come from this place of self-work.
Knowing that what you're building has value.
Now I want you to do something we don't always give ourselves permission to do.
I want you to imagine the best-case scenario.
Not the realistic one,
Not the safe one,
But the best one.
Imagine the meeting,
Or the pitch,
Or the application,
The ask,
Going better than you expected.
Not well,
But even better than you can imagine.
Imagine the person across from you leaning in,
Genuinely excited,
Seeing exactly what you see in your vision.
Imagine hearing yes,
Not a maybe,
Not well circled back,
But a real full yes.
Let yourself soak up that clarity.
Let yourself feel what that yes feels like in your body right now.
Notice your breath and how it changes in response to that.
Notice your chest and your shoulders.
Do they lift just a little bit?
Does it feel like you can finally take a long exhale,
Like you've been holding your breath for a long time and you can finally let it go?
What we're doing here is building the muscle memory of what it's like to receive the best case scenario and what this will feel like in your body when that moment arrives in real life.
Let that feeling spread through your shoulders.
Down your arms,
Into your hands.
The same hands that are going to do the work of building this dream once the resources arrive.
Imagine the relief of having what you need to move forward fully without the friction of not enough.
Imagine the momentum.
Imagine the energy that gets freed up once this particular worry is finally resolved.
This is a rehearsal.
The body and the mind don't fully know the difference between a vividly imagined success and a real one.
So let yourself rehearse this win fully right now.
And now,
From this place,
I want you to feel the version of you who makes this ask without flinching.
She doesn't apologize for the number.
She doesn't soften it until it's barely a request.
She states what she needs clearly.
And she lets the answer be the other person's responsibility,
Not hers to control.
Feel your posture.
Feel your steadiness.
Feel how this version of you breathes before they walk into the room or send the message or make the call.
You have access to this version of you right now.
It's not someone you have to become someday.
It's already in you.
The part of you that built this idea in the first place,
Against all the odds that were in the way.
It's the same part that's been alive in women defying the odds for generations before you.
Let yourself borrow that courage for a moment.
Let it sit in your chest,
Ready for the next time you need to make this ask.
Before the resources and the support arrive,
You have to feel the version of you who is ready and willing to receive them.
The first step is asking for support.
The second step is actually allowing yourself to receive it.
Trust that you are the person who is capable of doing both.
Here you can say out loud what your request is.
It can be stated as I need,
I want,
Or I deserve.
Anything that feels real and true for you and your work,
Feel free to say it now out loud.
What would be helpful to you?
Take as long as you need.
Just stay connected to your breath and notice that natural flow that's happening in the body and stay present with that.
Letting the inhales fill you up.
And the exhales are an opportunity to let go of anything that is ready to be let go of.
Here I'll invite you to take one more full breath in.
And as you exhale,
Let this feeling of lineage,
Of courage,
And of self-worth settle into your body so it's still here with you after this meditation ends.
We've explored a few things,
So just know if some emotion is still present with you,
That's okay.
Be gentle with yourself.
Take some more deep breaths and take as long as you need.
Maybe just staying in a space of quiet.
Know that you are allowed to dream the biggest version of this.
You're allowed to ask for exactly what you need without shrinking at first.
You're allowed to bravely and boldly use your voice.
And you're allowed to believe in that best case scenario and to let that belief lead the way that you show up.
Now make that best case scenario vivid in your mind one more time.
See it in front of your eyes.
See it and explore it from every angle.
Hear the words spoken.
Trust that this best-case scenario outcome is possible.
Not despite how rare you are,
But because of it.
It is you who will bring this vision to life.
And you are a rarity.
I want you to treasure that about yourself.
When you're ready,
Take a breath that feels a little bigger.
Gently wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Take a big stretch.
And in your own time,
Let your eyes open to come back to the room.
Welcome back.
Now it's time to go build the thing.
And make the request.
