Imperfection

This is a guided meditation to work with the often pervasive and unhelpful ideas of imperfection we hold in our bodies and minds. In this practice, we enter into a settled space and become familiar with imperfection as we feel it in our day to day experience. We then call upon nature to hold us more fully in nature's and in our own imperfection.

Transcript

Hi and welcome. This is Mary Corelli with EarthMind Meditation. Today I'm offering a reflection on imperfection. This is a guided meditation that you can follow along if this topic feels relevant to you and your life. Imperfection can show up for many of us at many different times and in many different ways. Today, We'll be creating some quiet space to get to settle our minds, Our bodies, And get to know a bit more closely what imperfection looks like inside of ourselves. We'll also draw on a connection with nature to expand into more belonging, Even though we do tend to struggle with these ideas of imperfection. So please join me in finding a comfortable position, Whether that's standing, Sitting, Lying down. You might even find it's helpful to listen to this meditation while walking. And I'd like to first invite you just to be able to orient yourself here to the space. So wherever you find yourself at this time, You might just take notice of what you find in your surroundings. Even though most of us know and are familiar with the places where we find ourselves, It can be helpful to let our bodies and minds know that we're safe and settled just by taking stock of the chairs, The walls, Any other elements in the room. You might even notice the quality of the space, Something that you find pleasant. Maybe that's the lighting or the quality of the air temperature at this time. You get to choose whether you feel like it's helpful to close your eyes for this meditation, Allowing the body now to come into a more settled position. I'd invite you to make any movements that you feel like would be helpful for you right now, Maybe swaying the body, Rolling the neck, Adjusting the shoulders. Sometimes people find it helpful to tense up their muscles and then release. And finally, As we begin this meditation, I want to invite you to notice an intention that you may have for being here and for doing this meditation. And in doing this, It could just be tapping into a certain feeling of settledness, Getting yourself grounded and centered as we begin. It might be thinking of a particular word or something that you wish to cultivate in this meditation space. We're going to drop into our meditation now, And I'm going to begin to get quieter as we go into this meditation space. I want to invite you to take a moment here to pause and begin to let all of the elements settle, Finding some unity and oneness between mind and body and breath. Thank you. This is where we might begin to notice the things that are happening inside of us right now. We notice the busy mind or the way we're feeling. Giving yourself permission to just come back into the present moment here with whatever you are noticing. Noticing where the mind has wandered. You might check in with your own sense of judgment right now. Are you having any thoughts or feelings about how this meditation is going for you? Noticing any judgment, The desire for your meditation to be a certain way, Or any dislike of certain qualities that you're noticing. As we name that judgmental quality, You might even feel a separation from that quality. You might notice how in your day-to-day life, You go about with judgmental thoughts, Not separating from them. Continue noticing whatever is arising for you. You might notice in the body different sensations. Asking into this meditation space, What is perfect? Can I be with imperfection? Can I be with imperfection? Observing your thoughts, Reactions that you have to this inquiry. If the answer is no, I cannot be with imperfection, Can you allow this response to be here just as it is? Allow now into your mind an element of nature. This might be an element that you think of as perfect or beautiful in some way. A sky, A waterfall, A leaf. See what arises naturally in your mind. Allowing this image to come into focus in this meditation as a way of relating to nature through our imperfections. You might notice the way that your imperfection or feelings of being flawed or difficulty relate to this nature element. It's often common for us to find that nature has a lot of space to hold imperfection. Some of the energy of imperfection that you're holding might be able to translate out into nature. Allowing nature now to hold you and all of the perceived imperfections. Gently now, In closing, I invite you to get back into a sense of the body and you might start making small movements such as in the fingertips or the toes. Thank you for your practice.