We begin by just taking a few slow deep breaths,
Noticing the temperature of the air as you breathe in,
Noticing what it feels like in your stomach and chest as you breathe out,
And then connecting with your heart space,
Imagining that there is a bright,
Bursting ball of energy there,
And see if you can tell what color it is.
Just take a few moments really connecting with that,
Noticing it,
Seeing it,
Feeling it.
Now this heart space that you are witnessing,
It is indestructible.
You couldn't destroy it if you wanted to.
You have no idea really where it came from.
None of us do,
But there's this big bursting energy here of vivaciousness connected to your soul.
So just taking a moment to acknowledge and honor that sense of mystery that is inherently within us,
This aspect of uncertainty that we carry with us always.
We know not really how our souls got created,
How the sun and this universe turned into a big bang,
How in the world this planet got life,
The magical forces that led to this moment.
We know what some of those processes look like,
But how it all started,
We don't know.
So just taking a breath and really acknowledging with appreciation the sort of magical nature of that mystery,
And then imagining that your heart space expands from your chest out about a foot in front of you and creates a sort of stage or platform.
And on that stage is your inner child.
And see if you can see her.
Really notice what her expressions look like.
Clarify about how old she seems.
And if you need to,
You can reassure her of who you are.
You are the adult her.
You are her protector.
You can assure her that you want to listen to her.
Her voice,
Her wants,
They matter to you,
That she can trust you.
You've got her.
Now,
See if you can picture your teenage self,
Maybe just after high school,
Also standing on that platform,
The same one with your inner child.
They might have a bit more attitude than the inner child.
See if you can take a look at what sort of expressions they have on their face,
And also assuring your teenage self that you will listen to them.
You might not always do what they want you to,
But they matter to you.
You're their protector.
The things that they have experienced,
You have and will continue to learn from.
See if you can just take a breath as your teenage self hears that.
Now again,
Visualizing this stage,
Inner child is standing,
Your teenage self is standing.
Now bring to mind a painful experience from college that was too big for you to handle,
And put the emotional impact of that experience into a shape of some kind that you could visualize onto that stage.
Maybe it's a scene,
Maybe it's a shape,
Maybe it's a character.
Put that pain into some sort of visual,
And see if you can connect with that feeling,
The feeling that came up during that painful experience.
Maybe it's multiple feelings.
See if you can allow yourself to feel them.
Maybe there's fear,
Maybe there's powerlessness,
There's anger,
A sense of feeling alone.
See if you can breathe in those feelings.
You might even say,
I breathe in fear.
I breathe in the pain from this moment.
And imagine that as you breathe that in,
That energy goes directly to your heart space where it gets alchemized into the color of your heart space.
And as you breathe out,
Breathe out love to your teenage self,
Because they did not deserve that.
Breathing in the pain from that moment,
Breathing out care,
Passion for your teenage self.
Now let's see if you can expand your thinking and include other people who have experienced this kind of pain.
Take a few moments to think about who else in the world you know,
Or maybe you've never met that also might have experienced this pain.
Breathe in that pain.
Breathing it in and seeing if you can visualize it.
Imagine that you are just going to your heart space where it immediately alchemizes,
And you breathe out care and connection.
Breathing in that pain,
Feeling it achingly.
Taking one more breath,
And actually breathing in pain from others in the world that have experienced similar things.
Then simply acknowledging anyone who's ever experienced something similar and just like,
Almost like you're nodding your head.
You're saying,
Thank you,
Sharing this moment with me.
And then turning your attention again to your teenage self.
Imagine that you just asked your teenage self what it felt like to feel so alone in that pain.
I noticed them close off.
You might notice them shut down.
You're knowing that the only thing that was worse than feeling so much pain was feeling so much confusion and feeling so alone in it.
They're not alone anymore.
You've got them.
They don't need to feel ashamed for what they felt.
They don't have to hide it.
You will witness.
You will not shy away from the feelings that they experienced.
You will notice them because you respect your teenage self and they deserve their experiences to be acknowledged.
And so you will acknowledge.
You're taking a moment to really witness pain or sadness that they felt and breathing it in openly,
Receptively,
Welcoming it in.
And in the moment that you do,
Knowing that it alchemizes and you can breathe out a sense of togetherness,
Connection,
Of expansion.
And then just taking a fresh breath in through the nose,
Out through the mouth,
Nodding to your teenage self.
And then finally,
You also notice that on this stage platform,
There's also a very tiny creature.
And as you look at them,
You see,
They're not a creature at all.
They are a teeny tiny version of you.
And this is your ego.
Your ego works really hard within you to protect you,
But it doesn't know everything that you know.
And so just taking a moment to thank it for all the work that it's done over the years to try to protect you from things it didn't think you were ready to feel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And whenever you're ready,
Just returning your attention to noticing what it feels like in your body to breathe.
