Resting Place Meditation & Guided Writing Exercise

In this meditation, I'll be guiding you through both a visualization of resting places and a writing exercise to explore the resting places that nourish your creativity. We'll look at how your writing can be a resting place in the stormy weather of the creative life.
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Transcript

Welcome to your meditation practice.

Today we're going to do something special.

In this resting place meditation,

We'll be exploring our resting places,

Both through writing and sitting.

So if you don't have a notebook and pen or pencil,

Hit pause and go grab that.

And then when you're ready,

Come back to join us.

To begin,

We'll find a comfortable seat,

Allowing the eyelids to flutter closed.

We'll spend a few moments here just exploring our inner landscape and our bodies and the present moment as possible resting places for us.

Allowing the spine to stack neatly so that you have an elegant posture,

Upright,

Regal.

Sinking into your cushion,

And then we'll come back to our resting place.

So we're going to take a few moments here to take a few moments to take a few moments to take a few moments to think about the bridge that's toward directly into your spine sinking into your cushion,

Or perhaps pressing your feet against the floor if you're in a seated chair position or standing.

And if you're lying down,

Perhaps allowing the body to soften To begin,

We'll drop anchor in the resting place that feels most comfortable for you,

Most at home in your body.

And that will be your object of meditation for the next few moments.

It may be the breath that is your anchor.

And if that's the case,

Allowing yourself to breathe naturally,

Following the flow in and out through your nostrils,

Finding a point of landing for that breath,

Whether it's the nostrils,

The heart center,

Or your belly.

You can just,

With curiosity and gentleness,

Follow the breath as it lands.

Follow it back in.

Follow it out as it lands.

Perhaps your object of meditation,

Your resting place,

Is the soles of your feet.

So if you're standing or sitting in a chair,

You might want to really feel a sense of groundedness,

Spreading the toes,

Pressing the balls of your feet into the surface of the ground.

And that will be your resting place,

Your anchor.

So as thoughts arise,

As they will,

You just gently guide your attention back to this anchor.

Again,

Maybe the breath,

Maybe the soles of your feet.

Perhaps your anchor is physical sensation.

Your hands resting on your thighs.

What's happening in the body,

The feel of your clothing against your skin.

Now you won't be jumping between anchors.

You will choose one anchor.

So I'm giving you some options here.

Perhaps your anchor is external sounds.

Maybe the body isn't a place that you feel most at home right now,

And that's okay.

So drawing your attention to the sounds in the landscape outside of you,

But keeping your eyes closed,

Just following the sounds,

Allowing whatever arises to be your object of meditation.

Nothing is welcome,

So all sound is neutral,

Nothing is good or bad,

It just is.

And approaching it with curiosity,

Allowing that sound to be your object of meditation.

Perhaps there's some other anchor that feels good to you.

So wherever you're at now,

Choose your anchor,

Drop down into your resting place.

And the next few moments,

Getting comfortable there.

Okay.

As thoughts arise,

And they will,

You can dissolve them with a small visual aid.

You can imagine yourself sitting like a mountain,

And all of these thoughts are just weather.

Clouds,

Lightning,

Storms,

Passing,

It always passes through.

So acknowledge the thought,

Label it thinking,

And then go back to your anchor.

You may also choose to use the visualization of the thought as a leaf flowing by in a river,

So you don't catch it or examine it or get caught up in the story.

You just notice it,

Label thinking,

And return back to your anchor.

MUFFLED.

The breath is a resting place.

The body can be a resting place.

The present moment and what it offers up to you can be a resting place.

Just noticing any tension in your body and perhaps sending some breath there or a visualization of light or just the dignity of your attention.

Letting that tension relax.

And if it feels good,

Taking in a deep breath through your nose,

Exhaling through the mouth,

Keeping your eyes closed.

Go ahead and do that on your own two more times.

In through the nose,

Out through the mouth.

In your own time.

Just notice any shifts that might have happened in your body or your mind.

This quiet moment as a resting place.

Knowing that this resting place is always available to you.

Doesn't cost you anything.

All you have to do is give it a little time.

Drop anchor in your resting place.

When you're ready,

You can allow your eyelids to flutter open.

Maybe get a little stretch in.

Any tension you're feeling.

Letting that shake out a little bit.

We're going to do a bit of writing.

I will guide you through this writing exercise.

Feel free to press pause.

Spend as much time as you would like on it.

When you're ready,

Set your notebook and pen aside.

Get back into your comfortable meditation posture and press play again.

So we can have a little bit more time in our resting place.

For this exercise,

We're going to be exploring resting places past and present.

What are the places,

Maybe even people,

Things that are resting places for you or have been?

Maybe there were some places or people that were wonderfully restful sanctuaries,

Refuges that for some reason are no longer that.

Maybe they are unsafe places.

Maybe your resting places aren't necessarily buildings or places in nature,

But they might be your own imagination.

Or a book.

So as you wish,

Just take as much time jotting down a list of these resting places.

If you wish,

You can spend a little bit of time with some of them or all of them.

Journal a little bit.

Maybe you will discover a through line with these resting places,

Something they all have in common.

One of my resting places is the moon.

Just going out and gazing up at it.

It's always a refuge and it's a comfort knowing that it will come every night,

No matter what is happening here on the planet.

Another resting place of mine is with my cat.

Just those quiet moments of coziness together.

Imagination.

Certain places in nature,

Especially the ocean or Lake Superior.

Those beautiful moments of watching autumn leaves rustling in the wind.

Those early morning hours with my coffee.

And some of the places that have been restful to me are no longer so,

But I can appreciate the time they gave me refuge.

And I can see what they have in common with resting places that I take sanctuary in now.

And the importance of this work of meditating on our resting places and also recognizing that we always carry around a resting place within us is to bring our attention to the need for rest.

How it is our birthright to rest.

And in fact,

As creative people,

If we don't rest,

If we don't give ourselves time to wonder and wander,

It's very difficult to have a strong imagination,

To have creativity that is fresh and brings something to the table,

Adds to the conversation.

It's almost impossible to court flow when you're frazzled and fried,

Exhausted,

When you've got nothing left and you're running on empty.

And so you don't need lots of money to go on a vacation to have a resting place.

You don't have to have the perfect house or oodles of free time.

A resting place can be found on a bathroom floor.

Closing your eyes,

Just giving yourself a couple of minutes.

It can be found in those spare moments where instead of picking up your phone,

You just sit.

Watch how the light comes through the window,

Listen to the sound of your neighbors chattering,

Allowing the world to surprise and delight you.

So take a few moments to list your resting places again,

Journaling if you wish,

And when you are ready,

Come meet me back here.

Welcome back.

Welcome back to your original resting place.

This body,

However much chronic pain or trauma it holds,

However many scars it has,

This is the house that you live in.

So taking a moment to get comfortable in your meditation posture,

Whatever feels comfortable and easy on the bones,

Letting the eyes flutter shut when you are ready.

Just take a moment to give yourself,

Give your body some gratitude.

For yourself for showing up,

For your body for sustaining you in the ways that it has.

If it feels good,

You can put your hand on your heart and just have a little moment of self-regard.

For this resting place that no matter what it's been through,

No matter what you've been through,

It's kept you here.

You are still here on the planet.

Still alive.

Really allowing that gratitude to be a felt thing.

For many of us,

Our bodies are not always safe places and drawing attention to the body can be distressing,

So if that is so,

Feel free to just open your eyes and gaze around you.

Because not only is this body a resting place,

But this present moment is.

Whatever this moment is offering up to you is a resting place.

Even if it doesn't seem like it is,

You can find the rest.

You can find the calm in the storm always.

It's not a failing if you don't,

But as you continue to sit and to rest and to do this important inner work,

You'll notice that there are more and more resting places and resting moments than you could ever have imagined.

Now when you're ready,

If your eyes are open,

Allow them to flutter closed and call to mind one of those resting places that you identified on your list.

First thought,

Best thought.

Any one of them will do.

But if there's one that's particularly special to you that really does give you a sense of ease and nourishment and just that kind of feeling,

That could be a good one to choose.

Using your wonderful writer's imagination,

Bring that place to mind as vividly as you can,

Using all five senses.

What does this place smell like?

What are the sounds in this place?

What does the air feel like?

Filling in all the details with the writer's brush in your mind,

The colors,

The textures,

All those specificities that make this place a sanctuary for you,

A refuge.

This is a place that you can come into from the storm.

Traveler's Lodge.

Really allow yourself to be there right now.

Looking up at the sky or the roof,

The canopy of leaves,

Whatever your place is.

Finding the horizon or perhaps the mantle above the fireplace.

You might be in some vast natural wonder or a cozy little corner.

What do you need to have around you that will make this even more restful?

Maybe you pull up a blanket or a journal and pen.

Maybe your cat or dog comes to sit on your lap.

Whatever you need,

Settle in,

Get comfortable.

Take a few moments to just be there.

Just rest.

Good night.

Knowing you can always come back to this place,

Just like your other anchors that we've worked with.

This is yet another resting place where you can drop anchor and just be there.

Let it nourish you,

Let it fill you up.

And just gradually letting that visualization dissolve and returning back to wherever you are,

Keeping your eyes closed,

Taking in a nice big deep breath through the nose and exhaling through the mouth,

Noticing how your body feels how your mind feels,

The quality of your attention and that inner temperature.

How does it feel to be you right now?

How is your heart?

Take a moment to see if you can remember how you felt before you started this meditation practice today.

What's the difference between your quality of attention,

Self-compassion,

Groundedness,

Expansiveness?

Do you see a difference?

And if you do,

Then you know that this work is beneficial.

And if you don't,

Keep sitting.

I've never met anyone who has not received benefit from this practice,

From the simple act of resting your bones,

Breathing,

Being.

Wherever you are now,

You can pull up anchor,

Let those eyes flutter back open,

Gazing around you.

And know that whenever you need to,

You can come back to your resting place.

It's very portable,

It's always inside you.

So with that,

May you breathe,

Write,

And repeat.

Be well.