Welcome to this embodied meditation on expansion.
This meditation is intended to support anyone who is feeling small within their body,
Suppressed,
Fearful,
Or powerless in some way,
And who is seeking to feel empowered,
Expressive,
Or to expand their capacity to respond to discomfort in an embodied way.
Throughout this practice we will attune to the body's sensations through awareness and visualization.
If at any point you experience distress,
Fear,
Or discomfort,
You have the power to gently open your eyes and softly focus your gaze on something that helps you feel safe in your environment.
You're welcome to take breaks at any time and return to the meditation whenever it feels right.
If you are new to meditation you could choose to listen in shorter segments as you gradually adapt to periods of stillness and silence,
Which can feel uncomfortable at first.
To begin this embodied meditative practice,
Create an expansive shape with your body,
Either sitting or lying down,
Taking up as much space as you need.
Observe your overall body language.
You might notice your jaw clenched,
A wrapping of arms across the heart space,
A tightening of your shoulders to your ears,
Or a curling into oneself.
This can sometimes be reflective on a deeper level of the lived experiences of our body,
Or wider experiences of despair,
Fear,
Or disempowerment.
Observe whether any of this is present in your own body and gently invite yourself to soften.
Trusting in this moment,
Allowing your body to begin to unfurl.
As you inhale,
Lengthen through the crown of your head,
Creating space between each vertebra of your spine.
You're welcome to find a gentle tuck of your chin to lengthen the back of your neck.
Spread your arms wide to the side,
Softening your palms and gently extending the space between each finger.
You're invited to turn your palms upward as a way of receiving this practice.
Soften your throat and welcome any natural responses to resting here.
Perhaps an expressive yawn,
A sigh,
Or a loud exhalation.
Allow yourself to make as much noise as you need in this moment.
Draw your shoulder blades down toward the earth to broaden your collarbones and to widen your chest.
With each inhalation,
Feel the expansiveness of your heart center.
Your breath could travel up beneath your collarbones and radiate into your back body,
Broadening the space between your shoulder blades and across the back of your heart.
Observe the extension of your torso.
Release any self-consciousness or control around holding in or contracting your belly.
Let your belly be soft,
Natural,
Rounded and expansive,
Welcoming its full breadth,
Depth,
And the movement of your breath.
Bring awareness to your tailbone and sense the downward lengthening energy of your legs,
Extending all the way through the soles of your feet,
Continuing this gentle pull into the earth.
As you soften further with every exhale,
Feel the spreading of your back body.
Flesh and muscle melting into the ground beneath you.
Hold your inner gaze and attention at the center of your body.
What can you sense here in this moment?
Is there steadiness,
A sense of trust or lightness?
Is there a tightening or clenching of the belly?
Is your breath short and sharp here or lengthened with yearning and possibility?
Perhaps there is no sensation at all and that is okay too.
Acknowledge whatever is arising without shame or blame.
Instead,
Honor it with compassion and recognize the wisdom your body holds in sharing this underlying truth with you.
Now consciously explore the containers and physical boundaries of your body.
You're invited to trace your awareness along the edges of your shin bones,
Thigh bones,
Over your hip bones,
Up to your rib cage,
Along the sides of the body,
Up to the sides of the neck,
And to the outer edges of your facial muscles.
What can you notice here?
Is there tightness or rigidness?
A sense of shrinking into your body or a feeling of collapse?
Or perhaps there is ease,
Spaciousness or evolution.
Again,
Meet these sensations with a soft,
Invitational voice.
Attune to your natural breathing in this moment.
Where does your breath enter and where does it travel to throughout the body?
Does it take time for your breath to reach each corner and edge?
Is there a warmth to the breath as it undulates with aliveness and possibility?
Or today does the breath feel shortened and restricted,
Moving only within a limited radius?
As you attune to your breath and body,
Where could you introduce more physical spaciousness?
Where is there resistance that might be keeping you small?
I invite you to deepen your breath,
To patiently shift the outer boundaries of your body,
Particularly in any areas holding resistance or closeness to expansion.
As you take your next inhalation,
Visualize your breath channeling into all the spaces and corners within your body.
Feel your ribcage and the edges of your body gently opening.
Use each exhalation to visualize releasing physical limitations.
As the breath creates spaciousness,
Notice here the polarities of sensation,
These opposing forces of push and pull.
Feel your body extending in varying directions.
The boundaries of our bodies can sometimes act like armor.
A safety net for measuring what can emotionally or energetically enter our systems.
Therefore,
Rather than pushing to expand these edges,
Gently just invite a safe exploration of your edge.
Go beyond the physical layers of the body and explore any limitations that exist within the mental,
Emotional,
Energetic or conscious body.
Is something holding you back from fully taking up space?
A rigid identity or the societal boxes you've been told to stay in?
Perhaps it's old narratives that you feel safe staying in.
As you acknowledge these narratives,
How might you practice detachment in this moment to become more limitless?
How could you cultivate a fluid sense of self,
One that is evolving and shifting?
In your body,
This could look like parting of the lips to release a loud exhale.
It could be a subtle shift in your posture to embody assurance.
Or perhaps it's movement,
A shaking,
A stretching,
Reaching your arms around the full circumference of your body.
Whatever else your body needs right now to feel empowered,
Expansive and light.
If others are present,
Can you move beyond self-consciousness and instead choose what feels like truth to you?
As you embrace your most integral self in this moment,
Expanding with your body,
Moving with grace and ease.
Experience a true sense of belonging in the space that you physically inhabit here.
Bring awareness to the circumference around your body.
Below you,
Above you and all around.
Here,
Gently remind yourself that your presence,
Your sense of self extends far beyond your physical form.
That the physical body can serve as a gateway into infinite consciousness.
Beyond the physical,
You are also the mental body,
The energetic body and the wisdom body.
Expand your awareness past the boundaries of your skin to include the sounds you can hear.
The temperature you can feel on your body.
The textures,
Vibrations and subtle sensations that surround you.
Visualize where your sense of self travels into what spaces and into what energies.
It is here that you could recognize the shared interconnectedness between yourself and others.
Other living beings in the natural world.
You are the breeze brushing against your skin.
The sunlight warming your face.
The energy surrounding you.
With every exhale,
Feel the boundaries of yourself begin to dissolve to allow for greater compassion of all beings.
Feel your body as transparent as a mirror.
Ascendant in rhythm with the universe.
Bring awareness to your body as a whole.
Noticing any contrast between now and the beginning of the practice.
How does it feel to take up space in this moment?
Envisioning a body that is unapologetic,
Liberated,
Unbound and expressive.
As you come to the end of this embodied meditation,
You're invited to silently or verbally repeat the following mantra.
I am allowing myself to take up space.
To reclaim my power through expanding the limitations of self unapologetically.
I am allowing myself to take up space.
To reclaim my power through expanding the limitations of self unapologetically.
Take a moment now to carry this empowered presence with you as you move through your day.
Remembering that your body and spirit belong fully and freely in every space you inhabit.
You can slowly wake up your body here if you're lying down.
Bring energy back into your fingers and into your heart.
Take a moment to connect your palms together and to thank yourself for carving time To finish your practice today,
You could find a comfortable seated position of your choice.
Take a moment to connect your palms together and to thank yourself for carving time and reclaiming your space.
