Welcome.
I want to begin today's meditation with a passage that I find really inspiring.
And I feel like it helps us understand why we want to engage with fear or difficulty to begin with.
How does it serve us?
This is Tara Brock.
She says,
In Buddhist Asia,
In the artwork and in some of the sacred art at the temples like the mandalas,
You'll often see what are called animal-headed deities or goddesses that are kind of circling around as part of the mandala at the entrance to a temple.
These deities represent the energies of fear and the passionate energies,
The jealous energies,
The aggressive energies,
All of the shadow energies that are within us.
And the teaching is that to get to the center of the mandala,
To the sacred space,
Or to get into the temple,
Into sacred space,
We need to engage with these animal-headed goddesses.
It's not that you bypass them to get in.
It's actually through the process of engaging with the fear,
With the jealousy,
With the anger,
That we actually open into sacred space.
So the real healing doesn't come from learning to manage things.
It comes when we create a new relationship with ourselves and our emotions and our fears.
So for this meditation,
We're going to do a visualization that's going to help you really get clear on your ultimate desire,
Your ultimate goal for what you want.
And the process I'll take you through is called following the thread of desire.
And we really want to get to the source of our desire.
And then after that,
We'll work with your intention for healing.
And this is so powerful because it keeps us connected to your deepest desire.
Even when things get intense,
And most of you want to resist and avoid and run away,
It helps you stay on the path.
It helps you stay in your heart when challenges arise.
So we'll begin.
Go ahead and find a comfortable place to sit and sit tall.
Lengthen your spine.
Let your eyes close and feel your breath deepen.
Relax any tension through your nose,
Through the eyes,
And the jaw.
And let the shoulders melt down towards the earth.
Breathing into the belly and feeling the belly soften and release any holding as you take deeper inhalations and complete exhalations.
Now center your attention in your heart and allow this process to really come from the heart.
Don't get lost in what you think you want.
Don't follow the thoughts or the mind.
Stay connected to your heart and to your body.
And as you breathe in,
Let the information arise from deep within you.
Ask yourself,
What do you really want?
What do you really want?
Go with the first thing that shows up.
Maybe it's something specific.
You want to feel clarity around a big change in your life.
Maybe you know you want to feel less anxious,
Less lost in thought.
And oftentimes the first thing that shows up is what we don't want.
We know what we don't want.
So allow that to be there.
And then let's follow the thread of desire even further and ask yourself,
Why do you want that?
What would that mean for you?
What would that bring to your life?
So following it a little deeper.
What do you really want?
Do you want to feel in the flow of life?
Do you want to feel relaxed and at home in your body with yourself?
And really start to paint the picture of this desire.
What does it look like?
What does it feel like?
What's your sense of self inside this desire?
Imagining that it's coming true,
That it's already here.
And then whatever has surfaced,
Go deeper.
Why do you want that?
What would that mean for you?
What would it bring to your life?
Would you be able to be more present and enjoy life?
Would you feel truly aligned with your highest and your best,
Anchored into your true power,
Into your authenticity?
Follow it all the way to the source as deep as you can go.
Why do you want this?
And what would having this mean for you?
And you might get to a place where there are no words anymore.
It's just a feeling.
It's just a feeling.
And let that be okay.
Feel this feeling.
Feel into the experience of you as your future self,
As your most evolved self.
And imagine that you could see this future version of yourself.
Notice the look on your face.
Notice the way that you're looking at the world.
Your expression,
Your posture.
How are you standing in the world?
What are you wearing?
What's the quality of vibration inside of you?
How do you speak?
How do you engage with life?
How do you engage with others?
Get really clear.
And now consider what are the things that hold you back from getting to this place,
From living your life in this way and in this energy?
What holds you back?
The fears,
The doubts,
The overthinking,
The worrying,
The reactivity,
Not feeling good enough.
What are the things that hold you back?
And recognize that these things are not bad.
They're not wrong.
We're not trying to get rid of them.
But we really want to create a new relationship with these expressions of fear when they show up.
And working with it and facing it is going to help you to become this more evolved future version of yourself.
So now you're going to come up with your own personal intention for healing.
And it's all here right in front of you,
The stuff you need to work through.
What word or phrase is going to help you stay on the path even when it's easier to run away?
And it can be very simple.
May this serve.
May this help you.
May this serve you.
May this help me awaken my heart and mind,
This encounter with the challenges.
May it serve in some way.
And you don't need to know how.
So come up with your intention and repeat it in your mind,
In your heart,
In your body,
And direct it to the blockages,
What's holding you back.
And let it be coming from the deepest,
Most tender place of your heart,
This longing that this encounter with fear serve.
And just feel how sincere you are,
The sincerity in your intention and in your longing.
Please,
May this serve.
Notice what's shifting in your mind,
How it's shifting,
How your body feels,
The space that it creates.
If you feel more connected and settled in your own heart,
Rather than caught up in the stories about the blocks,
About the fears that might be standing in your way,
Do they dissolve some so that there can be a little more room inside you.
Go ahead and place your hands flat on your heart.
Just feel the heart.
Take a few more breaths,
Feeling the center of the chest,
Lift up into the palms.
Just holding yourself really tenderly exactly where you are.
And sending yourself some gratitude for doing this work,
For showing up.
I see you,
I'm proud of you.
Thank you.
I'll see you in the next session.
Namaste.
