Dear one,
Sometimes it is difficult to choose life,
To rise each morning when pain punctures our hearts,
To move through our days in these bodies so entrenched in the ache.
If this is where you are,
This is how you feel,
I see you,
I hear you,
I am with you,
You are not alone in this.
So I ask you now,
Will you join me in welcoming what aches into the soft channels of your heart?
If so,
I invite you to gently close down your eyes now,
Inhaling here into the density of your bones,
Exhaling let it all be heavy,
Let it all be held by the ancient terrain of earth living beneath you,
Remembering that you too are a part of this terrain,
Woven of river and tree,
Air and fire.
Feel now into the life that moves through you even in the midst of this ache,
Your perseverant heart,
Your devoted breath,
The vessels of vitality traversing within,
Delivering nourishment to your beloved body.
All of these mysterious,
Miraculous parts working beneath the skin,
Take a moment to thank them,
To gaze upon them in gratitude,
To love them,
To soften into them.
Feel yourself slipping into the slowness of this moment,
Arriving here with your body,
Mind and heart,
Settling into the natural rhythm and pulse of your breath and body.
Now,
Gently open a seat at the table for your pain,
Holding the heart of what ails you in your own hands.
Let this be a meeting place as you devote yourself to your own heartache,
Saying silently to the one who cries,
I am here now,
In this with you.
I am here now,
In this with you.
So often we resist this,
To feel so fully into the darkened parts,
We bury our burdens,
Keeping them cloaked in shadow.
But here,
Sit and be with what is breaking,
As you allow it all to be present,
Not changing,
Not fixing anything.
Simply surrendering a little deeper,
Being like the field who welcomes the rain,
Or the hawk who does not hide but glides with the wind.
Allow,
Allow,
Dear one,
Allow it all to move through you.
For you see,
This suffering is just a visitor,
A passing storm,
And in seeing and feeling the storm you open up to something more.
That perhaps even in the mist of this great pain,
There is something that glistens,
A light in the dark,
A seed awaiting bloom.
That as you open to the pain you find a pathway into remembering there is gold in the ache.
Breathing into your heart now,
And letting out a deep sigh from your belly.
Bring now your own light to the table,
Even if it feels small,
Even if it is solely a flicker.
See if you can welcome in the light that is always there,
Always there beneath your beating heart.
Feel now how the light and the dark can coexist,
Like the luminous moon and the night sky.
How both have a place within your body.
How does it feel to welcome it all in?
And I wonder if perhaps every time we cradle what cries within us,
We are falling deeper into a golden valley of love.
That perhaps this is what lies underneath every ache,
A love so vast it encompasses everything.
Turn your palms now towards the sky and welcome in this love.
Letting it touch all the hurt like a gentle,
Caring friend.
Meet yourself with the tenderness that you have yearned for.
You are the one,
My dear.
You are the one who carries this nectar of nourishment within your own heart.
You are the love you have been longing for.
Fall into love with your own love.
This is how the healing happens,
Not through battling our broken parts,
But through seeing the suffering so deeply,
We surrender into our innate nature of wholeness,
Of love so vast it holds all.
I invite you now to place your hands upon your heart,
Feeling the rise and fall of your chest.
Feeling into all that exists right here,
The light,
The dark,
The love,
And everything in between.
Consider the courage it takes to show up and feel,
To not turn away,
But to turn towards with devotion and deep love.
For in our world,
That is a radical act.
You may dwell in this space for as long as you desire.
And when you are ready,
Connect with your breath and body,
The room and the space you are in.
Feeling now into your heart and then opening your eyes to greet the day.
Dear one,
I invite you to remember that whatever suffering you are enduring,
Whatever pain encases your heart,
Whatever weight imbues your bones,
There is gold in the egg.
So much love to you.
Thank you for being.
