The wind brushes my face.
It's cool and filled with the scent of spring mud and earth.
Ah,
The feeling of freedom.
While the wind has many faces,
Today it is comforting.
It reminds me of what I have to lose if I leave this place too soon.
Living in the mountains,
The wind is ever-present.
Always there to push you forward or stop you in your tracks.
Some days it forces you to look down,
For staring straight into it is too painful.
Other days it's like a soft caress,
Cooling your damp skin.
The wind is a part of life that cannot be controlled.
It's there whether you like it or not.
You may be able to hide from it,
But it never really leaves.
It's a lot like our thoughts and feelings.
Some days they serve you and other times they send you flying off into chaos.
Nothing able to stop the drift.
But I have come to befriend the wind,
To welcome its embrace,
Whether warm or cool.
It reminds me of my aliveness,
My freedom to live.
Even in the chill of winter,
I accept the ice-cold cheeks and sideways snow because accepting it means accepting life with all of its frigid moments.
The colder the wind blows in the winter of our lives,
The warmer its breeze in the summer sun.
What are the winds in your life telling you right now?
If it is cold and uncomfortable to face the wind,
Why?
Let's explore in this meditation.
Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes.
Let's start by taking a few deep breaths together to ease the transition to our inner world.
Breathing in one two three four and breathing out one two three four.
Breathing in one two three four.
Breathing out one two three four.
One more time.
Breathing in one two three four and breathing out one two three four.
Now just relax your breathing back to its normal rhythm.
Relax your shoulders,
Ease your eyes and your jaw,
Release any other tension that you're holding in your body.
Now feel the cold chill of the wind on a blustery day.
What does it remind you of as it hits your face abruptly?
Maybe it feels like the fear of the future or the grief of a recent loss or maybe it is just the sadness you feel for no particular reason at all.
Continue to tune into this feeling for the next few minutes.
I know it can be hard to face these feelings but there is so much to learn from them.
Where in your body do you feel this feeling?
Gently soften that area and remain focused there.
Ask that feeling why.
Why are you here?
What have you come to show me?
Really listen to what this feeling wants you to know.
Okay now let it go.
Let it fly on the wind past you.
Release it.
Hopefully you have gathered even just a tidbit of information on what this emotion is here to teach you.
Tuning into tough emotions can bring back the pain and sometimes make you live the experience over again.
But if you can come from a place of curiosity and awareness of the feeling without succumbing to it,
There is so much to be learned.
I hope this short practice has given you a light in the dark for when this wind blows through you again you may be able to gain insight from the pain.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
