So prior to beginning this meditation,
It's important to be able to identify which situation you'd like to focus on.
So take a moment or two to set that intention.
And now,
Settling into a posture that feels good for you,
Allowing yourself to come in contact with the breath.
Breathing in and out.
Noticing what that breath is like in the body.
And fast or slow.
Heated or cool.
How quick are your inhales?
How slow are your exhales?
And as you continue to focus on the breath,
You may find yourself drawn away and take a moment to calm your mind,
Focus on your breath or hour it,
Whether it's in Hawaii and bring your attention back to the breath.
And now I'd like you to bring to mind the situation that you had the intention of connecting to in this meditation.
Lie yourself just to bring it up,
Noticing the details that you go to or how your body might feel about it.
There's something in this situation that is causing suffering and distress for you.
As you consider the situation,
Relaxing your mind and see if you can identify what is missing for you.
Maybe it's a desire to feel confident or strong or assertive.
But allow your mind to just come in contact with what that quality might be.
Your mind may be tempted to blame or push something on the other party or things in the situation that you can't control.
It's okay.
It's what minds do,
But right now really attend to identify what it is that you feel you are missing.
Allow that word to come into focus.
After you've found it,
Just allowing the situation to drop from your mind and tuning back to your breath.
Breathing in and out.
Feeling just this present moment.
Once you feel you've attuned to this present moment,
As you focus on this quality that you've identified,
This thing that is needed in the situation,
See if you can allow someone or something to come to mind that really embodies this quality.
So if it's peace,
Maybe it's a meditation teacher or it's a place where you take walks or a nice gentle stream.
Whatever it is,
Just allow your mind to naturally identify it.
You may not know,
That's okay.
I'm not trying to force the mind here.
We're just allowing.
Once you have that thing that embodies this quality in your mind,
See if you can begin to build it.
So if you,
For example,
Chose that gentle stream,
Noticing the color of the water,
How quickly the stream is moving,
But allowing yourself to build the details,
The feel,
Making this stronger in your mind.
Absorbing,
Drinking in every detail and quality and feeling that you can.
Really notice your breath as you do this,
Encouraging your breathing to be deep and slow.
Once you feel you've gotten the details that you can on this thing that embodies the quality that you're needing,
Just let that image go.
Returning to that clear,
Calm feeling of the breath going in and out of your body.
I'd like you to bring again to mind this thing that embodies the quality that you're needing.
Once again,
Going back to that creek,
That nice stream example,
Allowing yourself to just bring up all the details that surround it.
As you build this in your mind,
This image that you've constructed before,
Allowing some word to come to mind that can embody this image.
Going with the creek example,
I might say calm.
Allowing the word to be representative of the picture,
The thing that you've chosen that embodies this quality.
You don't have to have the perfect word,
It's just the word that makes sense to you.
Now once you have these two things,
Both the image and the word,
Allowing yourself to breathe in,
Out,
Letting this all go,
Just returning to the breath.
Allowing yourself to breathe in and out,
Just feeling that breath in your body.
Then just letting your mind go free before you focus on a point in your body or an experience that feels consistent,
So maybe it's the sound of my voice or a sensation in your chest.
Once you've identified that,
Opening your eyes in the time that feels right for you.
This image that you've paired with this word,
This quality,
Will only become stronger the more you practice the exercise that you've just done.
Maybe taking a few minutes every single day to bring up this image through using the word that you've paired with it and recalling those details.
Thank you so much for doing this meditation with me today.
Have a great day.
