Hello friend.
Thank you for being here,
For carving out this time and space for yourself.
Let's make our way into a comfortable seat,
Allowing ourselves to feel supported in this moment.
Maybe sitting tall on a cushion,
Leaning back against something,
Or lying down.
Just moving nice and slow,
Transitioning into this space of intention and stillness.
As you start to settle in,
Close your eyes if you'd like,
And really allow yourself to arrive here.
In this moment.
Landing in the here and now,
Exactly as you are.
Sweetly inviting our awareness to find the breath.
Beginning to breathe with a little more intention.
Inhaling deeply.
Exhaling fully.
Letting the rest of the world fall away,
Just for now.
Letting the background noise of our space and of our mind remain in the background.
As our breath,
Deep and full,
Begins to guide our focus.
The sweet rising of the inhale.
The sweet surrender of the exhale.
Your body growing relaxed.
Your limbs heavy.
Fingers and toes soft.
Your shoulders melt down toward the earth.
The muscles of your face,
Your jaw relax.
Your belly softens.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Noticing what presence feels like for you today.
Bring your awareness now to your heart space.
Notice if anything comes up when you start to breathe from this space.
Any tenderness.
Any hurt.
Any feelings of love,
Gratitude,
Vulnerability.
Anything at all.
Just breathing and noticing.
We're not judging anything that comes up.
We're not creating stories with our mind.
We're not trying to fix anything.
In this moment,
We're just sitting with what comes up.
We're just noticing and listening and breathing.
Now imagine a small flickering flame resting in this space at the center of your chest.
This sweet little light shines with compassion and forgiveness.
As you continue to breathe,
Imagine the breath flowing in and out through your heart.
Fanning this flame.
Imagine the light begins to grow.
Blooming out from your chest into the rest of your body.
Each inhale spreading the sense of compassion a little more.
Each exhale surrendering,
Releasing.
Inhaling,
Compassion grows.
Exhaling,
Letting go.
Letting go of hurt.
Letting go of resentment.
Creating space for healing.
Breathing in forgiveness.
Breathing out forgiveness.
Your entire body glows now with a light of compassion and forgiveness.
Your entire body radiating with love.
The hurt may still be there.
The tenderness still present.
But compassion and forgiveness also have space here.
Just know that both can exist.
Hold with this feeling for just a moment as you continue to breathe.
As you remember that no matter the situation,
No matter what is going on around you,
No matter the stories told to you by your mind,
You deserve compassion.
You deserve forgiveness.
You deserve peace.
By now this glow of compassion is lighting you all the way up.
You can feel it nearly bursting out in beautiful bright rays through your skin.
Inhale deeply to capture that feeling.
And as you exhale,
Release it.
Let it seep out through your skin into the world around you.
This light spreading into the hearts of your loved ones.
Spreading to neighbors and friends.
Spreading into the hearts of those who may have hurt you.
Spreading into the hearts of strangers all over the world.
Shining from your heart into theirs.
Sharing compassion,
Love,
And forgiveness.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Whenever you're ready,
Allowing this light to softly and slowly recede.
Coming back into your heart space.
Resting once more as a sweet little flame.
And once again,
It's just you and your breath.
In this moment.
Present.
Still.
Look,
The trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light.
The flowers are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment.
The long tapers of cattails are bursting and floating away over the blue shoulders of the ponds.
And every pond,
No matter what its name is,
Is nameless now.
Every year,
Everything I have ever learned in my lifetime leads back to this.
The fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation.
Whose meaning none of us will ever know.
To live in this world,
You must be able to do three things.
To love what is mortal.
To hold it against your bones,
Knowing your own life depends on it.
And when the time comes,
To let it go.
To let it go.
In Blackwater Woods,
By Mary Oliver.
Bring your hands together at your heart,
Palm to palm or palms to chest.
Taking a moment to notice how you feel.
Let's take one final deep breath in together.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Send yourself a little thank you for showing up for yourself today.
For creating space to heal a little tenderness in yourself.
So that you can take that healing out into the world.
It is such an honor to be still with you in these moments.
Until next time,
Take care.
