Welcome to Whispers of the Heart,
Guided Meditations.
I'm your host and guide Noriko Tanigawa.
Sometimes life can feel like.
.
.
We are moving at a hundred miles an hour.
One thing leads to another.
One responsibility leads to the next.
And before we realize it,
We are already thinking about what comes after what we are doing now.
Even when our bodies finally stop.
Our minds may keep moving.
We may continue replaying the past,
Anticipating the future,
Or carrying the momentum of everything we haven't yet finished.
And after moving at that speed for so long,
Slowing down can feel surprisingly difficult.
We may even feel guilty for resting,
As though pausing means we are falling behind.
But a cause.
Does not mean we have given up.
Sometimes we need to slow down before we can truly see where we are going.
Before we can recognize what has been guiding our choices,
What has been driving our thoughts,
And whether the direction we are moving in still feels right for us.
Today,
I invite you to step out of the momentum of your life for a little while.
There's nothing you need to solve.
Nothing you need to accomplish,
Nothing you need to become.
This is simply.
A space to slow down.
To rest.
To breathe.
And to remember.
What it feels like.
To simply be.
This is Art of Slowing Down.
A meditation for rest.
And whenever you're ready.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
Or lie down.
I would like you to feel as comfortable as possible.
Feel free to Move around.
And find your best position.
Grab your favorite brown cat,
Favorite pillow.
Favorite candle or diffuser whatever that will help you relax and Just chill out.
Feel free to pause this meditation if you need.
And come back whenever you're ready.
Let's start our practice.
By taking a deep breath in and out three times.
Let's take a breath in.
And breath out.
Let's take another deep breath in.
And breath out.
Let's do this one more time.
Let's take a deep breath in.
And breath out.
Allow your breath.
To return to normal.
And witness your breath coming in and out,
Then I would also like you to observe your body.
Is there any part of your body that feels heavy or tight?
And if you have any sore spots or feeling heaviness,
Breathe into it.
And imagine.
Your breath is gently massaging.
The area of heaviness or tightness.
First of all,
Thank you for pressing the pray button of this meditation today.
And let's enjoy having.
This moment of respite.
A break from everything.
Just be.
You might be.
Having a pretty busy day.
Feeling kind of stressed over all the things that you need to do.
And all the things that you should've done.
And we'll now continue.
Let all of those things be exactly as they are.
Imagine you just pressed the pause button of your life.
Everything in suspension.
Is pause.
Between what was and what will be.
Right here.
Right now.
Just imagine everything at standstill.
Nothing is moving.
It's just you.
Your breath.
And your heartbeat.
No way to imagine you're in this.
Bubble.
A big bubble.
That you are totally insulated from movement of time.
So E.
You think of.
Things that you need to do.
All you should have done.
Imagine those are just.
.
.
Thoughts.
That's moving through outside of your bubble.
You don't need to do anything right now.
Because All that will be there.
After this practice.
Right now.
It's a moment to rest.
And imagine.
The universe is taking care of whatever it is.
On your to-do list.
And you will remember.
Whatever it is that is important after this practice.
I want you to look at your life.
Most of the time,
Especially.
.
.
If you're living a very busy life.
The life has this momentum.
And all the momentum is built.
From everything that you have done in the past.
What you did sort of set the path for the future.
I want you to visualize this like cars on the highway.
You have this momentum once you go on the highway and it's hard to slow down.
And if you are driving a very busy freeway.
In the middle.
Russia traffic especially.
You need to plan ahead just to get off of the freeway.
A life can become.
Like those cars on the freeway sometimes,
Especially if we let our life go.
On autopilot and just let our busy everyday routine to determine the direction of our life.
And we sometimes forget that.
We can slow down.
We can get off the highway.
And we can even park.
In the nearby parking lot.
And look at them up.
To see where we want to go.
And this meditation is.
.
.
Exactly that,
Getting off the highway.
Hawking our life.
Just a little bit.
To see if we will let go.
In the same direction,
We go somewhere else.
We might choose to.
Stop at nearby cafe.
Or choose to take.
A smaller street to explore the area.
Or find a park nearby.
Get off and just take a walk.
Just because everyone else.
Is on the highway.
Driving.
At a high speed doesn't mean we need to go.
Fast.
A life is not.
About getting there fast,
It's about.
.
.
Enjoying the journey.
Because if we focus only on the destination of life.
We all know that.
That destination we are thinking of is our death.
And life is not about.
Death or getting there as quickly as we can it's about everything in between.
So I want you to take this moment to just.
.
.
Just be.
Give yourself permission to.
Just.
.
.
Be where you are.
Not needing to do anything.
Not needing to fix anything.
Being okay.
Just taking a breath in and out.
There's no need to figure out anything or change anything,
Fix anything.
Allow yourself to.
Relax.
Allow your mind to drift.
Allow your body to feel heavy.
Letting the gravity.
To give you all the support you need.
If you're just feeling exhausted and stressed.
Let it be,
Let your stress and exhaustion express itself.
Maybe your tiredness.
All your stress needed to be seen.
So that it can be released from your body.
If you're feeling some kind of numbness or sadness Well it be.
See and feel your numbness and sadness.
Allow them to be expressed in your body so that it can live.
If you're frustrated about something.
Just feel frustrated.
It's okay.
And allow the frustration.
Be felt.
Expressed and then released.
And if you are worried about many,
Many different things.
Allow those worry to be surfaced.
Don't hide it,
It's okay.
Allow those worries to be expressed.
So that it can be released.
Maybe you are fearful of something.
Feel the fear.
Allow the fear to move through you.
Imagine your body just as a vessel.
That you are passing through all these emotions as energy.
Emotions are just energy it's not you You don't have to identify with those emotions.
Those are just emotions that's moving through.
It's okay.
Everything is okay.
You'll save.
No matter how uncomfortable you might be feeling and if.
.
.
If you start getting teary-eyed.
For no reason,
That's really a good sign.
Tears are a very powerful form of release.
Whatever emotions that you've been keeping in your body is being released.
Allah.
The body to release.
Whatever it is that needs to be released now.
We are just holding space.
For everything to come out.
So that we are not constantly hijacked.
By the momentum from the past.
Allow this moment to be.
Like you're taking a bath.
And you're releasing all these stress and tiredness and emotions that needed to be expressed.
And if this made you feel really sleepy and you want to take a nap.
Go for it,
Take a nap.
That means your body needs it.
Just holding this space.
Not doing anything.
Just.
.
.
Breathing.
And letting a heartbeat beat.
I want you to visualize yourself just floating in this water.
The water is very calm.
There is.
No big movement,
You just roll in there.
And even if you don't know how to float in water.
This is just an imaginary water and.
.
.
In this imagination you can float just perfectly fine.
You feel very comfortable.
You feel a little warmth beneath you from the water than what you can imagine this water is.
Unconditional love.
I knew you were just drifting on this.
Ocean of Unconditional Love I want you to feel the water beneath you.
Charging every cell of your body with unconditional love.
We feel nothing but.
.
.
Love.
Your soul love.
No matter how you feel about yourself or your life.
Your circumstances,
Your job,
Your relationships,
Everything.
You are loved.
The universe loves you.
Even those parts that you don't really love so much about yourself.
There is this.
Total acceptance.
And as you're brawling and feeling this unconditional love.
You are reminded all the time.
How it was when you were baby.
You're just there not needing to do anything or trying to do anything,
But you were loved.
And as you continue to float on this ocean of unconditional love.
You feel held.
You feel seen.
If you understood.
And you feel loved.
And as you allow this love to permeate.
Through every single cell of your body.
You feel.
The calmness.
Seeping through.
Every corner of your body.
You're calm.
Your peace.
You are loved.
I want you to enjoy this.
Feeling of calmness,
Peace,
And love.
Let it soak up.
A thing.
Every single cell of your body.
And now We are going to gently bring this.
Calmness,
Peace,
And love.
Back into our physical realm.
So slowly.
.
.
Wiggle all toes and fingers.
Rotate our wrists and ankles.
And gently.
Shake your head yes and no.
And whenever you're ready.
Slowly.
Open your eyes.
Welcome back.
How do you feel?
I hope you feel.
Well rested.
Maybe a little bit drowsy.
You feel at ease.
A mellow.
So imagine you are that car who just been parked.
In the parking lot for a little bit.
And even if you choose to get back on the highway,
Take it easy.
You might wanna drive around.
At a slower speed before.
You get yourself back on the full speed.
Taking time.
To hit the pause button.
In your life is so important.
It allows you to.
Hit that much needed reset button and.
.
.
It helps you to realign yourself,
Especially if you've been feeling a little bit off.
Or the momentum from outside is dictating your life too much.
So if you know of anyone who could use this a little respite in life please feel free to share this episode.
And if you haven't already,
Please follow me so that you will be notified next time I release a new guided meditation.
Feel free to review or leave a comment,
I would love to know.
How it was for you and.
.
.
If you have any suggestion for the future guided meditation topic,
I would also love to hear that from you.
Thank you again for joining me on this.
So healing journey together.
I appreciate you hitting the play button today.
Having this moment to just chill out and rest.
I'm sending you all my love and support as always.
I love you all.
Thank you for listening.
And I will see you next time.
