Welcome.
If you found your way to this meditation,
I want you to know something first.
I see you.
I see the weight you've been carrying,
The way you keep showing up,
Day after day,
Even when every part of you is screaming that you have nothing left to give.
You're exhausted,
Not just tired,
But you have a deep weariness that sleep doesn't seem to touch.
And yet,
Here you are,
Still going,
Still fighting,
Still putting one foot in front of the other.
Before we begin,
I want to share something with you.
I've been where you are.
I know what it's like to feel completely depleted,
To wonder how you'll possibly find the strength for another day.
I have faced loss.
I have faced rebuilding from nothing.
I have faced those moments where the only thing keeping me moving was the fact that stopping didn't feel like an option.
So this isn't theory,
This is lived experience,
And I'm going to share with you what I discovered when I had nothing left.
Let's begin.
Find a position that feels comfortable.
You don't need to sit perfectly.
You don't need to do anything right.
Just settle wherever you are.
If you're lying down,
Let your body sink into whatever surface is supporting you.
If you're sitting,
Let your shoulders drop,
Let your hands rest wherever feels natural.
Now,
I'm not going to ask you to relax completely,
Because I know that when you're this exhausted,
Being told to just relax can feel impossible.
Your body has been in survival mode.
It doesn't know how to let go.
So instead,
I'm going to ask you to simply notice.
Notice your breath.
Don't change it.
Don't judge it.
Just notice it's there.
Moving in,
Moving out.
Your body doing this one essential thing without you having to think about it.
That breath,
That's proof.
Proof that even when you feel like you have nothing left,
Something in you is still sustaining you.
Something deeper than willpower.
Something that knows how to keep going.
I want to ask you a question,
And I want you to be honest with yourself.
How long have you been running on empty?
Is it weeks?
Months?
Maybe longer?
How many times have you told yourself,
I just need to get through this,
And then the next thing came,
And the next,
And somehow getting through became your permanent state?
Here's what I've learned from my own journey through exhaustion.
We often don't realize how depleted we become until we're forced to stop.
We adapt.
We adjust.
We lower our expectations of what okay feels like until surviving becomes our version of thriving.
But that's not living,
That's enduring.
And you my friend,
You deserve more than endurance.
Now here's what I want you to understand,
And this might surprise you.
You have more strength than you think.
Not because you need to dig deeper,
Or try harder,
Or push through more.
You've done enough of that.
No,
You have more strength because there are reserves inside you that exhaustion has hidden from view.
They're not depleted,
They're just blocked,
Covered over by the weight of everything you've been carrying.
Think of it like this.
Imagine a well.
When you're constantly drawing from it without letting it refill,
The water level drops.
It looks empty.
You think there's nothing left.
But the water is still there underground,
And the source hasn't dried up.
You just need to stop drawing and give it time to rise again.
That's where you are right now.
The source hasn't dried up.
So how do we let that well refill?
This is the part that changed everything for me,
And it's so simple that you might dismiss it.
But I'm asking you to trust me on this.
When I was at my most depleted,
When I genuinely didn't know how I would keep going,
I discovered that healing didn't come from grand gestures or massive changes.
It came from returning to the simplest things.
Take a slow breath in now,
And as you breathe out,
Let your shoulders drop just a fraction.
That right there,
That tiny release,
That's where it starts.
Not a complete transformation,
Not fixing everything at once,
Just one small moment of care for yourself.
I'm going to guide you through something I call returning to simple.
These are the things that began to bring me back when I had nothing left,
And I believe they can help you too.
The first simple thing is breath.
You're already breathing,
But right now let's make this one breath intentional.
Breathe in slowly through your nose,
Feeling your chest and your belly expand,
And breathe out slowly through your mouth like you're gently blowing out a candle.
One intentional breath,
That's self-care,
That's you choosing yourself,
Even for just a moment.
The second simple thing is touch.
Place one hand on your chest,
Feel the warmth of your own palm against your body.
This is you connecting with yourself,
Grounding yourself in your own physical presence.
When was the last time you gave yourself this simple kindness?
The third simple thing,
Permission.
This one doesn't require any movement,
Just a thought.
Right now I want you to give yourself permission to not be okay.
Permission to be tired,
Permission to struggle,
Permission to not have it all figured out.
You've spent so long being strong for everyone else,
Using your strength to hold things together.
What if,
Just for this moment,
You didn't have to be strong?
What if you could just be?
Here's what I know to be true.
Your strength isn't gone,
It's waiting.
But it's not waiting for you to push harder,
It's waiting for you to be gentle with yourself.
The energy you're looking for,
The drive you think you've lost,
It will return,
Not through force,
But through care.
Small acts of kindness towards yourself.
A few minutes outside,
Feeling the air on your face,
A glass of water drunk slowly with attention.
A moment like this one,
Where you stop and remember that you matter too.
These simple things aren't luxuries,
They're not rewards you earn after everything else is done,
They are the foundation,
They are how you rebuild.
Before we finish,
I want to leave you with this.
Have you already proven how strong you are?
You have.
Every day you've gotten through when you didn't think you could.
Every time you kept going when giving up seemed easier.
Every moment you've chosen to try again.
That is strength.
But now I'm inviting you to use some of that strength differently.
Instead of using it all to push through,
Use a little of it to care for yourself.
That's not weakness,
That's wisdom.
Take one more slow breath with me.
Breathe in and out.
You have more strength than you know and you have permission to start using it for you.
When you're ready and there's no rush,
Begin to bring your awareness back to where you are.
Notice the surface beneath you,
The sounds around you.
Wiggle your fingers if you like,
Or your toes.
And when you're ready,
If your eyes have been closed,
Let them gently open.
You've given yourself time,
This moment of care.
Carry that with you and remember,
You don't have to find your strength,
You just have to stop hiding it from yourself.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for trusting me with this time.
I am honored to walk this path alongside you.
