Guided Meditation 3.
1 Finding Your Resonating Self-Witness Notice that you are a breathing being and that you can feel what shapes unfurl in your lungs with your breath as you inhale.
Notice the sensation of your breath for a moment and see if your attention is willing to stay there.
If your attention wanders now or at any point during this meditation,
Gently and with warmth bring it back to what you wanted to focus on.
Imagine that you are standing at a gate and that you can see a path stretching in front of you into a landscape that you love.
It might be a beach or a garden,
It might be the rainforest,
You may love city sidewalks,
The sand of the desert,
You may enjoy the mountains.
Open the gate and step onto this path that you love and start walking.
What does the surface of the path feel like under your feet?
What do you smell,
See,
Taste,
Feel against your skin?
What do you hear?
Are there any bird songs or sounds?
Can you hear the wind rustling leaves or grass?
If this place you have chosen is a familiar place,
Let your imagination make it more mysterious so that there are things you don't know about it.
Up ahead there is a bend that takes you into a hidden area.
As you turn the corner,
There is a beautiful place to sit,
A comfortable fallen log or a sun-warmed boulder or bench.
Sit down and allow yourself to rest and enjoy this place.
While you're resting,
If it is available to you,
Let yourself imagine that there is a presence here,
A presence that can see you and love you and that knows you deeply,
Knows you intimately.
This presence feels affection for you and cares about your well-being.
This presence knows every part of you and why you do things.
This presence sees the best in you with a very generous and open heart and knows your best intentions and the love that lies at the heart of your actions and your plans.
What is it like to be seen by eyes of love?
If you can feel this love coming toward you,
This is your resonating self-witness.
This figure will be your accompaniment as you move along the journey of this book.
If you cannot imagine this presence,
Then I'd like you to imagine that this book itself is your compassionate and resonating self-witness and that love,
Acceptance,
Gentleness,
And welcome are emanating from its pages.
So this presence,
Whether it is the book or whether it is your own resonating self-witness,
Is curious and open,
Gently waiting for you to notice that it is there.
It is attuning to you,
Wondering about your experience and whether it understands the meaning that you are making.
As you bring your attention to it,
You are able to see who this is.
This presence may be your best self or a beloved grandparent or teacher or spiritual figure or animal or friend.
This presence does not think that it is better than you or smarter than you.
It just loves you and is focused on you.
Take a few moments to feel how your body responds to being cared about,
To having someone be interested in your experience.
And when you are ready,
If you would like to,
Invite your resonating self-witness to come back along the path with you.
As the two of you come near the border of your path,
You see your breathing body sitting there on the other side of your gate.
Bringing your resonating self-witness with you,
Ride your breath back into your body and let this presence settle within you.
Feel where your self-witness comes to rest.
Is it in your heart?
In your abdomen?
Notice how your body is doing.
Welcome your sensations and your emotions.
You may be experiencing any emotion,
Anger,
Joy,
Heartache,
Sorrow,
Delight or frustration.
Whatever is happening for you is important and leads you to your deeper needs.
You may be celebrating self-connection or mourning self-hate,
Mistrust or bitterness.
Your experience matters.
As you work with this meditation over time,
All those who have walked this path before you are holding you with understanding and resonance,
Lending their compassionate and resonating self-witnesses to you for your strength and experience.
You are not alone on this path.
As we finish this meditation,
Take your time to allow your eyes to open and let yourself fully return to your breathing,
To your body,
And to the present moment.
