I'm going to sit today and I have a lovely meditation that connects to the metal element in Chinese medicine.
The metal element is an incredible element.
It's the minerals in the earth that support the trees growing,
That support the earth.
It's this purity within us,
This pristineness.
It's the honor and the reverence that we have.
And it connects deeply to the spiritual body,
The energetic body that lives inside of us.
The metal element speaks to presence and the ability to let go of the past,
To see fully in the present moment.
So let's start to breathe deeply.
Filling our lungs and releasing.
The lungs are one of the organs connected to the metal element.
As we use the lungs to come into the present.
We use the breath to let go of what isn't serving us.
And this subtle energetic body within us can be sensed through the breath.
Filling the belly,
Filling the chest.
We'll start our three part breath.
We take a deep inhale,
Fill the belly,
The chest,
And the collar bones.
Hold.
Exhale,
Collar bones,
Belly,
Chest.
Inhale,
Expand the belly.
Expand the ribs.
Expand the collar bones.
Release the collar bones,
Ribs,
And belly.
Continuing on your own rhythm.
Finding your pace that allows a deep calmness and centeredness.
And start to notice the subtle energy body around the skin,
Beneath the skin.
The sensations around the body,
The space,
The air that surrounds us.
As we continue this deep belly and chest,
Collar bones.
Noticing the subtle effects that the breath has on the mind.
The soft blanket calming the mind.
Feeling the oxygen flowing through the cells of the body.
Traveling through the highways of our internal landscape.
Feeling the organs as it flows in and out of the belly.
And releasing the breath,
Filling the belly,
And releasing the breath.
Sitting for a moment in silent observation.
To notice the effects of the practice in just a few moments.
What these subtle effects bring to our experience.
Notice the spaciousness within the body.
The expansiveness beyond the borders of our skin.
As if you were everything,
Boundless.
I want you now to imagine.
Imagine that you're standing in a plane,
A big plane,
Flying through the sky,
Looking out,
Out through the door that's open as you get ready to skydive.
And as the plane moves and flies through the air,
You can see the planet beneath you sitting quietly.
Imagine your arrival,
Waiting to receive you.
And you look below and you see this amazing lake,
This huge body of water ready to catch you.
You smile,
Because it's time.
And you gently bend the knees and hop.
Swan diving into the universe.
Free.
Wind flowing through your hair.
Uninhibited as you gently glide into the planet.
And as you start to get closer to the ground,
A parachute opens and pulls you back.
And this feeling of freedom is no longer there.
This stuckness comes holding you back.
And you look behind you and notice what's holding you back,
And it's these ropes at the parachute,
Representing the things that are holding us back from freedom in our life.
So we take our pair of scissors that are in our pocket,
And we look back and we see one of these strands,
This fear,
And we cut the fear that's holding us back.
And we start to gain a little bit more speed,
Closer to freedom.
And we look back and we see doubt.
We think of all the things in our life that we've doubted when we've doubted ourselves.
We doubted it would work out.
We didn't trust.
We move our scissors and cut the doubt.
No more doubt.
And we've got two more cords to cut.
And we're getting close.
We look back.
What's holding you back?
We see anger,
Resentment.
All the times I was angry and I couldn't see,
I couldn't see the truth.
We cut,
Ah,
No more anger,
Just understanding.
And we're getting closer and closer and we have one more to cut.
We turn around.
What's holding me back?
Greed,
Desire.
What I want to happen has been holding me back from what wants to happen.
And we take our scissors and the last one,
We cut this desire,
This greed.
We cut,
Ah,
And we find that freedom floating down.
The smooth sailing through the ether.
And splash we land.
Ah,
This cool expansive pond.
As if we've landed into the womb of the earth.
Noticing ourselves float at the top of the lake.
Supported.
Gentle.
And a deep inhale,
Exhale,
Allow this to release the practice.
Letting go of the practice and coming back to the present.
And we'll sit for just another moment.
And I'll ask a question.
Just allow whatever experience comes automatically.
No need to answer.
Just to feel the experience.
Maybe a word comes.
Maybe a feeling comes.
What am I here to protect?
What am I here to honor?
What am I here to protect?
What has brought me to this planet?
And what am I here to protect?
To honor?
To speak for?
To speak for?
Allowing whatever experience wants to come.
Just allowing the spaciousness.
And resting in that spaciousness.
Let's take a deep inhale,
Exhale,
To release.
Bringing our hands to the sides of the ribs just to notice the breath coming in and out.
To honor our lungs.
The essential aspects of our life.
They bring us air.
They give us life.
Our hands come to heart center.
Anjali Mudra,
The hands meet.
And we take a gentle bow of gratitude for this incredible life.
For the experiences we've had,
The challenges that have come up.
That this path,
This life has given us.
Awareness is the platform for wisdom to arrive.
The wisdom is always there.
The awareness allows us to access.
The enlightened in me sees and honors the enlightened in you.
We're the same.
Namaste.
