Thank you for joining me for this guided visualization to set and maintain boundaries with your ancestors.
I'm Sarah Taylor,
Neuroscientist turned life coach for women with invisible and inherited trauma.
We do this practice from a place of love,
Not anger or frustration,
So if you need to discharge any aggressive energy,
I invite you to pause this meditation and visualization and engage in some physical activity that will allow that energy to move so that your body and mind can settle in for this practice.
As we begin,
I invite you to settle your awareness into your body,
Perhaps rocking it back and forth,
Twisting or feeling your feet and seat firmly planted on your chair,
Floor,
Or bed underneath you.
Now,
Focus your attention at your center or core.
Notice that you are present and have a form that we call a body.
Notice your boundaries as you move your attention from your core out to the edges of your physical body,
Your skin.
Then bring your attention back into your core.
Now I invite you to bring your attention to your peripersonal space,
And that is the space around you that you can reach,
So it's about arm's length in every direction,
So it would extend out like an oval around you.
This space is your boundary.
From here,
I invite you to notice what is with you.
Move from head to foot and notice what sensations are present.
Just a quick scan,
No need to analyze or judge or figure anything out.
We're just noticing.
You can say out loud what you notice if you'd like.
This doesn't have to be meditative.
Next,
I invite you to scan from head to toe and notice what emotions or energy is with you and where.
Is your head buzzy and active?
Maybe you find sadness in your eyes or chest.
Maybe you find delight in your feet.
And finally,
Scan from head to toe once more and notice what thoughts are with you and where.
They might not all be in your head.
Don't follow the thoughts,
Just notice.
You might have a thought about your next meal or the email you need to respond to,
A recent argument,
Or maybe even the quality of my voice.
There's nothing to do,
Just noticing.
Now that you know what is with you,
You can notice any differences as a result of this practice.
We'll begin by acknowledging and thanking all of our ancestors for our lives.
For without them,
We wouldn't be here.
Each and every one of our ancestors has a place in our family,
Even the ones we don't talk about.
They too are welcome as we acknowledge those who have come before us.
We also acknowledge that many of our ancestors carry burdens and unprocessed experiences or emotions.
We feel these and they can influence us in our own emotions,
Thoughts,
And actions.
So we come to our burdened ancestors and acknowledge their suffering and what they continue to carry.
We too know what it's like to suffer and to carry burdens.
In that,
We are not so different.
While we can't attend to all the burdens,
We can attend to our own.
But sometimes our burdened ancestors join in with us,
Perhaps to try to resolve their own experiences,
Or perhaps with good intentions to try to help us by agreeing with us and amplifying the intensity of our own suffering.
Sort of a,
Me too,
I know what that's like.
Since this happens,
We're just going to ask all of those ancestors who carry burdens,
Who carry unresolved experiences,
Who carry unprocessed pain,
Fear,
Anger,
Grief,
And sadness,
To please give us space.
We ask that you step back and out of our peripersonal space.
We ask that you step back again,
A little further away.
And we invite our burdened ancestors to a beautiful space of their own.
Perhaps a meadow,
A mountaintop,
Or a banquet hall.
You,
Dear listener,
Can notice what you think is appropriate for those who you are working with.
There's no wrong answer.
Once you've generated a space for our burdened ancestors to rest,
You can generate gifts with their mind.
Because we just need more space.
You can offer unlimited food and drink,
Music,
Fires,
Warm blankets,
Dry shoes,
Soft beds,
Or maybe just uninterrupted rest.
Whatever they need or want,
They can have.
And we thank our burdened ancestors.
We thank them for giving us space.
And we ask that they continue to give us space so that we can work with just our own emotions,
Thoughts,
And actions.
And we ask that our burdened ancestors look kindly on us as we pursue our own destiny as their descendants.
And now we turn and call out to our free and clear,
Compassionate,
And loving ancestors who are unbound and unburdened.
We all have many of these.
We may not know them by name,
And that's okay.
We call on those who are willing and able to support us in our path without condition or agenda.
And we ask them to come closer,
To encircle us,
To strengthen our boundary with our burdened ancestors,
And support us with the wisdom and love that they have for us,
Their descendants.
We ask also that these free and clear ancestors look kindly on us.
We ask for their blessing.
We ask for good fortune as we live our lives and pursue our destiny with ease and grace.
We close by thanking all of our ancestors for the life we have been given because they lived and chose to pass life on.
Thank you.
And now,
Dear listener,
I invite you once again to notice what sensations are with you from your head to your toes.
What emotions or energy are with you from your head to your toes?
What thoughts are with you from your head to your toes?
What differences do you notice?
Or do you notice a difference at all?
There is no right answer.
This practice can be used as a daily practice to set the stage for a loving and boundaried relationship with your ancestors.
You can listen along a few times and then adapt for your own life and personality.
You don't have to use the words that I use,
But I do ask that you maintain an energy of gratitude and compassion.
You can use a shortened version of this practice in moments of intense emotion or in challenges or when you find yourself triggered by something that maybe doesn't make sense.
This practice can serve as a mini-clearing,
Giving you space to attend to your own part of the current circumstances without the weight of the emotions and thoughts of your unresolved and unburdened ancestors.
It may be that you notice a more significant difference in what is with you when you use this practice as a clearing than as a way to set and maintain boundaries.
You can play with it.
Make it your own.
And do remember to approach your ancestors with respect and compassion because whatever they carried,
Whatever their burdens,
They didn't begin with them either.
Thank you and many blessings to you.
