Hello and welcome to the official launch of the Daily Insight here on Insight Timer.
My name is Sarah Blondin and I am a teacher here.
Today's meditation is going to be a gentle practice that focuses on accessing your inner source of hope and optimism.
It can be useful when you're feeling overwhelmed,
Disheartened,
Or stuck in a muddy place of fear and insecurity.
I wish you a restorative practice and look forward to seeing you again next month.
And of course,
Happy New Year!
To start off on a bit of a personal note,
I have found myself in this last year overwhelmed with feelings of fear and despair,
Both inside myself and for the earth.
I sense the collective heart of our world is a bit heavy and I know I'm not alone in feeling this.
So on this first day of this new year,
I'd like to instill hope and offer a way for us to cultivate optimism instead of remaining caught in our concern and pain.
We are not wrong to feel distressed and heartache.
In fact,
We are really right to feel these things.
We are highly intuitive beings who can sense subtle currents of disharmony both inside of ourselves and in our surroundings.
So when feelings of despair and dread come up,
It is important we recognize that our body is signaling to us that something is amiss.
Something very loving and essential is rising inside of us that is in opposition to the fraught frequency a lot of us are finding us caught in.
We are being asked to restore balance and harmony in any way we can and the best place to start is within ourselves.
If wise,
We can use our hopelessness as a call to not recycle our grief but instead deepen our roots and connection with our true nature.
This is how we cultivate hope,
How we take despair and spin gold.
We walk toward the ache and the sting of our heaviness,
So to unveil and invite the healing powers of our hearts.
Let us find hope this new year in our own bodies,
In our latent capabilities to stand as a beacon of light burning back the dark.
Let us refuse to stay immobile in our dread and rise as we are being called to,
To take care,
Fasten to truth,
And hold in our love.
I'm going to guide you through a practice now to show you how you can do this.
So let's just begin by breathing deeply into your body,
Sending your breath down to your toes,
Out through your fingers,
And up through the crown of your head.
Drive your breath through the length of your body.
Say yes to growing your body strong in posture and awareness.
Say yes to your walls falling away.
Say yes to receiving grace.
Create a strong spine and inner confidence while at the same time stepping into the softest,
Most loving aspect of your being,
Unguarded and ready to give and receive love.
We must go inside of ourselves when we are in suffering and gently push at the tender and sore spots.
This is how we challenge what is hard with our loving awareness.
What happens when we actually turn toward these places with our attention is they begin to drain and shrink in size.
And often you can find the helplessness of the distress gets revealed.
You can see that these displays of the world's fear and our individual fear are but places asking for love.
Compassion is innate to us.
If we become soft in the face of what feels hard,
We deactivate one reaction,
We heal one small corner,
And we make it safe for others to do the same.
Everything can move if we do not help it.
These things are ours to hold.
These arms,
These hands,
This heart of yours are so capable of loving,
Dear one.
This you know how to do.
I'd like you to really look within yourself now for anything you wish to mend or soothe.
Give names to what you sense needs help.
Let what you intuitively feel be spoken aloud.
Bless and comfort the uncomfortable.
Bless that it be nourished,
That it be loved,
And it will be so.
Now pause in this open space,
Empty of what you feel,
And allow grace to find you,
Dear one.
Let it sprout up from the cracks around your feet.
Let it pour into you.
In many shamanic societies,
If you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened,
Dispirited,
Or depressed,
They would ask one of four questions.
When did you stop dancing?
When did you stop singing?
When did you stop being enchanted by stories?
When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?
If we long for peace,
It must begin first in this way,
Within our own body,
Mind,
And spirit.
Remember to dance beside your struggles.
Remember how to sing your pain to sleep.
Remember how to find refuge in the silence of your body.
When we allow ourselves to come close to all of what we are feeling,
As we just did,
We reclaim our agency.
We unearth hope in ourselves and in the world around us.
When we search for goodness within ourselves,
When we ask for healing,
We begin to see it everywhere we look.
Accept the invitation to your growth and expansion by stepping out from the fright and inertia to shake your love awake.
Taking a deep breath,
Coming to gently stretch in your body and open your eyes whenever you're ready.
Thank you for taking the time to ground yourself in the loving frequency of your body,
For joining me to cultivate and remember the hope born from choosing to lead with and stand in love.
Sending blessings to each and every one of you.
And again,
Happy New Year.
