So let's do a little,
Just a gentle,
Short,
Lovely meditation together,
If you'd like.
Maya Angelou said,
I love this day.
I've never seen this one before.
This is a good day.
And I love that idea that I've never seen this day before.
Waking up with a sort of wonder and curiosity.
And the older I get,
The more I realize that this life is not something to take for granted.
And that it won't be mine for too long.
So every day when I wake,
I have my eyes opening to see rain or sun or mist.
I'm just saying thank you.
Touching down into this body,
Closing the eyes,
Harvesting this abundance around us.
That's a skill.
It's an art form.
So let's close our eyes now and just settle into this body.
Deeper and deeper still.
And we breathe.
We just breathe.
Aware of our in-breath,
Aware of our out-breath.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my in-breath.
Breathing out,
I'm aware of my out-breath.
The analogy that my sons love for meditating is,
Can you be a stone sinking to the bottom of the sea and settling?
Settling deeper,
Deeper,
Deeper.
Anchoring into the very bottom of you.
Down from the mind,
Down from the exit.
Down from the mind,
Down from the external.
Into the home and the body that is us.
This longing that we all feel the ache of.
It's our body's intuitive way to lead us and show us home to our ground,
To our foundation,
To our hearts.
It's what I believe.
And I have dedicated my entire life to following and heeding the call of this longing.
And I found its voice was just asking me to come home to see,
To see and feel and discover the mystery of my being.
To accept the dynamic play of life,
The emotions,
The heartache,
The fear,
The worries,
The doubt,
The chaos,
The grieving.
Inside me is a being that can house and hold and encompass all of these sounds of life,
Pressures of life.
But if we haven't anchored inside of us,
In our silence,
There's little resilience.
So,
We come inside to cultivate resilience.
And we feel a loving presence kind of grounding us in ourselves and just finding a peaceful whisper at the core.
When all is said and done,
Not much will amount to anything but the peace we have gained inside of us.
The peace is what we're here to find.
So,
Just putting your hand on your heart and really agreeing,
Agreeing to and coming into conversation with your heart,
With this quiet center in you.
Curious and sincere,
Willing and able to meet what lives in you.
This is the one step I wish was really encouraged.
The first step we must take is within and everything else gets easier from this seat,
This seat of awareness.
So,
Just really acknowledging and honoring the voice of longing that led you to this summit,
Led you to this moment with me,
Led you to this discovery and union.
Taking a moment to see,
Feel,
And love the mystery of your life.
Just finding that grateful tone.
And though we suffer much in our lives,
Though we are touched by many an unkind experience,
We have within us a friend,
A friend that speaks in peace and welcome and compassion and generosity and love.
This is who we are and this is who we have come to know.
So,
Just finding gratitude for all of it.
The pressures that led you to touch into the heart and the depth and the breadth of your inner world are thank you.
I am here in this body.
I am home.
I am here in this body and I care.
I am here in this body and I accept the responsibility to pivot,
To live and move governed by love and kindness,
Curiosity and wonder.
May I move forward now with this grace as my anchor,
With this grace and love as my North Star.
And if I get lost,
May I remember to ground here in what is good and what is true and what is pure.
So be it.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my in-breath.
Breathing out,
I'm aware of my out-breath.
Big sigh of grace,
Opening our eyes to the beauty of this day,
To the beauty of this moment,
To the beauty of ourselves and this incredible community.
So may you live in peace and ease.
May you be safe.
May you be protected.
May you remember who you are.
May I remember who I am.
And may we mirror to every living thing and every being we come to meet and touch and love that same goodness at our core.
You
