Sanctuary for Inner Peace

Root into a deep sense of inner peace through this guided meditation practice inspired by the artwork of Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Our experience of the world is a reflection of our internal landscapes. Cultivate the world within and the world will be all flowers.

Transcript

In today's meditation practice we'll be exploring the sense of sanctuary that emerges from bridge over a pond of water lilies by impressionist painter Claude Monet.

Begin by finding a comfortable seated position.

Rest your hands receptively on your lap.

Lift and lengthen up out of the spine imprinting the stignified posture in the body.

Shoulders draw back slightly blooming the heart forward through a broad just.

Whenever you're ready close your eyes.

As you come into stillness you might sense the breath at the heart,

The gentle rising and falling there.

We open today's practice with a simple inquiry into what's going on inside of you.

What most wants your attention.

Allow the answer to form and sit with it.

All of it.

Feel your body breathing at the most cellular level.

Gently scanning through your body relaxing from the inside out.

Feel a heaviness lift from behind your eyes.

Your brows smooth,

Your jaw soft.

You might invite a smile to your lips.

Notice yourself starting to feel more at ease.

There is a sanctuary in the garden of the mind.

A place of stillness,

Of quiet.

There the flowers are always in bloom as if each day were a rite of spring.

Lush glossy leaves intertwine with the flora and dangle bunched in garlands that adorn wilting willows almost indistinguishable from the thick surrounding brush.

The scene is reflected in a pond giving it the appearance of a deep emerald forest pool.

The lilies that adorn the surface of the water emit a sweet perfume that imprints itself on the skin like a soothing memory.

Breathe into this space.

Notice how every breath fills the lungs with fresh air.

And breathing is to bear a blind witness to a harmonious exchange.

The exhale becomes the inhale.

The inhale becomes the exhale.

All things are cyclical in nature.

Nothing is created.

Nothing is lost.

Everything is transformed.

Breathe deeply.

Return to your nature.

Fill your lungs with conscious breath.

Ground into this moment with this nourishing breath.

Notice the feeling tone in your body.

You can always return to this breath,

To the space it creates inside for you.

Each time you practice a purity of presence,

There is an opening up to the world like a flower fanning its petals and bursting into bloom.

Though it is not always possible to sustain the bloom,

Know that there is always fertile ground for organic integration,

For pollination,

For life to become more beautiful even though all things are ephemeral.

Peel back the tightly matted petals that conceal your inner radiance and constrain your proportions.

Shed the fear,

The doubts,

The layers that give you living smaller than your true form.

Don't try to hide them by burying them deep inside the shallow trenches of a fragmented self.

No one will suffer more than you.

Instead,

Plant sunshine into your solar plexus and radiate your heart forward.

Let your light spill over and honey your existence.

Feel the places where your body contacts the earth.

Notice the changing field of sensations there.

The warm,

The cool,

The tightness,

The tingling,

The sweetness,

The felt sense of release with every breath.

Plant yourself again into the life that's right here.

Cultivate your awareness of the world within and the world will jet flowers from the marrow in your bones.

The world in you and around you needs your softness and vulnerability.

Resist the reflex of protection.

All life is fragile,

But more fragile still is the unlived life that has yet to see the light.

DH Lawrence once wrote,

It is a question practically of relationship.

We must get back into relation,

Vivid and nourishing relation to the cosmos and the universe.

For the truth is we are perishing for lack of fulfillment of our greater needs.

We are cut off from the great sources of our inward nourishment and renewal.

Sources which flow eternally in the universe.

Vitally the human race is dying.

It is like a great uprooted tree with its roots in the air.

We must plant ourselves again in the universe.

Breathe deep and full.

Know that each time you return to your breath you're building your capacity to be with your experience,

Whatever the weather.

You are rooting again into the universe.

Touch into this space of inner peace.

Be here now.

Rest here with the fullness of each breath.

I'll mind the time and say a few final words when I invite you to bring your practice to a close.

On the meaning of love as given to us by Brené Brown.

We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be known and seen.

And when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust,

Respect,

Kindness,

And affection.

Love is not something we give or get.

It is something we nurture and grow.

A connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them.

We can only love others as much as we love ourselves.

Take a moment to connect in with that sensation.

Notice the point from which love emanates.

As poet this line Katame writes,

It was only when we decided to let love lead the way that we found the right way to love.

Love is the bridge we are learning to cross to go more fully into ourselves and by extension more fully into our connection with others.

Begin to open up the senses.

Take a deep breath in through the nose and sigh it out through the mouth.

Filling up on the life that's right here and taking with you the awareness of the sanctuary for inner peace and the bridge you can choose to cross at any moment to arrive fresh again in an organic experience of love.

Reviews

Rich and compelling guidance
I like the way Sarah uses other people’s quotes and poems as well as her own creative and unique imagery. Very glad to have discovered her this rainy morning.

So beautiful, exactly what I needed. Thank you, namaste 🙏🏻

Very sweet and soothing, loved the quotes—-beautiful ❤️

Exquisite💐. Gentle, yet powerful. Thank you so very much🙏🏻.

Wonderful soothing Voice. Nourishing words ans pictures. Thank you ♡

Most beautiful since I have been there in Giverny, that place is magical.

Very helpful towards gaining peace and perspective. Thank you.

Rating 5 stars because most of it was beautiful, profound and soothing. But agree with others about the poem at the end. It did not seem to fit with the rest of the meditation and disturbed the peaceful feeling I had. Will not keep me from coming back to this one, but may skip the end and finish on my own.

Lovely. And I liked the quiet moments, too. Thank you.

Beautiful words and imaginary. Completely at peace. Thank you.

A poetic experience, thanks.

That really was beautiful.

Lovely and beautiful words filled with imagery. Two poems that reached my heart. Thank you. 💫✨💫✨

Thank you for a meditation that allows for stillness and silence.