Recovering Our Lost Gifts - A Talk & Guided Practice

In life, whether from childhood or from transition into adulthood, we sometimes lose parts of ourselves, our personal gifts, either from challenges, hardships or life choices. Sometimes these events can darken or hide the parts of us that are beautiful treasures. By taking care of these spaces within ourselves and restoring balance, we can bring these important parts of ourselves back to life again. This guided meditation takes us on that journey together. Let's explore!

Transcript

Hi,

I'd like to welcome you to today's guided meditation.

Normally I like to move directly into the meditation.

However,

This particular meditation is specific and the work we will be doing together is best if I explain the motivation behind this piece with you first.

I'm going to share four stories with you,

And all of these stories are different,

But with similar themes running through them.

The common thread of the stories speak of hope,

Of bringing back life,

Which was on the edge of extinction.

The first story is about Romeo,

The Bolivian Cewenka's water frog.

He was named by his keepers and was thought to be the very last of his kind.

He lived at a natural history museum for ten years.

The naturalists working with Romeo often heard him calling for a mate.

The researchers who were helping him decided to try and help Romeo to see if they could find a mate for him.

They even created an online match dating profile for him looking for his Juliet.

Ten years passed and no luck.

As researchers began to go back out into the rainforest where Romeo was originally from,

They finally were able to discover his Juliet waiting for him.

The conservation center is currently treating Juliet to make sure she is healthy,

And will look to see if the two will be able to mate with one another.

Their match may create new life after all.

The second story of recovery is that of the Gila Top Minnow of Santa Cruz River near Tucson,

Arizona.

The species was thought to be gone from the area and was placed on the endangered species list.

However,

Fish biologists have recently discovered their return.

It has been forty-five years since they have been back to this area.

The reason?

Cleaning up the source of water that was running through the Santa Cruz River,

And it was being polluted by sewage.

These areas have been damaged by pollution for many years,

And after cleaning the water and the system surrounding it,

The Gila Top Minnow had the ability to thrive again in this place where once it was uninhabitable.

Through the work of cleaning and caring for the environment,

Balance is being restored,

Allowing the Top Minnow to come back home.

The third story is that of the Ocelot.

Ocelots are among Arizona's rarest mammals.

There's a female,

And she's currently living in the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum.

Their habitat has become endangered,

Making it difficult for them to recover.

The female at the Desert Museum recently was able to give birth to a new baby ocelot through the collaboration with the Cincinnati Zoo and botanical garden in El Paso.

They have an artificial insemination program that the Desert Museum was able to partake in.

It has been 24 years since the successful litter has been born.

The program allows the ability to fight the global endangerment of the ocelot,

And the new kitten was born in March of this year,

2019.

The fourth and last story I'd like to share with you today is that of the supergrove of newly planted redwood trees in Northern California.

75 saplings were planted in the redwood forest.

This is an endangered species of trees.

A conservation group discovered that an ancient tree stump,

Thousands of years old,

Which was thought to be dead,

Was not.

This tree stump had life growing in and around it.

The researchers were able to recover DNA and create saplings from this ancient tree,

And the 75 saplings were planted.

The hope is that by planting this new grove of champion trees,

As they are referred to,

Is that as they mature,

The redwoods have the ability to clean 250 tons of greenhouse gases per tree.

They also help restore the balance of the soil that they live in.

So what common threads exist in these four stories?

First,

Places and animals once close to extinction or thought to be are being slowly restored,

Hopefully moving back into balance with nature.

Two,

It has required collaboration,

Teamwork,

And effort along with hope to bring these species back.

In all of these cases,

It had to do with cleaning and caring for the environment that is in the surrounding place of which these species live in partnership with those who are caretaking them once again.

So how does this fit into our meditation today?

Through our lives,

Whether by choices,

Difficulties,

Or getting lost in the everyday,

There can be valuable places within each of us that can look or feel like they have become extinct,

A loss of our own natural gifts that once may have been part of us as children.

Maybe these places in us never even had the chance to develop.

We sometimes can become sick in our soul or spirit or in our bodies and need to care for them to bring this back into balance,

To restore these gifts that make us valuable to ourselves and to those around us.

Through this meditation,

We will move into the dry,

Seemingly empty spaces within and look to restore balance and begin the process of tenderly caring for ourselves.

This will allow these beautiful gifts once again to be shared.

There will be a point within the meditation that I ask you to call on the assistance of your spiritual connections to be of help.

Know that this can be individual to who you are as a person.

This is not based on any particular spiritual faith or religious tradition.

Use the spiritual connection that is closest to how you yourself practice.

Whether this is nature,

Angels,

Fairies,

Ancestors,

Universal energy,

Love for God in all forms,

Allow the connection that is close to you to come forward when we reach that part of the meditation.

Let us move now into the guided journey together.

Starting with your breath,

Move into a deeply grounded place by connecting your body with the earth and her healing body connecting with yours.

Find yourself in a comfortable place where you are seated.

Stay in a position where you will not go into a state of sleep during this meditation.

You are an active participant in this journey and it is important for this is your own journey inward.

Take a deep breath in and move your breath through the back of your body,

Up through your spine,

Up to the top of your head and as you exhale,

Imagine exhaling your breath towards the front of your body all the way back down to your feet.

Once again,

On the inhale,

Breathe your breath in with the intention that it travels up the back of your body,

Up your spine,

Again to the top of your head and exhaling moves over the front of your body,

Down your legs,

The top of your feet and back into the earth.

Allow your breath to continue moving in this way,

Creating a circle of breath around your entire body that becomes its own sacred space.

In this moment,

Ask those thoughts that aren't currently serving you to wait outside this bubble of light that you have created until you are finished with this meditation.

Now,

Imagine that a radiant pink light appears within this sacred space,

Filling it with translucent loving light.

This light appears because it's going to help you scan your body both inside and out.

Imagine that as this light surrounds you,

You continue to breathe deeply.

You inhale this beautiful pink light inside of you.

Allow this light to scan the energy inside of you and as it gently moves through your body,

Watch and follow it.

You will see the places that it is able to easily move inside of your body and bathe with light.

You also are able to see as it comes to a place within you that seems to be blocked and cannot travel into that space.

In this moment,

See if there is a place within you where this is happening.

If there is more Once you have found this place,

Imagine going within yourself where the light is not able to travel and imagine that you yourself are going to sit next to this place inside of you.

You go sit next to this place without fear or shame or judgment.

You go with the As you sit with this place within yourself,

You look closely at it and notice that it seems dry or cracked.

Cracked open almost like a dry riverbed.

Through your breath,

Gently begin to connect to this place within you.

Through this breath and this connection,

You will be able to open up a conversation with this place inside you that seems separate where the light cannot go.

When you are ready,

Ask this place inside of you these questions.

Why has it become dry or cracked?

What does it want you to know?

What gifts is it holding inside this area that if tended to might come back to life again?

In these next quiet moments,

Listen for the answers that your body shares with you.

Now ask yourself this place inside of you this question.

Will it be okay to begin to restore this part of yourself to a more healthy and balanced place?

Let this place inside of you know that this is a gentle and loving practice.

Listen for your body's answer,

Yes or no?

Honor your body's answer and its wisdom.

If it is not ready yet,

Let it know that it is okay.

Your body can just continue to listen to the meditation without doing the specific practices and just taking in the words without creating specific movement.

If your body does answer yes,

Let us continue on our journey and for this next step,

We're going to ask for an energetic helper to join us.

Just as the Gila top minnow,

The ocelot,

The redwoods and the Bolivian frog all received help,

You can too.

When you are ready,

Ask which guide or helper would like to join you for the rest of the journey to hold space with you and guide you.

See who appears before you,

Whether it is an ancestor,

A guide,

An animal helper,

A teacher,

An angel,

A fairy,

God.

Let this helper come forward for you now.

You and your helper on this part of the journey greet one another with gratitude,

Grateful to be together.

Invite your guide to join you standing next to this place within you that seems separated from the flow of the rest of your body.

You see both you and your guide step into the dry riverbed together.

Imagine that you both walk together through this place and you begin to clean it up.

Look for any debris that you might pick up along your path.

See if there are boulders of blockage and together you can move them easily to the side of the riverbed.

Are there areas that are covered or congested?

Walk the length of the riverbed now within you.

Decide how best to clean these areas up and know that you are not alone.

Take some quiet time now to continue cleaning this area within yourself with the assistance of your guide.

Once you and your helper have finished cleaning and clearing the area within you that is blocked,

You imagine that you come to a gateway that seems to go between this area and the area that joins the flow of the rest of your body.

You notice that the gate is closed and is blocking the flow from reaching this place inside of yourself.

You and your helper look for the key to unlock this gate.

The key appears quite easily for you and once you discover it wait before opening the gate.

We will do this next part slowly,

Helping to restore the balance within yourself.

Before opening this gate,

It is wise to install a filter that will slow the flow that moves between the area that is flowing and this area that is dry.

With your imagination and the connection with your guide,

Decide what kind of filter you would like to put in place.

What does it look like?

How big is it?

What material is it made out of?

Is it woven thread like spider webs,

Delicate,

Gentle and strong?

Or is it a filter of energetic light that energizes the area as the connection is reopened?

It can be any kind of filter you imagine.

Take time now to allow the filter to present itself to you.

As you hold the filter in your imagination,

Allow it to appear within your hands.

You and your guide install this filter now,

Securing it into place.

You will be there temporarily until this part of you is fully integrated to the rest of yourself once again.

Now ask your body if it is ready to allow the gate to be opened up again,

Connecting the flow between your energized body and this dry area that has been separated from you.

Ask your body if it is ready to reconnect itself and discover the hidden jewels that are buried in this place within you.

When you are ready,

Ask your guide to assist you in unlocking the gate and to slowly open it up.

Because the filter is in place,

The flow into this riverbed within you begins to fill again,

To fill with the pink fluid light flowing back into the space within you,

Lovingly coating all the dry,

Tender,

Dark,

Cramped spaces,

Soothing them and revitalizing this part of you.

Feel the energy of this pink light as it moves through you now and feel how it lovingly restores you,

Feeling the peace that moves through your body.

You turn now and look at what once was a dry riverbed to see that has become a flowing river of light.

You excitedly notice that the jewels hidden within yourself in this area,

These precious and sparkling gems begin to float to the surface of the light.

You and your guide begin to collect each of these jewels one by one that are pieces of yourself that you thought were either lost or forgotten.

You imagine that there is a box in your hands and as you and your guide collect these pieces of yourself,

You lovingly place them in the box that you are holding and carry them until all the pieces are collected.

Now find a place by the side of the bank of the flowing river of light of this newly restored area of yourself and have a seat where you place the box in front of you and look upon these jewels that are pieces of yourself.

When you are ready,

You slowly take each jewel out one at a time,

Holding it in your hands lovingly and you ask each piece what secrets it holds about who you are and the gifts that you have inside of you.

Listen now to what each jewel shares with you.

You worthy for this priceless device.

Now,

Thank each part of you that has returned with gratitude for sharing this part of yourself that slowly becomes restored into balance.

Thank your guide for walking with you through this journey.

And thank your body for finding the courage to restore this flow within yourself.

Although we will be closing the meditation soon,

Just know you have the ability to access these jewels,

These parts of yourself at any time on your own by bringing them forward into your imagination to work with.

Their messages and what they have to share with you will continue to come forward to you over the next day,

Week,

Month,

Year,

In the time that is appropriate for you.

When you are ready,

Take a deep breath in,

Sending your breath up through your entire body,

Feeling it filled with light.

And exhale with a breath of gratitude for the spirit of reconnection moving through you,

This pulse of loving energy uniting yourself.

Inhale once more fully and deeply.

And upon your exhale,

Find yourself back in your meditative space,

Back in this present moment.

You are grounded,

Rejuvenated,

Restored and refreshed,

Feeling the newness of the energy flowing within you.

As your body and spirit are restored,

Allow these gifts within you to begin to find ways of expressing themselves in your life to make you even more of who you are.

Allow these gifts to be both a benefit to yourself and to those around you in their larger community of people that you are connected with.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey.

I'm grateful for being with you.

Namaste.

Reviews

Another wonderful session with Shannon! Thank you! ❤️🕯🙏

Love my box of gems🌸

What an enjoyable meditation. Thank-you so much for creating and sharing it. Definitely one to keep revisiting. 💗

Very gentle and moving ❤️

Very touching and healing. I cried at a couple parts of it.

I love the messaging here, and really appreciated the stories at the beginning prior to the meditation, particularly the mention of Romeo. I'd been following his situation for years, and was so happy when Juliet was located. (Though I still have concerns about natural vs. artificial habitats in their case.) This was a wonderful practice overall. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I see the light in you. 🤲❤️🤲