Welcome.
We offer these meditations freely and your donations make a real difference.
So thank you.
Gathering today to do a meditation.
So let's give ourselves a moment to arrive.
You may already have a preference towards eyes open or eyes closed but either way,
Let the gaze to soften.
Notice the weightedness of the pelvis and the legs.
It really landing.
And notice the lift that comes up through the spine and the heart,
The skull.
So you're not just collapsing into the floor.
There is a strength to the torso.
You can of course do this practice lying down but there's a high risk of falling asleep I find.
Sitting up is probably a more reliable position.
You could be sitting in a chair.
Tongue gently pressing up into the roof of your mouth and you may notice the spaciousness that that brings that for me,
I can feel my jaw and my teeth soften if I gently rest my tongue up into the roof of my mouth.
And it can be nice to start with a little bit of movement,
Circling the head slowly.
Avoiding dropping the head back,
Coming up and over so there's height in the neck.
And then changing direction.
Coming back to centre and circling the shoulders.
Noticing the changing landscape of those circles.
And then circling the elbows.
And if you have space and if you are inclined,
You can do full arm extensions.
And then resting your hands on your knees and allowing your heart to slowly circle,
Almost as if it's tracing the circumference of a barrel around you.
Noticing all that you find as you slow it down.
And then switching directions,
Staying in the slow lane this morning.
And coming back to centre,
You might like to circle your wrists.
I'm often surprised at how tense my hands are and my fingers are.
They're busy,
Aren't they?
Bringing softness into the fingers and the hands as you circle in both directions.
And then coming to rest your hands.
It can be nice to place one palm on top of the other in your lap.
If the right palm is at the top,
Then that's usually a little bit more indicative of wanting some action,
Not unusual in the morning.
Our body's geared up to that.
If you place the left palm on top,
It's usually geared up to more internal reflection.
Neither is wrong,
Both are right.
So wherever you naturally want to,
That's great.
So we're going to do RAIN meditation,
Inspired by the beautiful work of Tara Bragg.
RAIN stands for Recognise,
Allow,
Investigate and Nurture.
It's a very simple,
Helpful process.
It can be done in moments,
Doesn't need a 30 minute window.
Very,
Very helpful tool in life.
We're going to practice RAIN with the support of a benevolent force.
So it might be that when you need some backup,
You might find there's a place you go to in nature.
Or you might have a belief system that you trust in.
There might be a goddess or a saint or a more traditional beacon of hope that you lean upon.
It may be that you lean upon a family member,
Even if they've passed,
They're not actually alive.
There may be someone you naturally call upon for help and support.
Or it might be a pet.
There's no rules around who you ask for help from.
But we're going to do this RAIN practice with the additional asking for support.
So let's bring ourselves to our present moment.
Noticing the breath as it naturally flows in and out through your nose.
Tune your awareness into the relationship between your body and the earth beneath us.
So it's likely that you're sitting in a building and there's foundations beneath you.
Beneath that is the soil.
Pretty soon it becomes rock.
If you keep traveling down through the earth,
You come to many different textures and variations of rock until eventually it becomes fire.
In the center of the earth is fire.
And then finding your relationship with the primal streak of you,
This midline very often appears like a light,
A column of light within you.
Sometimes it's deep within the spine.
As you tune your awareness into this primal streak,
Notice how that feels.
Perhaps it brings with us a sense of lightness.
Coming up to the top of the neck where the skull sits,
We have that very clear ridge bringing your awareness there.
And allowing a sense of openness.
Spreads the whole way through the skull.
And feel into your body,
Noticing and listening for any obvious areas of tension.
And bring to mind any situation where you're filled with self-doubt or judgment or just self-aversion.
A situation where you are unable to hold yourself with compassion.
Allow yourself to visualize what's going on,
To remind yourself of the worst part of this situation,
The bit that makes you feel that there's something wrong with you.
Allow yourself to contact that most tender,
Vulnerable place in your body that feels that you are somehow wrong or bad or unlovable or unworthy.
Staying open to this sense of shame by paying particular attention to your throat.
Your heart.
And your belly.
It might be helpful to breathe in and out of the location of the feeling.
To help us stay there instead of pushing it away.
This shot below actually gave you a feel of joy,
Happiness and appreciation.
So we're saying yes to the feeling.
We're allowing the feeling.
It belongs to.
I wonder what would feel most comforting.
What kind of nurture would be most helpful and most healing.
Now that you're in this part of yourself.
Would it be words telling you that you are good and loved?
Maybe it's a hug.
Just some tenderness being seen.
And now sense who you would wish to be the source of your nurture.
Who are you calling upon?
Whose love would you find most healing?
Whose care would you trust the most?
You might imagine a dear friend or a dog or a tree or a grandparent.
Perhaps a teacher or a spiritual figure.
Or it might just be a formless presence of your own self,
Perhaps your future self.
Feel how much you long to be seen.
Loved.
Held.
Received.
And then silently whisper to call on this nurturing source.
You might say.
Please love me.
Please care for me.
Please help me.
Most accurately depict your longing.
Imagine being heard.
Imagine your vulnerability and longing are felt by that presence.
Receiving you with total love,
Understanding and care.
And sense that presence surrounding you.
Soaks into you.
Perhaps filling your body with a warm glow or a flow of golden nectar.
Filling every part of you soothing and healing.
Allow yourself to bathe in this love.
Surrender and let go and be held by this love.
To solve into loving presence.
And as we come to close the meditation,
We take a moment to bask after the rain.
What do we feel?
Now that we're listening,
Is there anything that we hear from our heart space?
What is it that we know now?
And listening to the sound of your breath.
Coming back to the space that you're in.
Noticing the furniture around you.
Space between you and the walls.
Gentle smile to yourself.
As you bring your hands to your heart center,
Drop your chin to your chest.
And offering up the fruits of our practice always to all sentient beings.
So that each time we come to practice for our own individual wellbeing,
It becomes inevitably collective.
Namaste.
