Facing Vulnerability: Meeting Anxiety, Worry & Stress With Presence

As we each face daily challenges, somehow all related to the planetary epidemic, we realize how vulnerable we truly are. Our stress, fear, and anxiety; our natural ways our mind and body try to protect itself. By noticing and accepting these parts, turning towards ourselves with loving awareness, we can ground in our hearts. We can step back and see how these challenges are showing and teaching us how to become better humans, more aligned, more connected, more present.

Transcript

Hello,

I hope you're well.

Stephanie here and we are going to begin our daily meditation as each day this is your opportunity to disconnect from the stories and find that space within yourself of connection and of groundedness and as everyone on the planet we are all in some way being affected by what's happening in the exterior world by this pandemic and I know that it's for some people very very challenging and brings up a lot of anxieties and fears whether we are directly impacted or because of our jobs or not being able to travel or possibility of losing our homes and I understand how difficult it is for everyone to live in this era of uncertainty yet at the same time it's never been such a good time to ground and find that steadiness within you and understanding that every single one of us as a human species has this capacity within ourselves to remain present and calm and to stay in the eye of the storm in a very anchored and rooted place and if you do this if you have this calling and make the commitment to show up with your presence you will also feel much much calmer and released of the fear and anxiety or anger and around you there will be that ripple effect and for your families and for your communities you will be that pillar of strength and I know very well how challenging it is to face our own vulnerabilities and really understanding that now we are vulnerable and we can see how vulnerable we are everything that we thought was sure and normal and we could count on we're realizing that those things are simply illusions but much greater than that and much more solid and powerful is this connection that we each can make within ourselves so today's practice will focus on facing our own vulnerabilities and how we can ground and steady ourselves within our own heart and in that way being present for our families and our communities and whomever we know who is suffering and to be able to guide them and show them the way so please close your eyes finding a comfortable seat feeling that connection from the bottom part of your body as it's resting upon the ground leaning into that alignment between the center of the earth your sacrum your crown at the top of your head and the space above us so feeling that alignment as you lift your spine lengthening it and at the same time anchoring the bottom part of your body and feeling the stillness and the steadiness of the ground beneath you and that you are connected and allowing the stillness and the steadiness to come up through your body calming down your nervous system and as each time let's bring our attention to our breathing by taking three deep breaths inhaling through your nose suspend your breath lengthen your spine exhale out your mouth exhale making some sound releasing letting go of stress or tension letting go of thought hold the air out notice the stillness and then breathing in again take some more air in widen your shoulders hold and exhale exhale emptying out your throat emptying out your belly bring your belly button to your spine squeeze the air out hold the air out ground the bottom part of your body and then breathe in again a nice deep breath filling up the four corners of your lungs take some more air in and exhale all the air out making sound exhaling with a sigh exhale exhale all the air out letting go letting go letting go hold the air out and then now breathing naturally in and out of your nose turning your gaze towards your breath and always remembering that throughout the meditation if you get lost in thoughts just bring your attention back to your breathing and how the breath feels in your body remembering and acknowledging the ground beneath you that is supporting you and anchoring you remembering the presence of your ancestors those millions of people and our own lineage who have walked before us who have lived through famine and war disease feeling their presence and wisdom and support behind you remembering that you're not alone and that you can also be steady and strong and then remembering in front of you in front of all of us the next generations remembering that we are here to evolve our humanity to grow and to learn to take care of this planet that we are living on that is sheltering us giving us food air water and then sensing into your body with loving awareness bowing your head and becoming aware of any areas of tightness or resistance any pain letting them intensify and then open and expand and gradually feeling a draining of this tension or stress out from your head towards your neck noticing a softening in your chest feeling a release out each of your arms down into your hands releasing any tension or tightness in your torso thank you thank these parts of you that are trying to protect you that try to protect us but remind them that you are steady now you are grounded and feel your body open and release you are now that loving awareness and sensing into your heart inviting you to put a hand or two upon your heart and notice what is there is there worry is there anger is there grief for yourself or for family or for your friends and bow to all of these emotions that are trying to protect you and turn towards them with compassion and loving awareness letting them intensify open expand and release and trusting that you can allow these emotions to move through you and as you feel the breath in and out of your heart reminding yourself of this wonderful gift of breath feeling that spaciousness in your heart letting the emotions be acknowledged allowed and recognize as ways of protecting yourself you are not resisting but you are thanking them thank you for trying to protect me and feeling a growing spaciousness in your body let's take three deep breaths into our heart to cleanse deeply breathing in and a long deep exhale out your mouth feeling that release draining down into the ground beneath you letting go of stress tension worry anxiety breathing in again filling up your heart getting into all the areas of darkness and exhale exhale making sound releasing down into the ground letting go letting go and then one more breath in take some more air exhale making sound really releasing exhaling exhaling exhaling naturally putting your attention now into your mind sensing your states of mind what is there what has been there these past days is there doubt scattered mind fearful thoughts let your awareness hold these thoughts acknowledge them be present with them and allow for your mind to open allow them to gently dissolve and move through and thank them for trying to protect you but remind them that you are grounded and steady now you are present and you can trust and turning towards your whole body with this state of loving awareness holding yourself how does it feel to care for and see who you truly are this divine essence and let your body be rooted like an old wise tree and deeply rooted into the ground and all of our roots connected to one another remembering that we are one humanity that we are here to support each other to guide one another and remember your internal strength remembering to stay connected to your heart to your trust in the natural unfolding without the fear without the worry without the anxiety that you can do this and as storms may come and go winds may blow winds may come but there is the sunshine and the rainbows and all of the beauty that surrounds us to be seen and remembering that gratitude in your heart so breathing gently in and out letting clouds of thoughts go by and not attaching to them feeling that state of freedom within your heart within your mind within your body and let yourself sense what embodiment really means embodying the truth of what it means to be human and to meet ourselves where we are and to meet our challenges each moment as they unfold with this presence and awareness keep grounding keep rooting notice when the mind tries to take you away and bring yourself back always using your breath as your tether to your body it's really a dance and the more you strengthen your awareness the more you will be able to be present so bowing your head and thanking your ancestors thanking the ground beneath you for its support and then remembering your guides above you your teachers your mentors your light beings angels remembering the divine however you see that it can be an image of the buddha or jesus ala however you perceive and allow yourself to open the crown and feel this shower of blessings over your body feel the warmth feel the glow as it travels through your veins and connecting to that divine resonance within you allowing the corners of your lips to come up with a smile and feel that smile in your heart in your mind in your belly and with this steadiness inviting you to walk out into your days and may each thought each action and each word come from this state of awakened presence and loving awareness taking three deep breaths inhale exhale long and deep out your mouth exhale all the air out breathing in exhale breathe in and exhale so commending yourself for showing up thank you thank you for your vulnerability and trust and if you have any questions or anything at all that you would like to ask please don't hesitate i'm here and i'm here every day so please share these meditations if you know anybody that would like them and i will see you all tomorrow thank you have a wonderful wonderful wonderful day wherever you are and take times throughout the day to pause and put your hand on your heart remember this connection just by finding your breath and then beginning again it's really just that that's the practice noticing when you get off balance and then bringing yourself back that's the key trust me i've tried everything this is magic stuff bye guys ladies i love you so nice to be with you

Reviews

Thank you. This meditation was extremely calming and powerful.

Thank you for the lesson in grounding. I especially liked the birds in the background and the kiss at the end. 😌

Just lovely! Beautiful pacing and so helpful. Thank you so much 🌀🦋🌸

Thank you 💙🙏💙

Wonderful meditation-very helpful and calming 🙏

thank you so much 💓 🙏

Thank you and so beautifully done and so authentic also.🙏🙏

Very calming. Thank you. 🙏

My 1st session with you. Wonderful. Thanks.