Releasing Shame, Guilt, Anxiety & Other Friends

This gentle guided experience is intended to help you connect with and release any emotion or sensation that is ready to be on its way. Particularly powerful for supporting you in letting go of guilt, shame, anger, fear and/or physical discomfort. Hope you enjoy it and, as always, please be gentle with yourself!

Transcript

Hi everybody,

Thank you so much for being here and welcome to this guided meditation that's all about giving you the chance to release something that you've been holding on to.

So before we start,

Let's take a moment to connect with whatever it is that you may want to release.

It may be an emotion like guilt or shame or anger or fear and it may even be a physical pain or sensation,

Lower back pain,

Shoulder pain.

And as we get into the experience,

It may be that the thing or emotion or feeling that wants to be released shifts and so you can give yourself permission to really follow your intuition with this and see where it takes you.

So with that,

Let's get started.

I'll invite you to find a way of sitting that feels comfortable to you and see if you can get your weight more or less evenly distributed and we'll start simply by bringing some gentle attention to the breath.

Being very aware with each inhale that this is you inhaling and very aware with each exhale that this is you exhaling in this moment.

And as you connect with the breath,

I'll invite you to play with elongating and slowing down your breath,

Letting that breath take up a bit more space in the body,

A bit more time.

And you can even play with inflating and enjoying that inflation of your body as you breathe in and luxuriating in the release as you exhale.

Now take a nice easy slow breath in and release it with an audible sigh.

I'll invite you to bring a little bit more awareness to your body,

Letting yourself become aware of those places where your body is in contact with the chair or the floor or the ground.

And play with just releasing your weight to the earth almost like gravity is settling over you,

Like a gentle blanket.

So you can allow your hips to soften and your belly can soften,

Your shoulders can drop down towards the earth,

Recognizing that the more of our weight we release to the earth beneath us,

Then the more support she can send up to hold us.

As you continue to allow your body to settle,

You can bring your attention to the very center of the top of your head and imagine that there is a line,

A ray of energy going right from the center of your head up through the ceiling,

Through the atmosphere,

All the way to a star in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

And the thread loops around that star and pulls tight and as it does you can feel your head lift really gently away from your shoulders,

Elongating the spine,

Creating a little bit more space in the body.

Just take a nice easy breath into that spaciousness between the earth beneath you and the sky above,

Breathing in and release.

And just take a moment to welcome your entire body,

Your entire being to this experience,

Placing your attention at the very top of your head and working your way down,

Almost like the wings of a butterfly.

Just gently touching every part of your body,

Your forehead,

Your eyes,

The back of your head,

Greeting each of them with a warm,

Compassionate welcome.

And working your way down through the jaw and the throat and as you go,

Noticing places in your body where you may feel open and alive and flowing and saying hello to those places and also noticing those places where you may feel tight or constricted or tired and welcoming those with equal warmth and equal compassion,

Not needing to change anything,

Just greeting yourself,

Saying hello to your heart and the vertebra in your back,

Your belly,

Your hips,

All the way down your legs and knees and calves and shins to the very bottom of your feet.

And when you get there,

Take a nice easy slow breath in and release it with a sigh.

And now as you continue to breathe,

I'll invite you to imagine yourself in a beautiful place in nature.

This may be a place that's familiar to you or it may be a place that you imagine.

As you enter this beautiful place in nature,

Allow yourself to notice what the air is like in this place,

How it feels against your skin.

Notice how the earth in this place feels against your feet.

Any smells in this place,

Any images that come to you.

Maybe the air even tastes a little bit different here.

And notice what kind of trees or plants are nearby and perhaps there's one that feels like it wants your attention.

And you can go over to it and really allow yourself to explore it with all of your senses.

What color is it?

What does it feel like?

What is it that you can see?

What color is it?

What does it feel like to touch this plant or this tree?

What does it smell like?

What's the quality of the light in this place?

Now nearby you can hear the sound of running water and it feels almost like an invitation.

So just allow yourself to follow that sound until you find yourself at the bank of a beautiful river.

And that river flows past you and disappears off into the horizon almost like a river.

It appears off into the horizon almost like it flows into a vast ocean.

Notice what color the water is.

You can even dip your finger or your toe into it and feel its temperature.

Feel how it gently runs over your skin.

Looking down by your feet,

You see that it is a beautifully crafted vessel.

And as you see this vessel you have the very strong knowing that it was placed here as a gift just for you.

And you can kneel down and look at it more closely noticing the shape of the vessel.

It may be a box or a cup.

Notice what color it is and you can even pick it up and see how heavy it is,

How it feels in your hands.

And this vessel is a gift from this beautiful place in nature and it's been placed here for you to hold whatever you've come here to the banks of this river that flows into the sea to release today.

So as you hold the vessel take a moment to connect really gently with whatever it is that wants to be released.

That emotion,

That physical sensation.

And as you hold this vessel and connect with this energy that wants to be released,

See if you can breathe into the space in your body that holds this emotion or this sensation.

Just allowing the breath to connect with this place in your body.

And as you connect just gently bring the vessel towards your mouth.

And what we'll do is on the inhale connect with this energy that wants to be released.

And on the exhale gently blow it into this beautiful vessel that's been created for the sole purpose of holding this energy.

And so take a nice easy breath in connecting with that energy that wants to be released.

And on the exhale gently blow it into the vessel.

And you can do this as many times as feels right.

You may feel yourself crying or shaking as you do.

Just allow the experience to be whatever it needs to be as you breathe in connecting with this energy that wants to be released.

And gently blowing it into the vessel that you hold in your hands.

And if this experience of release or letting go starts to become too intense you can always pause.

That may be all that wants to be released today.

And if there's a little more you can go ahead and breathe in connecting to the remaining energy.

And exhaling it into the vessel.

And now gently take that vessel that now holds this energy that wants to be released today.

And hold it with compassion and gratitude.

This energy,

This emotion,

This sensation has been in your body.

It's been with you.

And now if you're ready we can set it free in the river.

But before we do that really check in with yourself.

Are you truly ready to allow this emotion,

This sensation to be released?

If not that's totally fine.

We never have to push ourselves on this.

You can simply set the vessel down and return again to visit it later.

If you are ready to release this energy,

This emotion,

This sensation,

I'll invite you to really gently kneel down at the banks of this river.

Taking a moment again to watch it flow by.

And perhaps with one more breath of gratitude and compassion set the vessel gently in the river.

And lift your hands away from it allowing the current to carry the vessel and the energy it holds away.

And you can kneel on the banks of this river in this beautiful place in nature watching this vessel,

Perhaps the surface of it glinting in the sunlight or the moonlight,

Being carried off into the distance.

And the river carries it off into the ocean.

And as it is just about to disappear into the horizon you see that it transforms a burst of beautiful light as this energy is set free.

As this energy is set free.

And you can honor this moment simply by breathing and observing the transformation of this energy on the horizon.

And when you're ready you can bring yourself back to your feet at the bank of the river and gently make your way back to the first place you found yourself when you entered this beautiful space in nature.

And notice as you move through this space anything that's shifted in the environment,

The quality of the light,

And in your own body as well.

How does it feel to move through this space after your interaction with the vessel and the energy that was held inside of you?

And when you find yourself back at the place where you first entered this beautiful place in nature,

I'll invite you to take a nice easy slow breath in and then release it.

And bring some awareness back to your body where you're sitting in your room.

Noticing again anything that may have shifted and any images that come to you,

Perhaps any insights.

And we'll just close this exploration with three breaths together.

Taking a nice breath in,

Connecting with your body,

Connecting with your heart,

Breathing in and releasing.

And now placing your palms lightly over wherever it was in your body that the energy that was released had been living.

Placing your palms there and just imagining that place filling with new beautiful light.

Breathing into that,

Inhaling.

And release.

And finally bringing your palms to your heart,

Just feeling the beating of your heart,

The beautiful energy there.

And one more time,

Nice easy breath in.

And release.

Thank you so much for exploring this experience all about letting go and releasing energies that we're holding in our body.

Just know that you can return as often as you'd like.

Thank you and have a beautiful day.

Reviews

I loved this meditation but I was not reminded that I was safe where I was and awful images of people or animals attacking me occurred. In my teenage years, ages ago I visited this place all the time but today I could not shake impending doom. I strongly suspect that what I want to release is so much woven into me that these images were because of my resistance to letting go. Nevertheless, while I loved the meditation, I needed a reminder that I was safe. I guess this serves as my reminder. I will return to your meditation once I assure myself that nothing will harm me.

Wonderful!!! Love your voice and energy…resonates deeply!🙏🏻♥️

Fantastic meditation, love that it doesn’t just go down the happy path but allows for someone not being fully ready to release but helps you engage with it and then separate from it

A beautiful yet painful journey in that meditation. I carried so much hurt and pain to the river but I discovered I'm not ready to release it fully 😢. I am trying to stay compassionate to myself and know that it will come with time. Thank you for the meditation Michael 💜

Thank you, as always Michael. Your gentle guidance always brings me home to myself 🙏🏼💜

thank you 🙏 I felt so disconnected from myself and everything, all I wanted to do was sleep, but now I feel so much lighter

I felt my anxiety releasing and leaving my body 🙏

Just lovely, thank you! ✨

Very nice, thank you!