Mother's (Day) Meditation

A meditation for Mothers–those who are them, those who have them, and those who've lost them. Settle into the supportive energy of being held by a mama, no matter what comes up along the way. All of your feelings are welcome!

Transcript

This is a meditation for all the mamas,

And those of us who have mamas,

And those of us who've lost mamas.

So it's a meditation for everyone.

I invite you to begin by starting to get comfortable.

If you have a candle nearby,

You might choose to light it,

And if not,

Maybe you'll bring one the next time.

If you like to burn sage or cedar,

You can do that now as well,

Or rub some essential oils in your palms.

Inhaling deeply,

Marking this meditation with a bit of ritual,

Which signals to your body and your mind that it's time to take a moment to tap into a different vibration than the one that we're used to in moving through daily life.

If you haven't already,

I invite you to close your eyes and to bring your attention inward just a bit.

On your way there,

You might notice any sounds in your environment around this recording.

You might hear traffic,

Construction,

Human sounds.

Maybe you're lucky enough to have birds,

Natural sounds,

Wind,

Rain.

As we're turning inward,

Start to bring your awareness to your body,

Possibly to your breath,

Just noticing,

Not trying to change anything actively,

Just seeing what's there and what captures your attention first.

With anything I say,

It's all an invitation,

It's all an offering,

And you're welcome to refuse any of it.

If your mind wanders,

If a thought or a sensation shows up that you want to explore and investigate,

Do.

Otherwise,

I'll offer guidance,

Beginning with a body scan from head to toe,

Just bringing your awareness to the top of your head.

And then,

Like a slow moving light,

Let that awareness shift downward over your forehead to your brow,

Your eyes,

Just inviting each part to soften,

Release,

Let go.

You've probably already moved down past your nose and lips,

Mouth.

Be sure to check in with your jaw and the back of your neck.

Where your skull meets your spine,

Where your neck moves into your clavicles and your shoulders,

You might give those shoulders a little shake,

A little twist back and forth,

Just bringing some movement in again,

Allowing anything that doesn't need to be constricted or held to release.

You might sit back just a little bit,

Checking in that your spine is as aligned as can be.

This is not quite a straight line,

That's not how we human beings work.

But with a soft S,

Going from your sacrum up,

And as we do so,

We're still bringing our attention down over our chests,

Our bellies,

Down to our hips,

As a real chance to drop in there and feel the support of whatever you're seated on,

And an opportunity to rise up again through the spine,

Through the top of your head,

Even as you're settling down.

Bringing your awareness through your legs,

Thighs,

Knees,

Calves,

Shins,

Ankles,

Feet.

And let that light come out your toes,

Or if you like,

You can visualize energy shooting down into Mother Earth beneath you.

And there you might just notice what the mention of Mother brings for you.

Where does your attention go?

You might recognize yourself as a mama,

One who's in a mothering role.

Maybe you think of your own mother,

Whether the biological one,

The one who birthed you,

Or the one or many who brought you up.

And with that might come some emotion,

Or many.

So allow those to be there,

And also witness any thoughts or judgments that accompany the feelings.

You might have a sense that you're supposed to be feeling something that you're not,

Or that what you are feeling,

You're not supposed to.

And without making your judge wrong,

Just invite that part to sit back and see if you might be able to bring curiosity instead.

In other words,

If what you're feeling is anger,

Irritation,

Resentment,

You might ask,

What is this about?

Or just say to that sensation,

Emotional pattern,

I see you.

I hear you.

I welcome you.

It's okay to be here.

Breathe.

As if you had a choice about that one,

But recognizing that noticing your breath is a resource.

With all the changes around us all the time,

Our breath is present until it isn't.

We're birthed on this planet,

And we take our first.

It's something that we can rely on.

Sometimes our moms are people that we can rely on also.

Both while they're alive and breathing,

And when they've moved on.

Those are the lucky ones among us who have a mama that feels like home base.

Like the Mother Earth.

Grounding.

Nourishing.

Sustaining us.

Forgiving us.

Giving us everything that she has so that we can nurture ourselves and our talents and our own children and grow.

And when we're not lucky enough to have that kind of relationship with Mother,

There's a whole nother experience of being alive on Earth.

Breathe.

Feel.

Notice.

Ask judgment to step back to be curious.

Feel into your body again and notice if there's any subtle movement that wants to happen.

You might tip your chin down,

Letting your four shoulders move forward.

And then invite them to gently roll back.

Let your head move side to side.

Breathing and noticing your emotions,

Your thoughts.

Letting yourself settle back in.

One more deep,

Inward check-in.

Maybe placing your hands together below your navel on a spot called the dantian.

Breathing into that spot,

You might check in with its energy knowing that in this place,

In each of our biological mamas,

This is where we were grown.

Nourished and nurtured.

Bring your attention back to your own body in that spot,

Knowing that you are born now.

Just feeling what that's like.

With all its joys and sorrows and blessings and curses.

If you believe in that kind of a thing.

You might let yourself rock a little bit forward and back.

Just feeling the movement.

It's always present while we're alive.

Emotion is motion.

And if you're willing,

You might let yourself remember the possibility of being held and rocked.

Notice any emotions.

Notice any thoughts and just rock.

Notice what it's like to hear the sound shh.

The rush of your mama's blood when you were in the womb.

Rocking.

Holding yourself.

In the safe container of this meditation,

Shh,

Shh,

Shh,

Shh.

It's okay.

It's okay.

I got you.

It's okay.

Inviting a deeper inhalation.

Bringing your awareness up.

Bring that down into your solar plexus.

Noticing your lungs as they fill with breath.

Moving up through your heart center and your throat.

Your jaw.

Cheeks.

Eyes.

Top of your head.

See if you can visualize a string or a column of light moving up,

Out of your body and connecting you to the cosmos.

Breathing there,

You might see if the slightest smile is available.

Sometimes it's a fake it till you make it.

Sometimes when we choose joy consciously,

We find it was actually there for us to connect with.

Just like mother energy.

No matter our relationship to our actual mothers.

No matter whether they're with us or they're not in body.

Wherever your hands are,

I invite you to raise them up.

Stretching up,

Up,

Up.

Grounding down through your hips and pelvis at the same time.

Just reach.

Breathe.

Notice any places of sensation in your upper back,

Shoulder,

Neck.

Move your spine side to side if that feels comfortable.

Checking in with yourself and finally putting the palms of your hands together.

Bringing them down slowly to the center of your chest.

And placing the heels of your thumbs firmly there into your breastbone.

You can bow your chin downward.

It's a namaste moment,

But you certainly don't have to say that.

Just bowing to yourself.

To the sacredness of every moment.

And to all those who have done this meditation at the same time or others.

It's a way to connect.

Inhaling again,

Let your attention move back out to those sounds around you.

You can check in with the light behind your eyelids.

And as you're ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

Allowing them to remain unfocused or move around the room as you like.

Possibly finding,

Tuning into something that gives you pleasure or ease to look at.

Just taking that in or closing them again if you like for a moment.

Notice if any part of you is still rocking or moving in the ways that we've practiced.

And notice that you're still breathing.

Thanks for taking the time.