Halloween Headspace

Get into the Halloween spirit by imagining yourself as a spirit. In this meditation, you'll go on a journey into the afterlife to see who and what truly matters. This can be a tough meditation to do, but is highly rewarding. Happy Halloween!

Transcript

Welcome to this Halloween special,

A meditation that,

Should we say,

Is to die for.

This one is best enjoyed laying down with your arms crossed in front of your chest.

Then bring your eyes to close and just begin to breathe in and out through the nostrils nice and deep.

While you're laying there abreast,

I want to give you a little history on Halloween.

Because A,

I'm a nerd,

And B,

Because it sets up the meditation quite nicely.

See,

Halloween was originally called Sawn.

It was the end of the pagan new year and a day where the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest.

On this day,

Old spirits could return.

The church was eager to convert the pagans and thought,

By constructing a similar celebration to Sawn,

They may convince them to come over to their belief.

As such,

They announced All Saints Day,

Or All Hallows Day,

On November 1st,

A day that they would honor those who had died in the service of the Lord.

The night before became All Hallows Eve.

Now what we celebrate today is somewhat a mixture of Sawn and All Hallows Eve,

And we call it Halloween.

But the common denominator remains being a focus on death and the world beyond.

In that spirit,

I want you to imagine that it's Halloween today.

Maybe it is,

Which makes this part really easy.

Now imagine you've gone for a walk first thing in the morning to reflect on the day ahead of you.

It's a misty morning and you can't see much past five yards.

You push on,

Hoping it will clear up.

You love this path because it's quiet and has the most gorgeous river running through it.

Due to the mist though,

You hear the river long before you get to it.

When you do arrive though,

You look at it and you admire it.

You see just the sheer force of the river beneath you.

It's somehow both ferocious and tranquil,

Pulling everything in its path along with it.

As you walk along its edge,

Admiring it,

Thinking just how gorgeous this river is,

You trip.

You fall and your head makes contact with a rock or something,

You're not quite sure.

Your body immediately goes limp and you fall into the river as well as a state of part consciousness.

You begin to sink deeper and deeper and although you're aware of your demise,

You're unable to keep yourself afloat or even move an arm.

The river takes you downstream and later it'll take your soul into the next world.

Here's where you're going to start to take part.

As you imagine this scenario,

As you're slowly starting to drown the last bits of oxygen being used up in your body,

You'll start to grasp onto the memories you have that give you peace.

So I want you to think right now as you lay there,

Arms crossed,

Eyes closed,

Relaxed.

What would be the memories that you hold onto dearly,

That you draw upon to make you feel at peace,

That make life so sweet even when you're facing this bitter end?

Think of what parts of your life gave you real joy.

What parts of life gave you real purpose?

What parts of life were you most alive?

You start to gather all of those memories as you put together the parts of your life that really mattered.

Now I want you to think about what percentage of your life you think was spent doing those things.

Now let's move on.

Now unfortunately,

You have ceased to be,

At least in this human form.

But due to the unique properties of Halloween,

You are granted a chance to spend this last day on earth as yourself.

You can travel anywhere at the blink of an eye and visit whoever you like,

But only on a condition you tell no one what has happened to you.

Now with this in mind,

Who do you visit first?

Imagine this person now.

See them in front of you.

You know this will be the last time you'll have to spend with them.

What do you say to them?

How do they react to your words?

What do you imagine them saying to you?

Imagine them in as much detail as possible.

How will you make the most of this time with them?

Now imagine saying goodbye to that person.

Remember this will be the last time.

Now think who you will see next.

Same deal.

Imagine them in their full glory.

How they stand,

How they look,

How they smell,

What their home is like.

What do you tell this next person?

More importantly,

What do you think they need to hear?

How would you spend your last bit of time with them?

Is there something you need to get off your chest that you never quite said?

Now say goodbye and don't forget,

This is the last time you get to say goodbye to them.

Now you have the opportunity to visit just one more person.

Think hard who will that be and why and see them in front of you.

Note how they would greet you.

Is there some hostility?

Is there nothing but love?

Is there an indifference?

Do you handshake?

Do you hug?

How do they react to your outpouring of emotion?

How do they react to you being there?

Now imagine saying goodbye to them for the last time.

Now let's turn our attention to the afterworld.

Who are you looking forward to seeing on that side the most?

Whether you believe in it or not.

Who are those that have come before you that now cease to exist in the human realm?

Who will you see in the afterlife?

Which beautiful souls await you there?

How many great people just like you have too died?

Now come back to earth and think about what will become of your body as it begins to bloat and decay.

Bugs making the most of your nutrients.

Fungus and soil beginning to absorb what's left,

Reminding you that it was only ever flesh and was never who you are,

Just simply where you lived.

And now it's where other creatures live.

It now provides life force for other beings,

For plants,

For bugs,

Generating the air that others breathe,

Others that are still alive.

As you realize your energy moves on,

Still encaptured in this world,

In this free market of energy,

Where even your last breath and every breath that you've taken still circulate the world,

Thinking about how your body fits into this ecosystem,

Once being your vehicle of transportation and now being something that the world can still use and others can still benefit from,

But just not you.

Now come back into that body that's laying down in your room,

Meditating,

Listening to my words and realize now you are not a ghost,

That you have the rest of your life ahead of you.

Can you 1.

Use it wisely and live it well by doing all those things that made life worthwhile.

2.

Can you realize that there are people that enrich your life,

That mean a lot to you?

Can you prioritize them and make peace with them?

And 3.

Can you embrace your life and not cling to it?

Can you realize that death is just another chapter in a bigger book and you are one of many characters,

All equally important and bound together by something bigger?

Can you reflect on that this Halloween and maybe every day?

Happy Halloween.

Reviews

Excellent! I listened on Halloween, and it was perfect.

Unexpectedly profound

So beautiful

🎃thank you, Douglas, for this macabre yet interesting voyage with really top inquiry. Happy Halloween 🧡!

Douglas, I don’t have the words to express how impactful and phenomenal this journey was! I want to hug you right now! Thank you so much for sharing your gift with the world! Sending you love and light! ✨🙏🏻✨