Hello everyone and welcome to this week's mind-body practice.
Now today we're going to be exploring the concept of ebbs and flows and by that what I mean is those ups and downs that come along the way when we're working through healing and certainly in my experience from many many years of different chronic symptoms and illness it's been one of the most challenging aspects is trying to find a way to flow I suppose a little bit more easily between those challenging periods and the more graceful and easier periods of time or moments.
So how we're going to do this today is through a meditation and what we're going to be doing is using the frame of nature something that is constantly experiencing ebbs and flows and see what we can draw from looking at nature into our minds and into our bodies as well to hopefully allow an experience you have of ups and downs to be a little more graceful.
So you can do this practice seated or lying down just anywhere that's comfortable for you to be for the next 10 minutes or so.
So once you've got yourself nice and settled I'd encourage you to close your eyes if you're comfortable.
If you'd rather keep them open or into your surroundings then that's absolutely fine too.
Now when we think about the the natural world and maybe the soft sounds in the background are already starting to get you a little in tune with that.
The first thing that we notice potentially about the natural world is just how resilient it is.
We see it through plants,
We see it through animals,
We see it through our climate as well at times with the stresses and strains that it's under.
And what I certainly know about you if you've experienced chronic symptoms or long-term challenges in your life is that you have that very resilience within you.
It takes a huge amount of courage and determination and persistence to keep going through that experience and it takes a pretty unique person and character to do that.
So to begin this meditation just want you to take a moment to recognize that in yourself to really feel into that pride in how incredible it is that despite all the ebbs and flows that you've had on your journey that you're still here now engaging in this practice and giving yourself enormous credit for those times that you've had to pick yourself up.
And noticing as you're doing that how that feels to you in your body perhaps getting a sense of how natural or unnatural that feels,
Any emotion that's cropping up and just allowing yourself to be with that.
Maybe to use your breath to bring a sense of softness to it and for what we know about nature's resilience the other side to that coin is as resilient as it is.
It still needs love,
It still needs care and it still needs compassion.
If you think about it in the context of something very small maybe like a plant there are some amazingly resilient plants out there that can withstand all sorts of weather conditions all sorts of environments but they also need an underlying sense of care and being looked after.
I certainly know that from my experience looking after houseplants and in the same way that the whole planet and the natural world is resilient we're coming to know now that as a species we need to take care of it,
We need to be compassionate to it.
And the same is true with you,
As incredibly resilient as you are you also need to be loved and have support and compassion along that.
Journey and so I just want you to begin to cultivate that for yourself in this moment.
Doing whatever you need to do in this moment to signal that sense of compassion to your body to your nervous system.
Maybe it's a more gentle out-breath,
Maybe it's holding your hands over your heart.
Maybe it's just thanking yourself for being here doing this practice.
Maybe it's just asking your body what it needs today for the rest of today.
And again noticing as with all these exercises how it feels in your body,
How that self-compassion lands in your body,
Being curious,
Not judging,
Just noticing.
And as you continue to just embody that sense of self-compassion and recognition and pride in your resilience which is inspiring to so many,
You begin to think and ponder on some more examples of nature's wisdom that you can apply to your life.
And one of my favorites is that when you look to nature there are no straight lines.
If you observe the natural world and maybe if you're drawn to and it's accessible you can do that in your external environment now.
But you'll generally find it very challenging to see anything that is a straight line.
It's all bumps and curves and ups and downs.
And so when we think about our own lives so often we have such high pressure and expectation on ourselves to move forward on a straight line.
And actually maybe that's not how the natural world is and maybe that's not the intention and the goal.
And so perhaps thinking about that can bring a sense of ease and softness to what you're experiencing in this moment.
Perhaps if you're in and realizing that as with the natural world what comes down ends up rising up again and what rises up will come back down at some point too.
And through this practice and through our experiences we're just learning to navigate that flow with those curves.
In that sense that when we embody that kind of wisdom that we can really honor our own path and our own healing journey.
Because your journey is no one else's it's at the pace that is right for you and is meant for you.
So just allowing yourself that permission to be where you are and to breathe into it.
And the final piece of wisdom that I'd like to draw and lead with you from nature is that nature and the natural world is never in a rush yet everything gets done.
Nothing is ever done in a rush yet the seasons change the leaves fall the sun shines all the way down to the small micro kind of processes with animals and insects.
Never a rush but everything's done.
And when we're experiencing dysregulation and nervous system urgency and rushing can be often at the fore.
I know that's true for me.
And so to bring this meditation to a close just like to have a think about and get a sense of how you can embody this sense of slowness today of honoring your pace of embodying a sense of trust in getting things done in the timing that's meant for you.
And you can really tune into your needs by doing that.
So keep that little intention with you for the rest of today.
I'd also encourage you as you are out and about or looking out the window over the coming days to just observe the natural world to observe nature and let some of those lessons sink in for you.
Nature is one of the most powerful healing tools certainly for me and I'm always surprised and nourished by either thinking or being in that environment.
So I hope that was useful for you and just remember lots of love and self-compassion to yourself as you find your way through those ebbs and flows that are part of natural life and part of healing.
And I know they're difficult but you're doing an amazing job and sending you lots of love.
I'll take care and I'll look forward to speaking to you soon.
