Welcome.
Let's begin by closing your eyes and bringing your awareness to your breath.
Can you feel the steady rhythm of air moving in and out,
The gentle rise and fall of your chest?
Feel it and allow yourself to arrive here fully.
Now I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the world we live in right now.
All the social unrest,
The shouting,
The division,
The constant noise,
The political strife.
Can you feel the weight of it?
Not to be consumed by it,
But to simply notice it.
This is the world we share,
The one we are all breathing in together.
So I'd like to try with your next inhale,
Imagine drawing in all this unrest,
Breathing in the anger,
Breathing in the shouting,
The fear,
And the bitterness of division.
Let yourself see it,
Gather it,
And hold it,
Not as a burden,
But as something that longs for transformation.
With each inhale,
You're gathering in the unrest of the world.
Each breath in whispers,
I see you and I acknowledge you.
Take the time to take several slow,
Steady breaths,
Breathing in the heaviness of the world and gently holding it within your awareness.
Now focus your attention on your heart and imagine all of this unrest is being carried into the vastness of your heart space.
Do not worry.
Your heart is strong enough,
Wide enough,
And loving enough to hold all of it.
Now try to picture the unrest softening there,
The sharp edges dissolving like heavy smoke clearing or like storm clouds breaking open to reveal a clear,
Calm sky.
Your heart is a place of alchemy,
A place where all that conflict can be changed into love.
With each breath,
I want you to feel that transformation happening.
Feel the anger softening into compassion and the fear easing into understanding and the division melting into connection.
Stay with this with every inhale,
Breathe in the unrest of the world.
With every exhale into your heart,
Feel it transforming and changing into love.
Take the time to linger here as your heart does its quiet,
Steady work.
Can you see how the energy feels different now?
How what was once heavy becomes lighter,
Gentler,
And full of possibility?
Breathe with this awareness for several more breaths.
And now we're going to begin to release this love.
And with every exhale,
Send this love outward.
Let it go to the places of conflict,
The arguments,
The protests,
The silence between divided families.
Imagine this love flowing into the hearts of leaders,
Strangers,
Friends,
And even those you may never meet.
Each breath out carries love into the world like a soft breeze or like a gentle stream and it's nourishing everything it touches.
Continue this for several breaths.
Inhale on rest.
Let your heart transform it into love and then exhale that love into the world.
Sink into the rhythm that's steady,
Simple,
And extremely powerful.
Even as one person,
Your breath matters.
Your love matters.
You are shifting the balance of the world.
You are changing the energy.
Now slowly bring your awareness back to your body and notice the steadiness of your breath and feel the ground beneath you as you slowly open your eyes.
To complete this practice,
I'd like to invite you to take it out into the physical world and when you're ready,
Step outside.
Walk barefoot in the grass or rest your back against the trunk of a tree.
Touch the soil with your hands and give any lingering heaviness back to the earth while you let yourself be held.
As we close,
I'd like you to carry with you today knowing that you breathed in the unrest of the world and transformed it and returned love.
And that truly matters.
Namaste.
