Hi,
Welcome.
I'm so glad you're here to practice with me today.
Today's practice is about dropping into your body and finding whatever wisdom is there inside you.
It may have a soft voice,
Such a soft voice you can't hear it right now.
And this is a practice of tuning in.
To that wisdom so that you can get better at hearing this voice.
This voice of wisdom inside you.
So as we begin,
Look around and find a spot where you can be as comfortable as possible right now in this moment.
And allow yourself to settle in wherever that is.
Closing your eyes if you wish or just resting your eyes.
And if it feels good to you,
You can take in a nice deep breath now to the bottom of your lungs if you can.
And with a longer,
Slower exhale.
One more deep breath in.
With that longer,
Slower exhale.
And now allow your body just to slow down a little bit.
To recognize that it is being held.
By whatever surface you're sitting or lying on.
You are being held.
You don't need to try to hold yourself up.
There's no need for that.
You're being held.
And you can just allow your body to settle in even more to where you are.
All those places of contact your body is making with the chair,
The bed,
The couch,
The floor.
Wherever you are,
Just imagine that all those places of contact are just softening a little bit.
They're loosening,
Relaxing just a little bit more.
Your body can start to recognize that it is being held and it doesn't have to do anything right now.
Except let go and breathe.
And breathing at your own pace.
Just notice your breath right now.
Just imagine your breath right now.
Imagine yourself as a very small version of you and you are riding your breath on a wave in and out.
And really just staying with the breath now.
Riding the wave of it,
The rhythm of it.
Just feeling your breath right now.
Being with it.
Observing it,
Even enjoying it if it feels enjoyable.
The air coming in through your nostrils,
Down,
Air with oxygen.
And going out again back into the world.
And then release.
This natural rhythm goes on without you even having to think about it.
And it also gives us an anchor that we can come back to anytime,
Anytime.
Even in our day-to-day regular lives,
If we have a moment where we suddenly get distressed or have a fearful thought or get stuck in thinking about the past or the future or anything like that,
You can just come back to this anchor inside you,
Your breath.
It's always happening and you can just ride the wave of it.
Really paying attention to it.
And as you breathe now,
Breathing as deeply as feels good to you,
Down into the bottom of your lungs if you can.
Imagine that you are dropping down deep into your body.
You're dropping down deeper and deeper into the very core of yourself.
And you are down now in the deepest core of yourself.
Just take a look around and just notice whatever you notice.
It's okay if you don't really notice anything at all.
That's okay.
Whatever you find there doesn't really matter.
Just notice and observe whatever's happening inside you.
Just dropping down to this deepest place inside you gives you this vantage point of seeing all the things that are happening within you.
All the internal experiences you're having right now that may feel distressing or loud or overwhelming or scary or any of those things.
Sometimes our internal experiences just feel as if they take over.
Sometimes it feels like sensations we have just take over and there's nothing else but these sensations or these emotions,
These feelings.
Even the inner critic can just feel like it takes over.
But it doesn't.
None of it does.
You're still here having these experiences.
And when you notice them,
Observe what's happening inside you.
You have already separated yourself and reminded yourself that you are separate.
You are not the same thing as these big emotions and feelings and sensations.
It may feel like it sometimes.
It really does.
But you're not.
You are separate.
You are observing all these things going on inside you from this deepest core of yourself.
And from this deepest core,
You can look up and just see all these internal experiences.
And they all feel so important,
Right?
We have such urgency sometimes.
And that's okay.
But from this deep vantage point,
Where you are now,
Dropped down into your body,
Down and down to the very anchor at the core of yourself,
From this place,
You can sit back and just observe all these internal experiences and all the things they're doing.
And now just invite whatever wants to come talk to you right now.
There may be parts of you that have been distressed,
That have felt like you weren't listening,
That you were trying to shut them out or pretend they're not there,
Or make them go away.
Just open your door to these parts of yourself,
These voices,
These feelings.
Just allow whatever wants to,
To come forward and to talk with you.
What does it want to tell you?
What does it want you to know?
It may want you to know something so badly and maybe has felt so unheard for so long.
It might even scream now that it has your attention,
Or cry,
Or whatever you imagine it doing inside you.
It may be distressed and just really wanting your attention so that you listen to its message.
Just allow that message to be heard now.
And we'll be quiet for a moment.
And just allow whatever parts inside you want to speak to you,
Just allow them the space now.
And see whatever comes up.
It's okay if you don't hear anything.
Sometimes it takes a while of quiet to have those parts feel safe enough to come forward and tell us what they want us to know.
We're going to listen now.
And whatever they are saying to you,
It's okay.
There's no need to feel its urgency.
These parts,
Or these voices,
These feelings themselves may have urgency,
But you don't need to.
You're just listening.
You're taking it all into consideration from this very deepest,
This deepest part of you.
You're taking it all into consideration.
You're listening.
You're telling all these parts,
All these things inside you,
Hey,
I see you.
I'm not trying to change you or push you away or make you shut up or sequester you away in some dark corner.
I'm not trying to change you or make you disappear at all.
I'm actually listening.
I'm here to listen.
I want to hear what you're feeling.
I want to hear what you want me to know.
I'm listening.
And see what else comes up now.
See whatever arises as you do this practice.
And allow whatever it is,
It doesn't matter.
Even if it's resistance,
That's okay too.
That's another part that wants our attention.
Whatever arises is okay.
Totally human.
Just listening.
If it's quiet inside and you're grasping to hear its wisdom,
Its message,
Don't worry.
It's the listening now that matters.
That's the practice.
Even if it's quiet in there,
That's okay.
The listening is the practice,
The dropping down into your body and listening.
That's the practice.
But just noticing whatever has come up for you during this time of listening.
And knowing that whatever it is,
You don't need to act on it with urgency.
You're just listening.
You're taking it into consideration.
Even if it's total silence,
That's okay too.
You're just listening to that.
That too is something.
Whatever it is,
It's okay.
You're letting it know whatever has come up inside you that it's okay.
And from this deepest core where you are anchored and grounded in your wisest self,
Your wisest self whose wisdom is really that it loves you unconditionally.
That's the wisdom right there.
This unconditional love here in this deepest core of yourself.
See if you can feel its warmth,
Its energy relaxing you because you don't have to try so hard.
You can stop all the efforting.
Right now,
You can just be without any need to try to change parts of you or hide parts of you.
None of that.
This wisest self just loves you.
It just loves you and accepts you entirely,
Comprehensively,
Every last part,
Even the hidden parts,
Even the parts you have thrown away in shame.
It loves all of you,
This wisest self.
And you can always drop into your body down and dropping down until you're at your deepest core and finding your wisest self here who just loves you without you needing to do anything.
You can just relax in the presence of your wisest self.
All there is now is love,
Just love.
And you can always return here whenever you need to.
And if you have heard messages in this practice today from the various parts inside of you,
Or the various feelings,
You can take those with you into the rest of your day,
Give them consideration,
See what you want to do about them.
If anything,
Sometimes they just need to be heard.
And you can know that you can always come back here.
You can repeat this meditation,
Or you can do it on your own.
Just dropping down and finding that wisest self who just loves you.
So taking a moment where you are deep down into your core of yourself,
Just taking a moment and kind of looking around internally at whatever is going on now,
Whatever new sensations or thoughts or feelings,
They're all okay.
And you can assure yourself that all these parts of yourself,
You can assure them that you are here,
You're listening,
And you're not going to try to make them go away.
So when you're ready,
You can begin slowly,
Slowly to move your body if it needs to move,
Stretch,
And begin to reorient yourself to the place where you are,
Eyes,
If they've been closed.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Thank yourself for practicing today.
I look forward to seeing you next time.