Hi,
Welcome.
This is a brief guided meditation,
About five to eight minutes or so.
And this will be an imaginal meditation practice.
This is one that I myself practice about every other day.
And it is from a former clinician and grief ritual facilitator,
Francis Weller,
Who will often facilitate this practice in spaces he holds.
And he references deep connection to indigenous communities and elders he has learned from with this practice.
And so just wanting to honor that,
Honor the connection to the earth that this practice invites us to hold.
So what we'll be doing in this practice is we'll initially be kind of grounding into our bodies,
Into our breath,
Into the place that you're in right now,
And then inviting kind of whatever is most present to be here,
Just to be a witness to that.
And then we'll move into imagining our heart having threads connected to everything and every place and everyone that we want to extend love out towards.
And then we'll also be inviting that love in.
And so let's go ahead and practice rather than talking about it.
So let yourself arrive and just tune in to what feels like a comfortable position for your body today.
And whether you're seated or lying down or standing.
Just letting yourself arrive here.
Feel the weight of your body here held by gravity and the earth.
And if your eyes have already closed,
See if you can open them and just take note of the environment,
The place you're in.
Gently gazing,
Slowing this down.
Allowing colors,
Images.
Textures and shapes.
Just another layer of reminding yourself,
Your mind,
Your body,
Your heart that you're here.
There is nowhere else to go but to be here now.
And if it feels okay,
You can allow your eyes to close or just soften your gaze down.
And noticing the breath,
The natural breath here.
And then we'll move through three rounds of matching our inhales and our exhales.
So on your next exhale,
Exhale all the air out.
And then breathe in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Pause for a moment.
And then same breath out for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause for a moment.
Breathe in 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Last one,
Silent counting for four.
And silent count out for four.
And then just noticing the natural inhale and exhale.
Noticing again the weight of your body here.
And then becoming aware of any like emotions or feelings or thoughts that might be present.
And just inviting them to be here,
To be a witness to this space.
And then now bring your awareness towards your heart.
And maybe even just noticing like physically having a heart here.
Maybe sensing into noticing the heartbeat.
And then get a sense of feeling what this place has known,
This part of your body.
Joy,
Love.
Grief.
Wonder Belonging And now imagine from this heart place delicate filaments,
So fine strands of light or thread Notice and see these threads begin to extend outward.
Towards everyone and everything that you love.
Extending outwards to family,
To children.
To neighbors.
Friends.
Extending out to places.
Maybe an area by water.
A special tree or.
Even if it's simply a place nearby your home.
And just get a sense of feeling this connection between your heart,
The people,
And the places where love exists.
And even get a sense of if there's any resistance or maybe stories starting to develop.
Letting that be here too and continuing to just notice the threads of connection between your heart and everything and everyone that you love.
And now notice something else.
These threads do not just travel outwards,
They return.
And so with this love flowing out of you,
See if you can get a sense of these connections with love flowing back to you,
Towards you.
And maybe it's just a faint recognition or faint feeling.
See if you can get a sense of feeling the love through these threads of connection.
As you breathe in.
Receiving the love from the places and the people you feel connected to.
And as you breathe out extending that love outwards.
Letting that love radiate out.
Breathing in,
I receive the love,
The care,
The connection that exists.
Breathing out,
I give love,
Care,
And connection.
And as this mutual relationship of reciprocity occurs.
See if you can allow this to extend from your heart out to your whole body.
This sense of love,
Care,
And connection radiating into every cell of your being.
Deep in the bones.
Tethered to.
Belonging,
Care,
And connection.
See if you can just allow yourself to rest here in this web of interdependence.
Maybe even noticing these extensions of threads connecting to generations who came before you,
Ancestors.
And then even those who will come after you.
Continuing to rest here and breathe.
Held,
Connected.
Love.
And as we prepare to end this meditation,
This visualization,
Bring your awareness back to your heart.
Noticing the heartbeat,
Noticing the breath.
And then getting the sense of these threads remaining here.
Even when you move out into the world,
Even when busyness arises.
Even when people feel far away.
Or when someone has left.
Even when relationships change.
This connection still is possible and still endures.
And then as we move out into the world,
The invitation is to take this off of the metaphorical meditation cushion,
Per se.
So maybe there is a person or a relationship or a part of yourself that is asking for this attention.
This intentional attention of reciprocity,
Of love,
Of care in the days ahead.
Just notice if any image or felt sense comes in.
And if there is a message that came in,
Just sending gratitude.
Knowing that you can come back to this connection,
Back to this practice.
And take one final deep breath in.
And then slow exhale through the mouth.
Feel the weight of your body beneath you,
The support of the floor,
The earth.
Notice the sounds.
Start to gently move your fingers and your toes.
And then when you're ready,
Allow your eyes to open.
Thank you for taking this time to be present with yourself,
With your heart.
I look forward to meeting you back here.
Bye.
