There have been moments in our lives when we felt lonely,
Possibly disconnected from our friends,
From our family,
But there have also been times that you have felt alone.
And as we'll see in this meditation,
Alone and lonely are not the same thing.
Each of us has a connection to all life.
In this meditation,
This guided visualization,
We'll become familiar with that connection.
Let's begin by getting comfortable wherever you are.
Find a posture that's going to allow you to be alert yet relaxed.
Let's keep a nice straight back,
Putting that arch in our lower back.
And as you do that,
Begin to feel your body relaxing.
Feel your shoulders begin to drop.
And once you've found a comfortable position,
Gently close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath,
Become familiar with its tempo,
Recognizing your inhale,
A brief hold up at the top,
And then an exhale.
There's nothing you need to do right now,
But just become aware of the sensations of your breathing.
As you continue to breathe,
Your body is becoming more and more relaxed.
You're noticing the chair or your cushion underneath you,
Holding you up.
You feel your face start to soften,
The area around your forehead,
The area around your eyes is becoming relaxed.
You're letting go of any tension.
Your jaw is loosening,
And perhaps you find your tongue resting at the bottom of your mouth.
With every inhale,
You're filling your body with clean,
Fresh air,
Fresh oxygen,
Rejuvenating every cell,
Every muscle,
Every fiber of your being,
And with every exhale,
You're letting go of stale air and energy that no longer serves you.
In the event you find your mind starting to wander,
Holding onto a thought that is absolutely expected.
Once you realize that you're having a thought,
Acknowledge it,
And gently bring your attention back to your breath,
The inhale,
The hold,
And the exhale.
And as you sit,
Becoming calmer,
Noticing your mind slowing down,
I want you to take three nice,
Deep breaths in through your nose,
Holding for a moment at the top,
And gently exhaling through your mouth,
Slowly.
Let's do one of them together.
Inhale for a count of four,
Expanding our belly,
Holding briefly,
And slowly letting out through our mouth.
With that one deep breath completed,
Take the next two on your own.
Once you've completed those nice,
Three deep breaths,
Bring your attention back to your breath and its regular tempo.
You're beginning to slow down,
To relax,
To feel the space around you.
And now,
Bring your attention to your entire body.
Notice any places that are tense or uncomfortable without any desire to change that.
The intention is simply to notice them,
How they're feeling.
There's no need to try and feel any other way than you are right now.
Regardless of what's going on in your body,
You're slowing down.
You're becoming calmer,
More relaxed,
Simply at ease,
Understanding in this moment,
There's nowhere you need to be,
And there's nothing you need to do.
This is your time,
This sacred time.
Now in your mind's eye,
I want you to imagine yourself on a lake at night.
You're looking out over this lake,
And it's easy to see because the moon is so,
So full.
Every now and again,
You'll see a white cloud pass in front of the moon,
But only for a moment,
Still shining its light on the lake and all the trees surrounding it.
You look up at the sky,
And you can't believe how many stars there are.
There are no lights from any cities or homes.
This lake is secluded in the middle of the woods,
And even though there's a slight breeze in the air,
It's not uncomfortable.
If anything,
It's enlivening,
So fresh and clean.
If you try,
You can smell the faint scent of pine from the trees,
And as you would expect,
You hear nighttime chirps and sounds from insects in the forest,
Animals,
None of which are alarming at all.
On this peaceful,
Peaceful lake,
You are safe,
You are secure,
And you are so relaxed.
As you walk along,
You see a canoe pulled up into the sand on the shore.
To make this beautiful night even more spectacular,
You get in the canoe and push off from the shore.
You gently paddle,
Moving quietly and effortlessly along this still lake.
After a while,
You find yourself in the middle of this lake.
You bring the paddle in,
And you simply sit,
Taking in all around you.
On this lake,
You are totally alone.
Other than the sounds of the forest,
You hear nothing,
And the bright full moon is illuminating everything.
You look up,
And you see it so bright,
So peaceful,
And then you notice once again the multitude of stars in the sky,
More than you have ever,
Ever seen.
Some are bright,
Some are faint,
But there are just so many of them.
And as you look out into the sky,
You can't help but think about how immense the universe is,
And yet as vast as it is,
Here you are,
On this lake,
In this canoe,
But you don't feel isolated at all.
If anything,
You feel connected.
You realize that despite the multitude of stars,
The vastness of the universe,
You are part of it.
You are part of all of it,
A necessary part,
And it doesn't have to do with who you are or the things that you do.
Your existence is linked to all life,
All life on this planet,
All life on this lake and the surrounding forest,
And all the stars in the sky,
Linked to absolutely everything.
There's such a serenity that comes from knowing that you are part of this vastness,
A necessary part,
And it has nothing to do with anything other than your mere existence.
Your value is your breath,
Your life,
Regardless of who you are or what you'll do.
With this feeling of connection,
The time has come to return to shore and ultimately back to where you are.
You pick up the paddle and slowly start to row yourself back to shore,
Just as effortlessly,
Just as peacefully,
Reveling in the feeling of unity with all life.
You find your way to the shore and pull the canoe back up to where you originally found it.
You step out and from the shore,
Take one last look at this beautiful,
Beautiful sight.
I'm going to leave you for a brief moment to take in all this beauty one last time,
And the next time you hear my voice,
It won't startle or alarm you.
It'll simply be a reminder that it's time to come back.
It's time to come back now.
I'm going to count back from five to one,
And when you reach one,
When you are ready,
You can open your eyes.
Five,
Four,
Feeling so relaxed,
So at peace,
Three,
Starting to become aware of the room or space that's around you,
Two,
Feeling so at peace,
So connected,
And one.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
There's no need to get up right away.
You'll know when that time is,
And as you ready yourself to either continue on with the day or draw it to a close,
Remember this feeling of connection,
Of unity,
Of peace,
Of oneness,
And understand that there may be times that you feel disconnected,
But that is not the reality.
Our minds create separation,
But when we stop and turn inwardly,
We realize that we are life,
That we are connected to all things,
Sentient and otherwise,
And when we stop,
Bring our attention to our breath and our surroundings,
We understand that this is the reality and nothing else,
And once you are ready,
You can continue on with your day.
Namaste.
