Greetings.
Thank you for joining this practice.
I'm grateful that you found yourself here today.
My name is Vanessa.
I am a certified 200-hour mindfulness meditation teacher from the Lab of Meditation,
Which is Canada's first mindfulness meditation teacher school,
Run by Hiroo D.
Micheles.
I've been practicing meditation for almost seven years now.
I have found it to be not just a practice,
But largely part of my being,
And so I'm really grateful to be able to share that with you today.
Today's practice is dedicated to anger,
To honoring,
To nurturing,
To be present with anger.
This is the type of anger that is more personal,
And when we dig a little deeper into that anger,
We notice it's often just hurt.
And so this practice will invite us to hold space with anger,
To dig deeper below it,
And to honor,
Nurture,
And witness the hurt that sits in behind.
This is a mindfulness meditation practice.
We will start with a relaxation technique and then enter the mindfulness meditation component.
I'm going to invite us now to get into our meditation posture.
Please be welcome to join this meditation lying down on your back,
Legs and arms extended,
Arms by the side,
Palms facing up towards the skies.
You're welcome to also join us seated in a chair or on a couch with your feet flat on the floor,
Rolling those shoulders back and down,
Slight tilt in the chin,
Nice and relaxed in that upper body,
Those arms relaxed by the side.
We can place those hands on the knees or in the lap,
Again,
Those palms facing upwards.
And finally,
Be welcome to join us on the meditation cushion or a meditation mat,
Cross-legged or in lotus position.
Again,
The shoulders back and down,
Slight tilt in the chin,
That upper body nice and relaxed,
Hands at the knees or in the lap,
Palms facing up towards the skies.
Be welcome to be aware of the breath.
Notice its breathing patterns,
Noticing that dance between the breath and the heart rate,
Just observing,
No judgments,
No expectations of how the breath should look or sound or feel,
Just observing.
And as we do so,
Maybe we'll invite our eyes to just wander the room nice and slowly,
Taking in our surroundings,
Signaling to the brain this is a safe space for us to let go.
And maybe we'll allow the eyes to rest on something that inspires us,
Brings us a sense of joy or maybe even peace.
Maybe it's a painting on the wall,
Maybe something out the window,
Maybe a plant,
Whatever it is,
We'll observe it.
Maybe inhale that inspiration,
Pausing at the top of the breath and exhaling to a point right in front of us,
At eye level.
Inhaling that inspiration one more time.
And on that exhale,
We'll invite the eyelids to close and tuning into this inner world again,
Noticing,
Observing,
No judgments,
No expectations,
Just allowing the breath to be here,
Allowing ourselves to be here in this present moment.
Breathing a little more intentionally now into that heart space,
Pausing at the top of breath and exhaling to a point right in front of us.
Inhaling,
Going on a little longer than that inhale.
Maybe this time inhaling a little deeper into the lungs,
Pausing at the top of the breath,
Maybe feeling some expansion in the back and exhaling,
Going on a little longer than that inhale.
And again,
A deep inhale this time into the belly,
Feeling that expansion in the ribcage,
Pausing at the top of the breath and exhaling.
And noticing the space here,
Noticing the heart,
Noticing if the heart rate slows.
The breath slows and the mind follows,
Softening the cheekbones,
Relaxing the lips.
Once again,
Inviting that slight tilt in the chin to keep that neck and spine in alignment,
Allowing the muscles in the upper arms to relax and the elbows and joints and the wrists,
Hands and fingertips,
The muscles around the chest area to relax,
Releasing any tension in that upper back and wrapping around into the stomach area.
A little love and care and mindfulness here,
Posing some of our deeper challenges.
So moving here with grace,
The shins and the calves,
Pausing here in the stillness and the spaciousness within.
Noticing that this space is always here,
Regardless of anything else that may come up for us.
The softness,
The stillness,
The spaciousness is always,
Always here,
Cushioning it underneath.
And we can always,
Always come back to this space.
Now I'm going to invite us to think of a recent experience where maybe some anger may have arose.
We don't need to think of something too intense,
But just enough that we can notice what the anger feels like in the body.
The intention here is almost to slow us down in that anger response,
To simply witness it,
Observe it,
Paying attention to where in the body it arises,
Paying attention to where attention occurs,
Especially after the relaxation.
Maybe it's a furrow in the eyebrows,
Maybe a tightness in the forehead.
Maybe it's a searing pain in the chest or the heart space.
Maybe it's a rounding of the shoulders.
Maybe it's all of these.
And I invite you to take a moment here to explore this in the body.
And we'll focus now on one particular area where the tension is arising,
Noticing how it feels.
Maybe it's not.
Maybe it's hot or cold.
Maybe it's stiff.
And we're going to hold space with it,
Just honoring it,
Allowing it to be here.
And in this allowing,
Extend the invitation to nurture,
To notice something deeper in behind it,
Noticing a sort of tenderness,
I witness this hurt.
And final inhale into this area.
I love this hurt.
Noticing what comes up for us,
Noticing what may arise,
Allowing for whatever is here to be here.
Just noticing,
Observing what it may feel like,
Acknowledging it.
And again,
Searching a little deeper now as we hold space,
Finding that rawness,
That tenderness,
And inviting the breath now into this space,
Into this area.
I witness this hurt,
Exhaling,
And again,
Inhaling into this area.
I nurture this hurt,
Exhaling,
And a final inhale into this area.
I love this hurt,
And for that rawness,
That tenderness,
That invitation,
And as we accept that invitation,
Inhale into that area.
I witness my hurt,
Exhaling.
I nurture this hurt,
Exhaling.
I'm grateful for this space,
Grateful for this practice,
Grateful for the breath,
And for that invitation to transform,
And to fall back down to their natural position.
Maybe wiggle the fingers,
Wiggle the toes,
Coming back into the physical space.
Reflect on this practice,
Perhaps journal on anything that arises or may be here today,
In this present moment.
Thank you very much for engaging in this practice with me.
May it bring you peace,
Love,
And transformation.
Namaste.
Namaste.
