Welcome.
This is a guided meditation for embracing and healing depression.
My name is Vanessa and I'm honored to share this space with you.
This meditation is inspired by my own journey through a health crisis that brought me into deep states of sadness,
Fear,
Worry,
And depression.
It was during these moments that I remembered some of the words my teacher Jillian Pransky had said during a metta meditation practice,
In that we are this spaciousness that can hold whatever is passing through us.
We are the loving awareness in which all emotions can be held.
This is the meditation inspiration that I'd like to share with you today.
Let's begin by coming into a comfortable position on our backs and start to take a few deeper breaths.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Now,
Taking a few deep cleansing breaths to release initial tension held in your body and mind.
And from here now,
Begin to notice the earth holding your body,
The support of the earth.
Let your body weight drop into this loving embrace of the earth.
And let yourself feel held and scan all the parts of the back body that are in contact with support.
Allow yourself to melt as we begin to now bring our awareness to different parts of our body with an image of a warm glowing light,
Touching everything it touches with a healing,
Supportive,
Warm embrace.
We'll start at the top of our head and gently scanning through our body,
Noticing any sensations of tension melting away as you scan through your forehead and eyes.
Your cheekbones and jaw.
Allow this warm glowing light to soften,
Ease any discomfort in your face.
And keep moving your awareness through your neck,
Shoulders,
And arms,
Your palms filled with a warm,
Glowing,
Radiant light,
Your chest and belly,
Back,
Hips,
Legs,
And feet.
Feel your body becoming more grounded,
More open,
And warmer.
Warm with a spacious,
Loving awareness traveling into every cell of your body.
From this place,
Bring your awareness to the space in your heart center.
And again,
Picture,
Sense,
Or feel a warm,
Glowing presence here.
This light of awareness represents your spacious,
Loving awareness.
In this space,
We can embrace all emotions and challenges that we may encounter.
Compassion and warmth.
With each deep breath,
Visualize yourself breathing into the center of your heart space.
And as you breathe out,
Imagine this light expanding,
Creating a spacious field around your body.
This field can hold everything you are feeling,
Every range of emotion,
All the feels it can hold without judgment or criticism.
All feelings,
Emotions are welcome here.
If there are areas in your body where you feel tension,
Sadness,
Grief,
A heaviness,
Gently place your hands onto that part of your body.
Imagine the light flowing from your hands into these areas,
Bringing healing,
Comfort,
A soothing quality into your being.
Your loving awareness is here supporting you,
Holding you through whatever you are experiencing.
It is the truth of who you are,
This spacious,
Warm,
Glowing presence.
As you continue to place your hands onto whichever part of your body that called your attention,
Begin to listen to these affirmations,
These meta-phrases.
And if it feels right,
You can repeat them in your mind or out loud,
Letting them bathe your body in unconditional self-compassion.
May I do the same for you as I do for me.
Be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe and at ease.
May I feel deeply loved and loving.
May I be happy and healthy.
May I be safe and at ease.
May I feel loving and loved.
Continue to breathe into your body,
Breathe into your heart center,
And notice how you feel as you send these words of loving presence,
Loving kindness,
Meta,
To your being.
Repeating a few more times,
May I be happy and healthy.
May I be safe and at ease.
May I feel loving and deeply loved.
If it feels challenging or difficult to offer yourself compassion and kindness,
Perhaps imagine that a dear friend or a loved one was saying these words to you,
Or imagine that you are saying it to your inner child,
That soul needs your loving compassion and attention.
Continue to breathe as you stay present with how you're feeling as you send yourself compassion.
Let these words flow through your entire body,
Your being,
Your organs,
Your skeletal structure.
Every part of yourself is bathed in worthy compassion.
You are worthy of kindness and compassion towards yourself.
For whatever you're experiencing.
Imagine wrapping whatever challenging emotions appear in a warm,
Comforting blanket of light and love.
With each breath,
More love and light fills your being.
With each breath out,
This love and light spreads beyond your body,
Filling your energetic field around your body with light.
As we begin to come to the close of this meditation,
I'd like you to bring your awareness back to the earth supporting your body.
Take a few deep grounding breaths,
Breathing into your belly,
Sending the breath out to the back of your body into the earth.
Remember,
You have the strength within you to embrace and heal from any emotion or trauma.
You have the strength within you to embrace and heal from any emotion or challenge.
You are not alone in this journey.
You are always loved and supported by the loving awareness,
Which you truly are.
Begin to deepen your breath.
Gently bring yourself back into this space,
Opening your eyes.
Take a moment to reflect,
Notice how you feel,
And know that you can return to this place of loving awareness and presence whenever you need.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
May you carry this peace and compassion with you throughout the rest of your day,
Evening,
Into your night.
Namaste.
