Nurturing Our Passion For Protecting The Planet

This guided meditation focuses on connecting to our source of passion and personal inspiration for protecting the earth. Through body and breath sensing, we center in the present moment and welcome opposite of emotions and beliefs. We embrace the radiant feeling of fulfillment and the assurance that our achievements are enough. Through the somatic experience, we recharge our passion and rest in the resilience that we can protect our planet and ourselves.

Transcript

Begin your practice by settling into the body.

If you're sitting in a chair,

Root your feet to the floor,

Lengthen your torso upright,

Rotate your shoulders back and open your chest.

Center your head over your body with your chin slightly tucked to relax the thinking mind.

Palms resting,

Maybe with the palms open or loosely nested in one another on your lap.

If there is any final adjustment to make you even just 1% more comfortable,

Make that adjustment for yourself now.

Open your senses to the room around you,

The sounds arising spontaneously in the space,

The touch of air on your skin,

The sensation of your body resting on the surface of the chair.

Our approach in this practice is to observe and welcome sensations,

Emotions and thoughts as they arise.

We welcome every experience as a messenger that is presenting an offering.

Some messages are important,

Others are simply noise.

By welcoming and inviting in all these messengers with curiosity and openness,

We more fully acknowledge the sensations,

Emotions and thoughts that are arising within us,

And so we better understand ourselves.

Today our practice focuses on connecting to your source of passion and energy for the important work that we do as conservationists to build our resilience.

All of us here are working towards change,

Be it by changing policies,

Increasing a wildlife population,

Advancing a project,

Or even serving as an effective supervisor or team member.

As we work to make our earth more resilient,

We need to take time for our own resilience.

As we work towards change,

We also need to ground in what is unchanging,

The constant on our earth and in ourselves.

Isn't it true that if we don't nurture our own inner passion,

Our light,

That we'll burn out?

And so our first responsibility is to care for ourselves as we also work to care for the world and others.

So reflect for a moment upon an intention for today's practice.

What led you here with us today?

Perhaps to build your reserve of passion and energy?

Perhaps to inquire into an emotion or interaction at work that has been lingering?

Perhaps to have a few moments of calm and stillness amidst a busy day?

Whatever it is,

Welcoming your intention for today's practice with your entire body and affirming that you've given yourself this time as a precious gift to fulfill this intention.

All of us here are part of a common mission,

The mission to conserve biodiversity,

To protect our planet and heal our earth.

You also have a personal mission,

A goal that you are dedicating your heart,

Body and mind to with passion and focus.

Reflect for a moment on how you would articulate this personal mission.

Perhaps it's the mission of your career or your job or a project to recover the rhinos or rebuild an intact watershed in California.

Or maybe it's a mission in your personal life,

Like to be a compassionate parent or a supportive friend.

Affirm this personal mission in the present tense as if you're living and achieving it right here in this moment,

Repeating it to yourself several times.

Now feel the fulfillment of living that personal body in your body in this moment.

Become really aware of your body,

Starting with your jaw.

Bring awareness to this area as though a spotlight is lighting it up,

Activating a hum of aliveness.

Sense now your mouth,

Your cheekbones,

Forehead,

Top of the head.

Sense your neck and your shoulders.

Notice the body breathing itself,

Your collarbone rising and falling gently as the inhale enters and the exhale exits.

Sense your left shoulder,

The upper arm,

Lower arm,

Wrist,

The palm,

Fingers.

Now feel the entire arm.

Bring awareness to your right shoulder,

Upper arm,

Lower arm,

Wrist,

Palm,

Fingers,

And the entire right arm.

Now sense both arms at the same time as vibrant sensation,

Your breath flowing through,

Not thinking,

Just feeling.

As thoughts arise,

As they surely will,

Gently acknowledge them and set them aside to visit with later.

Sense now your upper back,

The shoulder blades,

Lower back.

Welcome sensation into the front chest,

Abdomen,

Pelvis,

The left side of your torso,

The right side.

Feel the entire torso vibrant with the hum of aliveness,

Watching the breath fill and contract.

Sense now your left hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

Calf,

Ankle,

Foot and toes,

And the entire left leg.

Sense your right hip,

Thigh,

Knee,

And calf,

Ankle and foot,

Toes,

And the entire right leg.

Feel both legs at the same time,

Not trying to change or judge,

Letting go of thoughts,

And resting just with the sensation,

Aware of the breath moving through you.

Sense your full body now,

Feeling the vibrant shimmering inside the breath,

And outward on its surfaces,

And shining sensation out beyond the boundary of your body.

Sense the breath fueling this vibrant aliveness,

The fresh air filling your body as your body inhales,

Drawing it in,

And exhales,

Drawing it out.

Notice the shift of the breath,

Constantly changing from inhale to exhale with its own natural rhythm.

Your body fueled by clean fresh air,

A vibrant intact ecosystem,

Pure and whole,

Fueled by vibrant energy,

An unchanging vibrant aliveness,

An unchanging aliveness that is present always,

Even as your awareness shifts around your body,

A hum of life that sets the backdrop to the changing sensations.

Bring your awareness now to a tactile feeling in your body,

Maybe warmth on the palm,

Tension in the neck,

Motion in your stomach.

Noticing these feelings arising,

Just watching any thoughts about them rise and float away like bubbles,

Just sensing.

Bring awareness now to an emotion or belief that might be present,

Maybe an emotion from an experience that you had earlier in the day,

Or a belief that you feel is true about yourself that you're working with in your life.

Could be about a work project or an interaction with a team member,

Or maybe a resident belief that lingers.

Simply observe this without judgment,

Without getting lost in its story.

If no emotion or belief is present,

This too is your organic experience.

But if one is present,

Sense how it feels in your body.

Where do you feel that emotion or belief in your body?

Does it have a shape?

A color?

A texture?

Now if it feels right,

Invite the opposite of that emotion or belief.

Don't do this with the thinking mind,

Just feel your way.

Sense the opposite of that emotion or belief.

Sense how it feels.

Where do you feel it in the body?

Does it have a shape?

A color?

A texture?

Now if it feels right,

Shift from the opposite to the original emotion or belief.

Alternate back and forth between them,

First sensing one,

Then feeling into the other.

Then try holding the two emotions or beliefs simultaneously,

Feeling into both at the same time.

Notice how this feels in your entire body and mind.

And notice how every emotion,

Every belief,

And every feeling is a movement in your awareness,

A changing perception arising in unchanging awareness,

That vibrant hum of aliveness,

Ever present,

Ever aware,

Unchanging,

Unchangeable.

Bring your attention now to sensations of joy and bliss in the body.

Maybe recall a memory of a particular moment or animal or landscape in your life that invites joy into your body.

Feel that joy radiate throughout your body like sunlight cresting over the horizon,

Spilling into the landscape.

Joyful light filling every cell of your body with life,

Feeling that vibrant hum of aliveness and joy throughout the body.

Sensing how that joy is arising in awareness,

Feeling yourself as spacious and unchanging,

Part of the energy of life in our world,

Ever present,

Perfect,

Just as it is.

Alongside this joy,

Bubbling within you,

Recall your personal mission that we articulated at the beginning of the practice,

That calling to which you are dedicating your life with focus and dedication,

That present tense personal mission that you are doing right now in this present moment.

Sense the joy,

The utter bliss of achievement,

The radiant satisfaction of fulfillment,

The glow,

The calm of knowing your actions are perfect are enough,

Just as they are.

Sense how this feels in your body,

How the breath moving through you provides the vital force for your personal mission,

How it fuels you,

And sense that hum of aliveness,

The backdrop of awareness,

Unchanging,

Spacious,

Perfect.

Resting in awareness,

Reflect on the journey that you've just taken,

The perceptions that have been present,

Sensations in the body,

Emotions,

Any thoughts,

Beliefs,

That joy,

And pure awareness.

Recall the intention that you made for your practice,

And consider if there might be a new intention you wish to take with you as we transition out of this practice and into the practice of your day in life.

Sensing now the room around you,

The sounds,

The touch of air on your skin,

The rise and fall of your chest as breath moves through you.

Taking a moment to sense again that light of joy in your body,

And to feel gratitude to yourself for taking this time to nurture your passion,

Your light,

The awareness that fuels your personal mission.

Taking your time,

Slowly wiggling your fingers and toes,

Perhaps deepening your breath,

Taking your time as you eventually open and close your eyes,

First halfway,

Then gently fully open,

All while continuing to sense deep in your body that sense of unchanging perfection,

That joy that is you and your gift to the world.