Step 10,
Meditation.
I continue to take personal inventory and when wrong,
Promptly admit it.
Step 10 is one you'll use on a regular basis from now on,
Along with Steps 11 and 12,
To help maintain your spiritual fitness.
Step 10 requires that you continue to watch for character defects within you and ask God to help you let them go as they appear.
This meditation is one you can use to tune in and assess how you're responding to life,
In other words,
Take your inventory.
You'll want to use it especially when you feel negatively triggered,
To quickly identify what's going on and turn it over to your higher power.
Guided meditation.
Make yourself comfortable and close your eyes.
Take a slow,
Deep breath and let go of any tension in your body as you feel yourself sinking into the surface you're resting on,
Becoming still,
More comfortable and relaxed.
Take another slow,
Deep breath and feel a sense of calm and peace begin to fill you as you relax further.
Take another slow,
Deep breath and let your thinking begin to wind down and smooth out as you become still,
Comfortable and relaxed.
Imagine you've been sleeping a deep,
Sound sleep for many hours and you're just beginning to stir awake.
And the first thing you notice is that you're waking up on a soft bed of pine needles on the ground,
Surrounded by ancient fir trees.
It's just before dawn and the air is quite cool,
The light is dim and there's a foggy mist in the air.
You can smell the scent of pine and the damp coolness of the earth.
It's quiet and any sound is blanketed by the mist.
Everything is a palette of soft greens,
Browns and greys.
Standing up you begin to walk along the path through the trees and you can feel the spongy ground beneath your feet.
Perhaps you still feel a bit foggy from your sleep,
But soon you come to a little spring.
Cup your hands to get a drink and splash some of the cool,
Clear water on your face.
Now you're beginning to wake up a bit and see the trees and plants that surround you more clearly.
Walking along further you find yourself once again on the path to the beach you visited not so long ago.
Soon the ground becomes sandy and the air more humid.
Now you can smell the sea and hear the sound of seagulls and ocean waves breaking along the shore.
Finally you emerge from the forest into the beach where earlier you made a decision to turn over your will and your life to God.
There are some boulders nearby and you easily find a comfortable spot to sit and rest.
You can feel the mist and the sea breeze on your face and the warmth of the sun as you contemplate the beach,
The sea and the sky before you.
Drop down from your thinking self into your feeling self and go deeply into your own heart.
Your heart specializes in honesty and can rely on your heart for honest feedback about how you're responding to life without having to sort through the excuses and justifications your head generally offers.
Become aware of your current inner climate taking a moment to look within you for any upset or disturbance.
If you feel perfectly fine go a bit deeper within and notice whether there is anything further down that needs attention.
If you find any disturbance see if you can identify the source of your disturbance including any people,
Circumstances or situations that might be involved.
Now separate the other people,
Circumstances or situations involved and focus solely on yourself taking full responsibility for your own part,
Your own actions and your own inner responses.
Stay in your heart,
Leave out any excuses or blame and become completely honest about how you've responded to life.
Now ask God to come into your heart with you.
Ask God to help you release any defects of character that may have played a part within you in this situation.
Take a series of very slow,
Full,
Deep breaths.
As you breathe in simply receive God's love and support and as you breathe out let go of any negativity within you.
Be sure to thank God for your life.
Take some time with this.
Stay in your heart and take a few moments to consider what actions if any you might need to take in order to make amends at this time to balance the situation.
Stay in your heart and take a few moments to refocus on how you can best be of service to God.
It's almost time to bring this inner journey to a close.
So gather together anything you have learned that you would like to bring with you.
Gradually bring your awareness back into your body and your physical surroundings.
Take a slow,
Deep breath and on the exhalation gently begin to wiggle your fingertips bringing new life and energy back into your body.
Take your time and when you're ready gently open your eyes and feel awake,
Alert,
And refreshed.
Pick up your pen and paper and write about your experience now while it's still fresh in your mind.
Later on revisit this meditation and learn more.
