Well hello there.
Welcome to Celestial Gems.
I'm Gem and I'll be your guide for today.
This is a safe space that I have created and will share with you now.
Please ensure you are also in a space that feels safe to you or at least safe enough for you to close your eyes and melt away.
Today we'll gather your worries and release them into a magic cauldron so you leave here feeling lighter and freer.
For this meditation I recommend being outside or by a window if that's possible for you.
If not please sit by your plants or flowers even crystals.
Some think of the natural world in your space today.
Sit with your back straight or lying down with a pillow under your knees for extra support.
If textiles soothe you please grab your favorite blanket or plushie.
Yes even if you're a grown-up don't underestimate the power of comfort from a toy especially one that can be hugged.
Are you ready?
Let us begin.
Gently close your eyes.
Submerge yourself in the darkness.
Listen to the sound of your breath.
This and my voice are all you hear.
Everything else fades away like music from a passing car.
Take a deep gentle breath in through the nose for four three two one.
Hold at the top noticing the way your skin meets the air.
Five four three two one.
Exhale through the nose softly now for eight as if you were slipping into a bath after a long hard day.
Three two one.
As you let all the air out see if you can pause in that moment and hold again before breathing in.
Then when you're ready breathe in for four noticing the cool air entering from your nostrils.
Hold at the top for seven six.
Feeling the ground beneath you supporting your entire body.
One with a gentle sigh exhale softly for eight seven six five four three two one.
We will do one more cleansing breath.
In through the nose for four three two one.
Hold for seven.
As you hold notice the softness that surrounds you.
Three two one.
As you exhale drop your shoulders and relax your face allowing your tongue to drop from the roof of your mouth.
Two one.
As the last breath fades your inner eye opens.
The darkness shifts into a forest.
Ancient trees surrounding you in a quiet presence.
Your eyes begin to adjust and the glimmer of a beaming full moon above you allows you to see drops of light amongst the trees.
And ever so faintly you begin to make out the shape of a small cottage in the distance.
Ah you think to yourself remembering now that this is where you are going.
You have been invited to the witch's home.
A place we've all come to know as celestial gems.
Beyond the trees the witch is waiting.
You begin to walk.
It's dark but you're not scared.
You've been worried these past few days.
The world's troubles seemingly weighing on your shoulders with your mind jumping from one problem to the next.
Your anxious brain has led you down a road that no longer serves you,
Your greater purpose or the world.
The witch is here to help.
At last you see the cottage fully now illuminated by a gooey caramel glow of fire inside.
Crooked and small made out of stone and covered in dark rich green moss faded slightly by a thin hazy fog.
You feel the warmth of the cottage wash over you.
It radiates like a hug from a good friend you haven't seen in a very long time.
Wisps of smoke bellow out of the moss covered chimney.
The roof bows gently under the weight of years.
You see dried herbs tied in twine dangling from the porch beams.
Their silhouette gently swaying in the breeze.
The air smells of wood smoke and damp earth familiar and comforting triggering memories of a time long past or never known like daydreams of a forgotten time.
Shades of purples and greens of the weaving wisterias cling to the doorway.
Dark mismatched colors of an ancient oak tree stand before you as a large door too large in fact for this small cottage.
The door begins to creak open seemingly on its own.
Intuitively you step inside preparing yourself now knowing the next time you walk through this doorway you'll be a freer person with your worries released into the abyss.
Take a seat a voice from far away calls out.
There in front of the steady glow of a crackling fire sits an old velvet armchair with faded fabric from countless years of use.
The chair smells faintly of sandalwood and smoke.
As you begin to sink in the chair sighs.
Above the fire a great black cauldron simmers almost like a living thing bubbling thick and dark releasing curls of smoke that shimmer silver in the firelight.
The scent rising from it is earthy metallic almost electric like the air just before a thunderstorm.
You are nearly hypnotized by the cauldron when a blur of white catches your eyes.
Then you hear the pitter-patter of little feet.
You need to look twice as you see the orange feet of a calm white waddling duck walk past.
Quack quack quack says the duck who has seemingly come to greet you and now props itself up next to the unphased black cat who has been soaking up the warmth of the fire for what seems like a lifetime.
You begin to fully absorb yourself in the magical surroundings.
Dangling from the wooden beams of the roof are clusters of dried flowers.
Decades of friendships and full moon rituals have contributed to this collection.
More dried herbs and jars peculiar things sit covered in dust on the shelves in the kitchen in front of you with glimmers of trinkets and crystals catching the light of the fire.
Every corner of the cottage is cluttered with objects that could have you telling tales around the fire for hours.
Books from floor to ceiling to your right and to your left another doorway to the room in which the witch is clanking about.
It's chaotic yes but comforting like stepping into a kitchen mid-feast.
Well hello there I say.
Stepping directly into your story standing before you is me the small chubby figure with hair of autumn leaves like embers glowing in fading firelight.
She smiles at you blue eyes lighting up in your presence as though she is genuinely so happy to have you here.
This is my cauldron that I have built and will share with you now.
The black cauldron bubbles in front of you waiting for you.
Let's take a moment to think of what you would like to give the cauldron.
A worry?
A fear?
Something perhaps that has been causing you anxiety?
Whatever it may be you must know that once given to the cauldron you accept that it is no longer yours to hold.
In your mind's eye stand in front of the cauldron now.
Feel your hand go into your pocket.
Imagine your worry as a ball.
Bring it out into the open.
Hold it in your hand.
Acknowledge it.
The ball is dark and tar like.
You take your hand and hold it over the cauldron dropping your worry into the bubbling liquid.
As you do you feel your worry ripped away from you like a child snatching a candy bar from your hand.
You watch intently as the worry begins to sink beneath the surface dissolving into the bubbling brew.
It churns and bops and the more the cauldron bubbles the less attached you feel to that worry.
The less connected you are to it you feel it leave your body.
Now take your second worry.
Pull it from your pocket.
Gaze upon it and acknowledge it.
Drop that worry now into the cauldron.
Watch it sink and dissolve beneath the surface.
Consumed by the bubbles you no longer see or feel your worry.
It has left your body your mind and your soul.
Finally hold your last worry for today in your hand.
Take a deep breath in as you acknowledge its presence.
Exhale as you hover your hand and drop it into the cauldron.
The cauldron bangs and blue smoke begins to bellow from its center.
You watch the worry evaporate.
As you do you feel the lightness completely overcome you.
The last specks of worry,
Hurt and pain are lifted from you without effort.
You wonder why you carried them for so long.
Not invalidating your past feelings but recognizing that they no longer have power over you.
You feel lighter,
Freer and at peace.
The cauldron holds your worries now.
As agreed at the beginning those worries are no longer yours to carry.
You stand there now fully immersing yourself in this new version.
You feel as though the atoms you were comprised of have shifted.
You have changed.
A freer version of who you once were.
Ah yes I sense the weight has lifted.
The witch peers across the cauldron at you and a smile slides across her face.
So how do you feel now?
You let the question pour over you.
How are you?
Using your breath scan your body now.
As you breathe in from the soles of your feet feeling your breath rise up through your body all the way to the crown of your head.
Hold and then as you exhale fully feel the lightness in your entire body.
Relaxing every body part as the breath passes by.
You feel the new space within you now.
You feel the lightness in your entire body and you smile.
The witch recognizes this smile.
Ah well then perhaps it is time for you to return to your world now.
But know this you are always welcome here anytime.
The witch scurries away into the back and you begin to walk to the door.
Until we meet again.
She calls out from the back as you begin to walk into the night.
As you step outside you begin to feel the cool fresh air touch your skin like a cold shower.
It begins to awaken you.
Take a deep breath in through your nose for four three two one.
Hold that breath for seven six five four three two one.
And gently exhale for eight seven six five four three two one.
Slowly now become aware of the room you are in.
Listening to the distant sounds that surround you.
Begin to awaken your body by wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Take your hands and rub them together.
Placing them over your eyes feeling the warmth radiate from your palms.
Gently now open your eyes.
And remove your hands so you are fully present.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I'm Gem and I've been your guide and your witch and I'm so grateful you were able to join me.
Until we meet again.
Goodbye my magic friend.
