So,
Inviting you now,
In whatever way works for you,
To find a quiet place within and around you.
Just signalling through the body to the brain.
Ah,
We're having a wee pause.
So,
Take in a minute to figure out what that is for you right now.
A quiet place within in and around you.
Allowing your shoulders to soften and your jaw to unclench.
Let your breath arrive now,
Like a gentle tide.
The wave on the seashore.
The wave coming in and the wave going out.
Breath coming in and the breath going out.
In Celtic tradition,
The veil between the seen and the unseen is thin.
The land speaks and the soul listens.
So,
As we begin this meditation,
Inviting a simple invocation.
May this moment be a soft space.
May joy find me,
Even now.
May I be nourished by the sacredness of the small.
May this moment be a soft space.
May joy find me,
Even now.
May I be nourished by the sacredness of the small.
Begin now to imagine yourself sitting or standing on a soft green hillside.
The air is fresh with the scent of damp earth and springtime bloom.
Sitting or standing here,
Breathe in the life of this land and on each out-breath,
Release,
Let go,
Even a little of that which you don't want.
Breathing in the life of the land.
On the out-breath,
Releasing,
Letting go,
Even a little of what is not serving you.
With each breath now,
Imagine that the earth itself is breathing with you.
A deep,
Steady rhythm.
You are not separate.
You belong.
Now bring your awareness to your own heart.
Just noticing the heart space.
That part of you that loves,
That grieves,
That longs.
And let your breath now wrap around your heart,
Just like a warm shawl.
In your mind's eye now,
Begin to walk along this hillside.
The grasses bend in the breeze.
And scattered everywhere,
Your eyes are drawn to wildflowers.
They are small,
Some tiny,
Bright,
Delicate,
Yellow,
Blue,
White,
Purple.
Each tiny wildflower,
Almost hidden in the grass.
Yet each one,
A moment of joy that the earth has given to you.
As you walk now,
Let each flower you see represent a joy that you have known.
Some recent,
Some long past.
Laughter with your loved one.
The soft look in their eyes.
The way light filters through the window.
The song of a blackbird in the morning.
With each flower you notice,
Pause and hold it in your heart.
This too was joy.
This too was real.
Let yourself gather a bouquet now.
Not in your hands,
But in your spirit.
A soul bouquet of moments that remind you that you are alive,
That you are loving,
That you are loved.
A bouquet made up of tiny memories,
Moments of joy.
Your bouquet reminding you that you are alive,
You are loving,
You are loved.
Even in hardship,
Joy blooms.
Now you find a place to sit down in the grass.
The wildflowers around you sway as if in gratitude and prayer.
Imagine now a soft presence approaching.
Perhaps Bridget,
The Celtic goddess of healing and of hearth.
Or maybe an ancestor.
Or simply the land itself.
This soft presence approaching.
They offer you a blessing,
Spoken or unspoken.
You are not forgotten.
Your tenderness is a light in the darkness.
The way you care is sacred.
And joy still wants to find you.
You are not forgotten.
Your tenderness is a light in the darkness.
The way you care is sacred.
And joy still wants to find you.
Let this blessing soak now into your bones,
Into your very being.
Let it remind you that you are held.
And begin to return now to the breath.
Noticing breath like the waves on the seashore.
The breath coming in,
The breath going out.
Return now to your body.
In contact with whatever is supporting it.
Return to this moment.
When you are ready,
Beginning to wiggle fingers and toes.
And if your eyes have been closed,
Softly opening them.
Maybe taking a minute to let the eyes roam around the space you are sitting in.
And carrying this truth with you now.
Joy is not the opposite of pain.
It is the wildflower growing in its midst.
Let it surprise you.
Let it bless you.
So as we slowly come back,
Inviting you to stay in your own heart for just the next moment or two.
Noticing how you are.
What's here for you.
Remembering that there's no shoulds.
There's no judgement.
There's no preferred way to be.
Just allowing yourself to notice what's in your heart right now.
How are you?
And so as we nurture ourselves as human beings,
Who are also caring,
This noticing is really important.
How am I?
What's here for me right now?
And then responding to that noticing with some kindness and compassion to myself.
So inviting that little movement in you right now.
What's here right now?
How would I be kind myself in this moment just right here right now?
Thank you.
