An Audio Exploration Of Gentleness Through Inner Enquiry

Welcome to this inquiry on the subject of gentleness.

Gentleness is misunderstood,

It can be seen as fluffy or soft,

Where sometimes being gentle with ourselves actually is holding ourselves quite firmly.

For me,

Gentleness is a tone,

It's a conversation,

It's a light holding of ourselves and our lives.

It's an awareness,

A checking in and ensuring that we are included in our life in a way that is kind and to the capacity that we are currently living within and that capacity varies all the time.

So gentleness isn't a doing necessarily,

It's an energetic point of sharing with ourselves and creating space for just that.

So in this little recording,

I'm going to invite you to slow down into the energy and the feel of gentleness to discover what it means for us because if we want to bring more or something into our lives,

We need to know what it actually is for us.

So this session will invite you to slow down and allow yourself time away from thinking or doing things for other people.

We all live really busy lives and it's why we're resonant with these kinds of exploration,

Of inquiry.

And my hope is that even if for just this time during this recording you get to pause in a really busy day,

Where you may even just sit and have a cup of tea,

Then that time is absolutely worthy of the space you're given.

So how we will ponder this.

So I'm going to offer an eyes closed option with a lightly guided energetic relaxation,

Just to bring you briefly and quietly into this space,

Allowing yourself to be here.

And then we'll move into some stillness and quiet time with some journal prompts which I will speak out.

So for those that wish to remain with their eyes closed in relaxation,

You can simply allow the journal prompts to permeate where you are right now and give respect to whatever comes up for you that may feel like nothing in the moment and that's okay because energetically we are changing all the time.

Something may stir that later calls for a little change or a slight shift in tone towards how you are with yourself.

If you prefer an eyes open ponder,

Then you can open your eyes.

I will guide you to do that after the brief relaxation and then you can journal the prompts,

Write them down and see what comes up for you.

We'll pause for a minute or so.

You may like to stop the recording when we get to the pause if you would like longer and then restart it when you've had enough time.

But we will stall on this recording for about two minutes per prompt.

You may notice restlessness or you feel it's too long.

And that's a wonderful feedback.

It may simply be something you're not used to.

Spending time with yourself,

Not doing anything.

For me,

Spending time with myself in this way is what's changed my life.

It's the most gentle place to be.

When we hold ourselves with compassion,

We truly get to hear ourselves.

We stop shutting off and we begin to build an honest relationship with ourselves from the place from which every relationship in our life evolves.

At the end of the inquiry,

I will lightly guide you back into your day,

Allowing space to integrate and then move on with a gentle tone.

My aim and wish is for you to just leave with a softer tone towards yourself within the energy of gentleness.

So if it feels okay,

Allow your eyes to close or simply soften your gaze.

There's absolutely nothing you need to achieve here and there's no stage or state to reach.

It's just a few minutes to step out of doing into being with yourself.

So take a moment to notice that you are here.

Whatever kind of day you've had,

Whatever energy you're carrying,

You don't need to change any of it.

It's how you present here right now.

And let your attention come to the contact between your body and the chair or the bed or the surface beneath you.

The weight of you is being held,

Always supported.

But notice where your body is supported.

You might notice parts of you that feel tired or tight.

You don't need to relax them,

Just notice them as they are.

There's nothing to fix or change.

This is a noticing as to how you are,

Never making anything wrong or right.

And bring your attention to your breathing.

Not to control it,

Just to notice it.

The breath coming in.

And the breath leaving again.

If your mind is busy,

That's okay.

If it's quiet,

That's okay too.

There's nowhere you need to be,

No right way for your mind to be.

Beautiful mind.

You may notice thoughts about what you should be doing or expectations about how this time should go.

When you notice that,

Just gently come back to the feeling of sitting or lying.

Just being here.

See if you can let this be a truthful space.

Not a polished one,

Not a productive one,

Just an honest one.

Taking a moment to quietly acknowledge,

This is how I am right now.

Nothing needs to be more.

Nothing needs to be taken away.

Spend the last few moments just sitting with that.

Keep your eyes closed if you want to remain in an eyes closed in an inquiry.

Or if you're wanting to journal or look out the window with them,

Now you can slowly open your eyes.

Feeling the chair or the surface once more.

And we're going to go into some ponderings and some reflections.

With a pause.

Again reminding that you can pause the recording if you'd like more time.

So question one.

What is gentleness?

How does it feel?

Have you connected with your truth as to how this looks,

Feels and is experienced?

Can you remember times when gentleness really touched you?

What was happening there?

What is gentleness and how does it feel?

Can you connect with your truth of how it looks,

Feels and is experienced?

Can you remember times when gentleness really touched you?

What was happening there?

Question two.

Bringing your awareness away from question one into question two.

Often gentleness is being seen and heard.

If this feels true for you,

How can you create moments in your life to bring your own hearing of yourself to you?

If this doesn't feel true,

How can you bring more gentleness into your life in ways to nourish you?

Often gentleness is being seen and heard.

If this feels true for you,

How can you create moments in your life to bring your own hearing of yourself to you?

If this doesn't feel true,

How can you bring more gentleness into your life in ways to nourish you?

And bringing your awareness into question three.

Are there parts of yourself which feel a longing for this gentleness?

Maybe an experience of a younger or an older part of yourself?

Can you be still now and wrap yourself or this situation in the energy of gentleness?

Are there parts of yourself which feel a longing for this gentleness?

Maybe an experience of a younger or an older part of yourself?

Can you be still now and wrap yourself or this situation in the energy of gentleness?

And bringing your awareness into question four.

How can daily gentleness enter your life as a simple,

Powerful tonic?

The simple gestures.

Maybe honouring your emotions?

Honouring fatigue by saying enough for today?

Listening to your own voice over the noise of others or conditioned thinking?

How can daily gentleness enter your life as a simple,

Powerful tonic?

The simple gestures.

Maybe honouring your emotions?

Honouring fatigue by saying enough for today?

Listening to your own voice over the noise of others or conditioned thinking?

And bringing your awareness into question five.

How can you share gestures of gentleness from your own space of integration of it?

What small ways can you express gentleness to life and things around you?

Maybe it's being around more beauty?

Less negativity?

Or allowing others the opinions?

Their opinions whilst honouring your quiet truth?

How can these gentleness acts sparkle in your life as a heartbeat?

How can you share gestures of gentleness from your own space of integration of it?

What small ways can you express gentleness to life and things around you?

Maybe it's being around more beauty?

Less negativity?

Or allowing others their opinions whilst honouring your quiet truth?

How can these gentleness acts sparkle in your life as a heartbeat?

How can you share gestures of gentleness from your own space of integration of it?

And moving awareness onto question six.

Where are you being hard on yourself right now?

Can you infuse this with what you know gentleness to be?

Really bringing gentleness home to your life so that you can be a lighthouse for it.

Where are you being hard on yourself right now?

Can you infuse this with what you know gentleness to be?

To really bring gentleness home to your life so that you can be a lighthouse for it.

And moving our awareness onto question seven.

Are you carrying expectations that feel heavy?

Which of these expectations are supporting you and which ones are draining you?

Are you carrying expectations that feel heavy?

Which of these expectations are supporting you and which ones are draining you?

And moving our awareness onto the last question of this session.

How do you respond to yourself when things feel difficult?

How can you bring more gentleness into your lived experience of difficult or overwhelm?

How do you respond to yourself when things feel difficult?

How can you bring more gentleness into your lived experience of difficult or overwhelm?

Before we finish,

Let's just take a moment to not hold on tightly to anything we've touched here.

You don't need to remember every word.

You don't need to take notes in your head.

You don't need to make anything happen.

When we have a realisation,

Even a small one,

A thought,

Something shifts.

We're not the same person we were before that moment.

We don't need to grip for it to matter.

So see if you can trust in what you've seen or felt today.

Already knowing where it's to go.

Take a deep breath in.

And as you breathe out,

Allow that awareness to drop into your body.

Fill in your chest,

Your heart,

Your belly,

Your solar plexus,

Your seat of safety.

Fill in your cells.

Not as something to work on and make happen,

Just as something that is now part of you.

Let it settle into your heart.

Into the way you speak to yourself.

Into the way you move through your life.

You don't need to carry this with any tension.

You can just let it travel and be with you with ease.

Now gently bring your attention back to your body.

Feeling yourself sitting or lying here.

Just noticing the chair or the surface beneath you.

Maybe your feet on the floor if they're on the floor.

Become aware of the room around you.

The sounds.

The light.

The sense of being here.

And when you're ready,

Allow yourself to return to your day without rushing.

There's no need to rush.

Not needing to be different.

Just bringing a little more gentleness with you.