This is Janine and welcome into the practice.
Today I'll be guiding you through a visualization meditation that invites in a sense of letting go,
Of ungripping.
And this is an interesting practice because so often we get attached into things needing to be a certain way or really wanting them to stay the same,
Whether it's in a relationship or professional engagement or we can get overly stuck into certain ideas or wanting things to change.
When the truth is that so much is beyond our control and that if we can release our talons,
That grippiness from wanting things to either be the same or wanting them to change,
That we can rest into a place that just feels like it's open and receptive and anything is possible.
So find a seat that's comfortable for you,
Whether that's upright or lying down.
And then the invitation is to close the eyes as often that can help in a practice like this,
But if that feels less comfortable,
Soften the gaze so that we're just allowing for less visual input from an external perspective.
And start to draw the attention inwards by noticing the breath,
Noticing the body as it is,
Maybe noticing the points of contact between your body and the ground as a way of arriving and centering and importantly disengaging from whatever was going on before you began this practice.
I invite you now to imagine yourself either standing or sitting in the sand at the edge of the sea and imagining it's towards the end of the day where the light's starting to fade.
There's a gentleness to the water,
The waves,
Perhaps lapping around your feet or the body if you're sat down.
Just gently noticing the scene around you,
The quality of light,
Perhaps imagining a breeze or clouds,
Sort of quietness,
Just noticing the scene around you.
Quiet,
Calm,
That can be felt when the day starts to slow down and near night.
And as you're sat here noticing and being in this scene,
Notice how nature doesn't hold on.
The sun gently fades at the end of every day without struggle.
So as you're watching that happen in the horizon,
Kind of feel into that experience,
That letting go of day to night.
As you're feeling the water moving around you and then dissipating with every wave that comes in,
Notice how the water doesn't struggle.
It comes in and it goes back out.
We don't need to force it to move in this way,
It just happens.
Perhaps noticing how the clouds gently move around and nothing stays the same there.
So there's a gentle fluidity with how nature is.
It just is.
And perhaps imagining how the warmth of the sun starts to shift to slightly cooler temperatures as you're watching the sun set and how that change is a natural progression of what happens each day when that quality of warmth and light gives way to the moon and the night.
And noticing how the temperature of the feet or your body in the sand changes also to a more cooler temperature and how we're not gripping into that needing to stay a certain way,
It just changes.
And we'll take another minute here noticing all that is around you in this sort of visual field we've created here,
This scene.
Not forcing anything to happen or wanting anything to change or stay the same.
There's a gentle progression of shifting,
Moving,
Just like your breath is constantly being breathed in and out,
We're not holding it forever.
That,
Like the nature around us,
Is a wonderful teacher of how to rest in the naturalness of what's present internally and externally.
So allow yourself three more breaths taking in this scene and this felt experience in the scene for you.
And after that third breath,
Just take your time to gradually open the eyes and gently notice what's in your surroundings here.
Notice how your inner environment is responding to this practice.
And see if it's possible to take this feeling of calm that is cultivated in a practice like this as you move throughout the rest of your day.
I hope this has been a benefit.
Thank you so much for practicing with me here.
Take care.
