Calm in the chaos.
Stillness within the storm.
This is a moment suspended in stillness,
Where your soul can sigh and settle,
Letting the weight of the day melt away.
Welcome.
My name is Carly from the Zen Lotus here in the Highlands of Scotland.
This meditation practice today is for times when anxiety makes it hard to feel grounded.
It is about helping your body feel safe enough to stay present while something difficult moves through you.
You do not need to do this meditation perfectly.
You only need to arrive.
Letting your body settle into whatever position feels most honest to you right now.
Lying or sitting down.
Close your eyes or hold a soft gaze.
There is nothing you need to adjust or improve.
Simply allow yourself to be here right now,
In this moment.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Not to change it,
But to notice that it is already carrying you.
Intentional breathing helps to ground us in our body.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
And again.
And we will hold the breath at the top.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
There are seasons in life where effort no longer works.
Where striving only puts weight in your hold.
Where the path forward does not reveal itself through force,
But through staying.
Do you feel like you were here just now?
Remember,
You are not lost.
You are in the middle.
Taking another deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
One more time.
In through the nose.
Hold.
And out through the mouth.
There are times when the soul asks us to endure.
Not as a punishment,
But as a passage.
A slow crossing from one way of being into another.
Endurance.
It is remaining open while the weather moves through you.
Visualising yourself held in place by the natural forces of life.
Feeling the sun on your skin.
The wind moving across you.
Time doing its work.
You are being shaped here.
There is wisdom in this waiting.
Even when it feels unbearable.
But especially when it feels unbearable.
Letting your shoulders drop.
Let your hands rest open.
Let your chest soften.
Even if only a little.
Again.
Inhaling in through your nose.
Holding at the top.
And exhaling anything that no longer serves you.
And again.
Inhale.
Hold.
Now we are going to do a short practice to help us to feel present.
Grounded in your surroundings.
In your environment.
In the here and now.
Open your eyes if they are closed.
And if you feel comfortable name out loud or silently five things that you can see in the space around you.
Take your time.
Now name four things you can feel physically.
The floor under your feet.
The chair or bed supporting you.
The weight of your clothing.
Now notice three things that you can hear.
Even faint or distant sounds.
Could be the rhythm of your breath.
Or the sound of my voice.
Now taking one slow breath in through your nose.
And sighing out through the mouth.
Next,
Anchoring the body.
Press your feet gently into the ground or wherever you have them placed.
Push your hands together palm to palm.
And hold for five seconds.
We will do that once more.
Pressing your feet gently into the ground or wherever you have them placed.
And push your hands together palm to palm.
And hold for five seconds.
And release.
This pressure tells the body that you are here.
You are safe.
You are present.
Now bringing one hand to your chest and affirm gently to yourself in this present moment I am safe.
Let your breath be natural.
No fixing.
No forcing.
Feel how you need to feel in this moment.
Let any uncomfortable sensations move through your body.
If your heart is racing feel the rhythm.
If your thoughts are loud let them be loud.
You are not required to make this stop but for it to pass.
Staying with the sensations for ten more seconds.
Count slowly if it helps.
Taking a deep inhale through the nose.
You can return to this grounding any time.
As many times as needed.
Transformation rarely announces itself.
It happens underground.
In the dark.
In the quiet places where patience is learned slowly.
Nothing here is being wasted.
Not the grief.
Not the confusion.
Not the waiting.
This is the place where roots deepen.
Where strength is grown without spectacle.
Where wisdom gathers ring by ring like an ancient tree.
If you feel tired let yourself be tired.
If you feel unsure in this moment let uncertainty sit beside you without needing answers.
The storm within you will move on.
It always does.
The waves rise,
Break and recede.
Until then you are allowed to rest in the middle of it.
You are allowed to pause.
Take another breath.
Feel the ground beneath you.
Steady and patient.
Feel life holding you.
Remaining here for a few more breaths.
Letting yourself be exactly as you are.
And now gently bring an awareness into the body once more.
We will do a tense and release body scan.
Curl your toes and tense the muscles of your feet.
Holding for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 and release.
Tightening now to the calves and the thighs.
Holding.
And release.
Now moving up to the belly and drawing the belly in gently tensing,
Hold and release.
Now moving to the hands.
Making soft fists with your hands and tightening the arms and the shoulders.
Tense,
Hold allowing the shoulders to drop fully.
Now scrunching the muscles of the face concentrating on the jaw.
Hold and release.
Let the jaw unclench.
Let the forehead smooth.
Notice the difference between tension and ease.
Now visualising a warm gentle light just above the crown of your head.
Soft and steady.
With your next inhale allow that light to move slowly down to the top of your head across the forehead behind the eyes down through the body.
With each exhale it washes through you clearing any heaviness that remains.
Let it flow into the shoulders down the arms into the palms of your hands down through the chest and heart space through the stomach the hips through the legs the knees the calves all the way into the soles of your feet and as it reaches the ground beneath you imagine anything you no longer need gently draining away leaving you steadier clearer.
As we rest here in the light may we reflect with some words from Jack Kornfield in the midst of movement and chaos keep stillness inside of you.
Let these words sit with you for a moment let the words rest let the words settle gently and now slowly bring your awareness back to your surroundings feel the support beneath you the air around you the rhythm of your breath there is no need to rush take a moment here to just be carrying this sense of calm and presence with you into the rest of your day be gentle with yourself remember you are enough Thank you for joining me today Namaste
