Hi friends and welcome to a guided meditation with me Jess.
Today our meditation is focused on being a good gardener and watering those seeds of goodness within.
This is from a lesson from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh on selective watering.
So get comfortable either in a seated or lying position and we'll get started on our meditation.
To begin we'll take a nice big breath in and out,
Allowing yourself to become settled in the space in your body.
Just focusing simply on your breath,
Breathing in and out.
And as you become more relaxed,
More settled into your being,
Breathing into your body,
Letting your brow soften,
Relaxing your jaw and pulling your shoulders away from your ears.
As you relax more fully into your being,
Begin to bring into your mind's eye the image of a garden.
Breathing into the center of your being,
This is the location of this inner space,
This inner garden.
And as you breathe,
Examining all the leaves,
The different trees and plants,
Admiring this beautiful and tranquil place within.
And in this inner garden,
Noticing all of the different seeds.
The seeds of love,
The seeds of compassion,
The seeds of anxiety,
The seeds of fear.
And taking note of all of these different seeds that live within us all.
And as you breathe,
Begin to water those seeds within yourself that you want to see grow and bloom into beautiful flowers.
And with each breath,
Allow the exhale to water these seeds of goodness within.
These seeds of kindness,
These seeds of compassion,
These seeds of community and connection.
And allow your breath to gently water these seeds within as you breathe in and out again.
Allowing yourself to gently breathe and grow each of these seeds into beautiful flowers to flourish in this inner garden.
Taking note also of the other seeds in the garden,
These seeds of fear,
These seeds of anger and anxiety.
And like any good gardener,
Remind yourself that there is value in the muck.
And allow these seeds to show you where to apply these principles of compassion and love to yourself.
Giving yourself time and space to selectively water each of these seeds of compassion,
Of empathy and kindness.
Continue to breathe into this center,
This beautiful inner garden.
Taking a moment for gratitude,
For taking the time and space and energy to help these seeds of goodness grow within.
Reminding yourself that you can come back to this inner garden.
Examining and watering the seeds within anytime by following your breath into this center of your being.
Slowly begin to let any images slip away from your mind's eye as you simply refocus yourself back on your breathing,
Following your breath in and back out again.
Slowly begin to bring attention and awareness back into your body by wiggling your fingers or toes.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes again,
Bringing full awareness back into the space.
Thank you so much for joining me for this guided meditation on selective watering and I hope that you have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
