In traditional Asian medicine,
Winter is associated with the kidneys,
Adrenals,
The element water,
And the sense organ,
The ears.
In this meditation,
We'll use the sound of water to help us find regulation through these organs and drop into some deep winter rest.
Begin by settling into your space,
You can do this seated or laying down.
Take a few minutes to orient yourself,
Scan the room with your eyes,
Do a quick body scan and see if you can make yourself even 1% more comfortable.
Soften into your seat or points of contact with the floor,
And if it's comfortable,
Close your eyes or find a neutral gaze.
A gaze where you can rest your eyes and they don't have to do any work.
Finding your natural breath,
In and out at your own pace.
Now draw your attention to your ears,
Are they warm,
Ringing,
Do they have any sensation?
Notice how you subtly scan for sounds in the environment with your ears.
Taking in the sound of the waves,
My voice,
Maybe some ambient sound in your space.
Just notice for a few moments.
Scanning for sound is one of the subconscious ways our nervous system keeps us alert to danger.
So with that in mind,
Let's shift our intention a little bit to letting the sound come to you instead of scanning for it.
Try to rest your ears,
Letting the waves find you with as little effort on your part as needed.
Stay here for a few moments,
Letting yourself receive the sound.
And moving your attention to your kidneys and adrenals now.
If you don't know where they are,
They're located around the mid-lower part of your back or your ribs end.
Our kidneys move up and down in their fascia depending on our stress levels.
So let's imagine that our kidneys are so relaxed,
They drop down and can float on the surface of the water.
If that feels too hard to imagine,
You can picture yourself floating on your back in the water.
Both let our mind feel the kidneys at rest and being supported.
Allowing your back to soften a little bit,
Feeling the buoyancy,
Imagining your kidneys being bathed and supported by the water.
You can stay here,
Noticing the sound for as long as you need.
