This recording begins with a lesson.
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There are aspects of myself that I struggle with.
Different addictive behaviors I lean into or ways that I can be cold or mean or forgetful.
And I notice within myself parts that believe that if they yell at me enough,
If they judge me enough,
I will change.
And I've seen parts like this come up in so many of my clients.
And of course,
We all learned this strategy from the generations that came before us.
They and us doing the best we can to be better and do better.
But we also know from personal experience that when someone yells at us and judges us,
We tend to shut down or put our fists up in defense and very often lean even more into the behaviors the judgment was trying to stop in the first place.
So the question is,
What alternative can we offer our internal world?
What alternative can we offer in the way that we relate to those around us?
One word that comes up for me is Rachamim,
Which gets translated into English as compassion.
But the root of Rachamim is the word Rechem,
Womb.
And what's amazing about a woman's womb is that the woman doesn't have to do anything to make the baby grow and change.
She simply has to hold space.
It's the ultimate act of witnessing with the absolute trust that the baby has the capacity within himself to grow and evolve.
That's it.
That's what a Rechem does.
It holds with trust.
So what I want to invite you to do in this meditation is see how much you can embody that quality of the womb and simply hold space for one part of us that engages in a behavior we don't like so much,
That might even be destructive to ourselves or our relationships.
And without any agenda,
Without any attempt to try to make it change,
Simply hold it with love.
Trusting that it's here for a reason and that it too is made of love,
By love,
And for love.
And hopefully in doing so,
We can expand our hearts that much more.
Expand our capacity for Rachamim,
For compassion,
Not just for ourselves,
But for those around us.
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I invite you to close your eyes and become aware of your breath.
Of the rise and fall of your belly and chest as you breathe.
In and out.
And allow yourself to experience how you are being breathed in an act of divine CPR.
That in the Rechem,
The womb of the divine,
There is a space for you.
There is a trusting of you,
Even with all of your messiness and all of your beauty.
With your weaknesses and strengths.
The divine has constricted itself to make a space where you can exist with the fabulous illusion that you are separate.
So that you can choose.
And though you are guided to choose good over evil.
Life over death.
You don't always.
And yet here you are.
Still held by that space of love.
Still seen.
Still trusted.
And you can know this.
Because you breathe.
Because you are being breathed.
The divine womb offers you life through an invisible umbilical cord of love.
Through your breath and heartbeat.
Your electrical mind.
And vibrant body.
The divine is holding space for you.
Just as you are.
And see if you can soften into that.
See if you can relax into that.
By inviting a softening of your brow and jaw.
A relaxation in your neck and shoulders.
A heaviness in your arms.
All the way to your fingertips.
And allow that softening to wash over you.
Down your back.
Inviting an expansion in your chest.
A tenderness in your diaphragm.
A loosening in all of the organs of your belly.
And let that relaxation wash down your legs.
All the way to the tips of your toes.
And as you feel yourself being held by the divine womb.
Invite the pores of your skin to become more supple.
And open up to the love that exists all around you.
Because the entire universe is made by love.
Of love.
And for love.
Love is coursing through every atom.
In the clothing that you wear.
In the air that you breathe.
In the space you inhabit right now.
And I want to invite you now to be like the divine.
And make a space of compassion.
A Rechem.
For some aspect of you,
You normally judge harshly.
And see if you can hold this aspect of you in your awareness.
Whether it shows up in your visual field.
Or as a felt sense.
Or as a sensation in your body.
And just be with it.
And I want to invite you now to place your right hand over your heart.
And your left hand over your belly.
And observe this part.
And say to it in your mind.
And through your breath.
I will be with you.
Until you feel fully seen.
Heard.
And understood.
I will be with you.
Until you feel fully seen.
Heard.
And understood.
And breathe.
And allow whatever wants to move through you.
To move through you.
And hear whatever this part wants to say.
Without trying to fix anything.
Or change anything.
See if you can trust in the life force and the love inherent in this part.
And in the power of the Rechem.
Of the nourishing,
Witnessing presence of the womb.
Just like that.
And soften even more.
I will be with you.
Until you feel fully seen.
Heard.
And understood.
And feel.
And trust.
And listen.
And seek to understand.
Just like divine love holds you.
Your love can hold this part.
Just like the divine sees you.
You can see this part.
Just like the divine loves you.
All of you.
Just the way you are.
You can love this part.
All of it.
Just the way that it is.
And if this part needs more attention.
I invite you to rewind the meditation.
So you can be with it even more.
And if you are ready to thank this part for showing up for you today.
And to thank yourself for this act of compassion today.
I invite you to bow your head to this part.
In gratitude.
For how it is lovingly trying to serve you.
Just like you are lovingly trying to serve the divine.
And knowing that you can always come back here.
And spend time together again.
I invite you to wiggle your fingers.
And wiggle your toes.
And slowly bat your eyes open.
Ready to bless the world with your compassionate gaze.
And I bless you precious one.
With the love and light of Jerusalem.
