Today we're going to explore the concept of the villain.
My daughter has been collecting characters,
Little figurines from different Disney stories.
And we recently came upon a collection of villains from different stories.
And with these villains,
With these figurines,
Came a book about them.
And the book essentially was a profile of each of these villains.
It talked about their characteristics and what they look like and what the hero needed to do in order to overcome these villains or their behaviors.
And it got me thinking about our own villains.
And so today I thought we would explore that as an exercise,
As a meditation.
So come to sit and let's explore together and we can sit cross-legged.
You can sit on your shins.
You can sit on a chair.
You can also do this lying down.
Just find a position that's comfortable for you.
And once you get there,
We'll just take a couple of centering breaths,
Bringing ourself into this moment.
So just beginning to deepen your inhales and exhales.
And now I want you to imagine your villain.
The aspect of yourself that is malicious or malevolent.
What would this figurine,
This character,
Look like?
What would be its costume?
And then if you were to describe this character,
What would its attributes be?
And when this villain is in its full form,
What are its actions it takes?
So some examples would be Cruella,
Cruella de Vil from the 101 Dalmatians,
Right?
She wants to have a coat made out of Dalmatians.
So her action is always trying to get all those sweet little dogs so that she can make a pelt,
She can use their pelts for a coat.
And so what is the actions of your villain when it's out,
When it's doing its thing?
Now shifting the lens to the hero of the story,
The aspect of you that needs to overcome this villain.
What needs to be done in order to stop the villain's actions?
Now the piece that I find that is overlooked in the stories,
At least the Disney stories,
Is how important the villain is.
In order for the hero to evolve,
It needs the conflict that is created by the villain.
And so what we're going to do today is focus on our villains and what we have to learn from them.
So I'd love you to recall the last time your villain showed up in your life.
The important piece here is not to judge it just to be like,
Yep,
That's when it came.
And what was happening when the villain showed up?
What was happening in the rest of the story?
And how did you work with,
How did you navigate the sabotage or the chaos that it created?
Okay,
Now that we have context to our villain,
I'd like you to imagine this piece of you sitting in front of you,
Or standing,
Or however it wants to be in front of you.
But imagine it in front of you.
I want you to imagine what this character is wearing.
The expression on its face.
And now we ask it,
What do I have to learn from you?
What are you trying to teach me?
What do I have to learn from you?
What are you trying to teach me?
And let this character speak to you.
And try not to overthink any of it.
Just allow whatever to show up to show up and just listen.
Open your inner ears and listen.
Once it's completed what it's wanted to share with you,
Thank it in your own way for its insight.
And now sit together facing each other,
You and your villain.
And we're gonna quite simply gaze into this piece of ourselves.
Staying soft in our breath,
Staying open in our hearts.
Breathing in its essence,
Its being.
And breathing out acceptance,
Acceptance for this piece of ourselves.
And now reach out your hands for this character,
Reach out to them.
And let them come to you and merge with you.
Allow this piece of yourself to rejoin,
Rejoin your being.
And once it does,
Once it joins you,
You can either remain seated as you are or lie down and rest.
So much of the idea and work around shadow is to understand and reclaim all pieces of ourselves to find and bring back wholeness within our own being.
And that is what we're gonna do today.
And that includes our villains.
And so now we either rest in this wholeness or this reunion.
Or we just meditate in the feeling of wholeness.
We'll do that for a little bit.
Take a deep breath in your nose,
And exhale it out your mouth.
Probably bring your palms together and creating a little heat in between your hands.
And those of us who are lying down or seated,
Either hands to your heart center,
That might be a bit easier,
Or hands,
Palms come to the eyes,
Ceiling in your practice.
And then either hands go back where they were,
Or you can bring your hands to your heart as you prefer.
Deep gratitude for any insight or wisdom that we may have gained from the shadow aspect of ourselves from the villains.
May we continue to work with them,
To learn from them.
Hari Om Tat Sat Namaste
