Please just sit calmly.
Start to draw into your body,
Moving from the cognitive to the sensory.
Notice your breath.
Take note of your skin,
Your muscles and your joints.
Where might you be sore?
Where might you be tight or comfortable and loose?
Relaxed?
We'll do a quick body scan,
Just trying to bring calm and relaxation into our body from top to bottom.
Start at the top of your head,
Crown of your skull,
Your hair.
Just see if you can soften there.
Down in through your face,
Eyes,
Nose,
Mouth,
Ears,
Jaw.
Just see if you can make them 10% lighter.
Lighter.
Continuing to settle,
Expand and relax in your neck and your shoulders and your back.
Breathing gently and deeply and slowly to pull the relaxation into your chest,
Down into your belly.
Loosening and softening your hips.
Letting your thighs droop and your knees relax.
Ungrip.
Breathing all the way down to your calves and shins.
And sending that softness and gentleness down through your ankles and feet and out through your toes,
Washing over you,
Top to bottom.
Continuing to breathe softly.
Nothing special.
Just a natural rhythm.
Imagine the part of you that is most spiritual,
Most sacred,
Most precious,
Like a pearl.
The essence of your spirit and authenticity.
Draw to mind in the form of a delightful,
Beautiful pearl.
That pearl begins in its natural state,
Buried and concealed.
So we're going to look for it under the ocean.
Not aggressively,
Just with curiosity.
And continuing to breathe at your natural pace.
Your incredible,
Remarkable,
Precious pearl is down there.
Take a second to wonder about it.
Below the ocean,
Under the sand,
Inside the shell and the flesh of an oyster.
Let's go down to greet it with our hospitality.
We go beneath the waves and the water.
Maybe that's the way you present yourself outwardly.
Maybe that's a stoicism or a shyness you show the world.
The surface.
The way you dress or set your hair.
Let's go safely below the surface towards the spirit and the pearl below.
Embraced by the water.
Made light and buoyant.
And there's the rocks and pebbles and sand that cover the oyster that holds the pearl of your glorious spirit.
Maybe they're pieces of frustration or resentment.
The residue of trauma.
Be interested in them.
Curious.
How did that get there?
Breathing.
Resting.
Witnessing.
Beneath the stones and the scars and the soft sand is the oyster.
Craggy.
Closed.
Maybe if we can imagine fearful.
Is that the part of you that hides and defends?
Breathing.
Being gentle with yourself.
We know.
You know.
I know.
There is assuredly a beautiful pearl in there.
A unique and matchless spirit.
Only yours.
Look at the oyster.
Down below the waves.
The water.
The rocks and sand.
So tender.
Witness it lovingly.
And when it's ready.
Maybe it will reveal to you the pearl.
Today.
Not today.
Someday.
It's okay.
Whenever it's ready.
Just know that it's there.
Undoubtedly.
And continue to breathe.
Being gentle.
And curious with yourself.
What is my pearl?
My most magnificent part.
My soul.
Oh my soul.
Continuing to breathe.
With kindness and grace.
And love toward yourself.
Thank you.
