Welcome to this guided meditation.
Thank you for being here.
So today's practice we'll be tapping into the concept of aparigraha which is a yogic concept that translates from Sanskrit as non-attachment or non-possessiveness or as you'll discover in today's meditation the idea of loosening our grip,
Our need to control.
We'll cultivate an energy of allowing or like my favourite description of the concept of aparigraha,
Doing our best and letting go of the results.
So you can begin just by finding your comfortable meditation seat,
Whether that means seated or lying down and perhaps with a lovely long sigh out you can allow your shoulders,
Your neck and your jaw to soften as your eyes just gently close.
Allow any tension around your eyes or your face or in your hands to just soften as the body finds its way into a comfortable position and maybe your awareness just is gently drawn into your breathing,
Simply following that arc of your breath,
That rise of your inhale,
The subtle pause and then the fall of your exhale.
If it's helpful you can imagine inhaling a sense of calm and exhaling as you soften into a sense of ease,
As you allow your awareness to just rest into your breathing for a few moments while we bring our full selves into this space physically,
Mentally,
Emotionally.
Allowing yourself to be here as you are,
An energy of acceptance and maybe the soft smile of kindness and compassion towards yourself and your practice.
So here it's autumn time,
Time of harvest and of great abundance with delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables and those rich vibrant colours of the autumn leaves.
So perhaps tapping into that energy of abundance as you bring to mind something or things for which you are deeply grateful and as you picture those things or that thing you feel that lovely warm glow of gratitude as though it radiates from your heart space,
As though you could feel yourself filled with the warmth of an inner smile.
Just allow yourself to bask in that warm glow as now you just bring to mind something for which you are grateful that you've worked hard for,
Like your own personal harvest,
Something you're proud of.
It doesn't have to be an achievement in the traditional sense,
Like something to do with your work or productivity or any expectations you might have met.
It can be anything at all that you feel you've worked hard towards,
A state of mind or a small habit that you've managed to instill that now you can really relax into the fruits of your hard work.
As you rest in that warm glow notice what else arises.
Perhaps there's a small but persistent inner voice,
Maybe a little bit critical suggesting that your harvest isn't really worthy of praise or of gratitude.
There may be some judgment or comparison,
My own harvest isn't as significant as my neighbors,
I should have done more and if you don't have that voice please let me know your secret.
But instead of trying to argue or trying to reason with that voice or trying to quieten it or change it,
Can you allow it to be there?
Can you simply observe that voice without engaging,
Just allowing that voice to exist,
Perhaps trusting that it'll make its way of its own accord out of your headspace and as ever we can look to nature for guidance.
So now I might suggest that you bring to mind the image of a tall tree in the autumn,
Perhaps a beautiful silver birch tree with a strong trunk rising,
The silvery white of her bark catching a soft autumnal light.
You follow her elegant branches to her leaves,
Those beautiful hues of orange,
Yellow,
Gold,
Red,
Brown.
Maybe you notice how those leaves flicker in a gentle breeze it looks almost like a wind chime as though the leaves are spiraling and as a breeze picks up some leaves flutter,
Some detach and then float silently effortlessly to the forest floor.
Each leaf like a letting go,
A release,
A surrendering of elements no longer serving the tree,
A surrender to the flow of the autumn season,
An acceptance of impermanence,
A loosening of her grip over the outcome of things.
With each leaf that's released,
Energy is conserved for the tree's own reserves,
Her energy returns down to her roots,
The tree turns inward preparing for darker months ahead.
As the tree lets go of her leaves and trusts in the natural order of things,
Of seasons of growth,
Abundance,
Release and renewal,
And allows the flow of quieter,
More introspective times,
Time to recharge her own resources,
Turn energy inward in order to be able to bloom,
Surrendering to the natural cycles,
Growth,
Abundance,
Release,
Renewal.
And as you let go of the image of the tree perhaps,
That critical voice or any judgment or comparison that wanted in on your own harvest,
As you allow it to simply be there without trying to change,
Control or dictate a certain outcome,
Perhaps that voice also surrenders to the natural order of things,
Where attention goes,
Energy flows,
And by allowing the voice to be there without placing your attention or expending your energy on it by trying to change it or to quieten it or to reason with it,
Perhaps that voice naturally arises,
Peaks and then silently falls and then silently falls away,
Effortlessly,
And your own energy can return to your roots.
Any expectations,
Worries,
Any grasping or holding on can be let go,
Anything that feels heavy can be put down,
Like the leaves of the sale of a birch,
Your own and helpful thought patterns or habits can float away on an autumnal breeze,
Perhaps you feel a sense of lightness,
Of ease as you relinquish your grip on the outcome of things.
Just allow yourself to rest in that lightness of sensation a few moments more,
Maybe you return to the arc of your breathing,
Rise,
Peak and fall,
And beginning again.
And whenever you're ready to,
Perhaps a deeper breath comes in,
You pause and then open your mouth with a lovely long sigh,
Release that breath,
Allow the eyes to blink open,
Come back to this space,
And perhaps remembering whenever it might serve you throughout the day,
That anything taking up headspace and not serving you can be released,
Like a leaf,
Silently,
Effortlessly detaching,
Floating to the forest floor,
And your own energy can return to your own roots,
To where it serves you best.
Thank you for being here,
I wish you a beautiful day.
