Hello and welcome.
I'm so glad that you are here.
In today's meditation,
We're going to focus on opening our heart to the world exactly as it is.
Raw,
Imperfect,
And beautiful,
Which means opening our heart to loving ourselves exactly as we are.
Raw,
Imperfect,
And beautiful.
So let's begin this meditation by taking our meditation posture,
Sitting with our spine gently upright.
It might feel like a little string is pulling your head upright so that your spine can flow freely with energy,
That you remain awake and alert.
Resting your hands gently in your lap,
One hand cupped in the other,
Making a little circle with the tips of your thumbs touching lightly,
And lightly close your eyes.
Take some long,
Slow breaths into the belly,
Letting the breath anchor you back into the body,
Into this moment and this meditation here now.
Using the exhale to release and relax even more.
Relaxing as you breathe your feet,
Your knees and your hips,
Your belly,
Your shoulders,
Your jaw and your tongue.
Relaxing your eyes,
Resting them in their sockets.
Feeling gratitude that you've made this time for yourself,
That you care so deeply about your own well-being,
And the well-being of all that you've come once again to this practice.
And then invite in your guides,
Feel them supporting you and surrounding you.
Meditation masters,
Saints,
Angels,
Whomever you feel close to,
Welcoming them in,
Imagining them supporting and cheering you on in your practice,
That you're not practicing alone.
And gently bring your intention for this practice to mind.
What is your intention?
Why are you here?
Bringing that into focus now,
Maybe it's to awaken,
Maybe it's to calm your mind,
To know yourself more deeply.
Whatever that is for you,
Just bring it to mind now.
And for this practice,
Our focus is going to be loving the world exactly as it is.
Which means loving ourselves exactly as we are.
So to begin,
We're going to release our need for things to be any different than they are right now in this moment.
Feel that constellation in your thinking mind,
The one that carries the ideas about who you are and how you should be.
The one with all the programs from childhood about how to live a good life and how to be a good human.
And what would it be like to invite a letting go of any idea that you have about yourself,
About who you are,
Why you are here,
What you're meant to do,
Or be in the world.
Really release that sense of identity to feel and know yourself.
This presence of you,
Whatever we call that,
Don't even give it a name.
Something is here.
Whatever this is.
For this meditation,
Let it be enough.
Let who and what you are in this moment be enough.
Give yourself radical permission to accept and love whatever is here,
Whatever this is.
Loving it.
Whatever bumps and bruises,
Whatever shape and size,
Whatever thoughts or feelings are coming along for the ride.
That they're all welcome.
They're all part of this experience you're having right now.
That nothing about this experience of you in this body now needs to change in this meditation for you to be okay.
That who or what is here is exactly perfect and exactly enough.
Expanding that sense out into the room you're in,
To the space,
To the house,
To the town.
And for this meditation,
Letting go of the idea that anything about this world you are in needs to be any different than it is right now.
Doesn't need to be more clean or more organized or more beautiful.
Would you and could you accept that the space and the place that the world is exactly enough and beautiful just as it is?
And having set that intention,
Now let yourself rest.
And if some idea arises in the mind,
Yeah,
But what about?
That's okay.
Welcome that too.
Say,
Yes,
That too is welcome.
That too is enough for this meditation.
That too doesn't need to change for me to be okay.
Attending to the okay-ness and the well-being that is here now in this moment.
The great Indian sage Krishnamurti said,
To be free comes not from changing or fixing this world,
But from seeing this world as it is and opening the heart in the midst of it.
Insert your body now to see if there's any part that it feels as though you've been withholding acceptance.
Maybe there's a part of your physical body that you don't quite like.
Maybe there's an emotion that keeps arising some shame or guilt for something done or said.
See if you can invite and welcome compassion for yourself,
For this part of you that you've been withholding acceptance,
That you've been unwilling to allow.
Not needing to change or fix it here,
But simply accept and allow it to be without it needing to change for you to be okay.
Feel this essential wholeness and goodness of your being that has the capacity to be with and hold any part that has not felt worthy or accepted.
As Rumi says,
Take that shame and malice and just meet it at the door laughing,
Unfurling your wings of compassion around these parts.
And then simply rest.
Rest and invite your heart to open in the midst of whatever is here.
And with that,
We will release the meditation.
So gently bringing your awareness back into the body.
Maybe you'd softly wiggle your fingers and toes.
Taking a few conscious and slow breaths before you open your eyes.
And then when you're ready,
Lightly gently open your eyes.
And inviting you to carry this practice in small ways throughout your day.
To notice as you move about the world.
In each moment,
Can you find the well-being and the beauty in yourself and in the world just as it is?
Namaste.
