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This is Living Lightly with Jenny Light.
Yogic philosophy,
Guided meditations and pranayamas.
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Welcome to today's session.
Enjoy.
Hello and welcome to the February podcast from Jenny Light and the subject this month is on hope.
The promise of another year in nature seems even more poignant this year of all years as we emerge from a lone winter of isolation,
Hibernation.
I find that walking out in nature and finding the beauty of the snowdrops emerging out of the frozen soil so inspiring.
And here I want to turn to the words of William Wordsworth,
His poem to a snowdrop.
Lone flower hemmed in with snows and white but hardier far once more I see thee bend thy forehead as if fearful to offend like an unbidden guest though day by day storms sallying from the mountain tops we lay the rising sun and on the plains descend yet thou art welcome welcome as a friend whose zeal outruns his promise blue-eyed me shall soon behold this border thickly set with bright junk wheels their odours lavishing on the soft west wind and his frolic peers nor will I then thy modest grace forget chaste snowdrop venturous harbinger of spring and pensive monitor of fleeting years.
I find that this nodding presence of this simple flower in its pure white garb even more welcome this year.
Yes the winter has been harsh in more ways than simply the temperature as we have endured,
Endured a harshness alien to human socialness afraid perhaps of raising our faces in public as if each other might pose a viral threat but still our humanity our brotherhood has shone through through in smiles kindly words and practical support where it is needed.
Hunkering down of a winter venturing out like timid mice in the perambulance of an afternoon exercise to once more pop back into our nests we may have seen little of the outside world but our inner world may be rich rich beyond dreams.
The snowdrop emerging from its icy blasts and frozen ground always seems to bring joy but to me this February this has meant so much more.
The mark of the seasons heralded by nature's emergence seems to me doubly quadruply important this year as time seemed to stand still in the daily death tolls in the hermitage of our homes.
Here at least is a testament to true endurance summed up in this humble flower bobbing its little demure head in the February chilly air.
Endurance,
What does that mean for you?
Is it the ability to come through times of hardship unscathed or maybe to just have withstood the interminable humdrum of the same old same old boredom?
The snowdrop to me demonstrates the power of tenacity to come through hard times.
I believe that each of us have that true grit that bravery to see us through what for each of us in differing ways has been tough.
We mustn't lose sight of what we as individuals have gained in this.
Personal strength,
A realization of how precious our relationships and people are to us and an ability to cling to hope of hugs from those dearest to us.
Those days are drawing near but not quite yet.
The snowdrop arrives in the hard times,
Endures,
Shines,
Spreads hope and good cheer but it is only the herald of better days to follow.
So stick your tenacity to the sticking place and endure a little bit longer.
Find that cheer that you can in nature,
The simplest things,
The humblest things and chance reactions with your fellow human beings.
For our meditation today we are germinating that seed of hope,
Distilling all its cheer to keep on keeping on a few more weeks yet.
So we're going to start with a simple breath practice.
We're going to have our visualization of that pinnacle of beauty of nature that is epitomized in the simple snowdrop.
So finding yourself seated upright,
Take a deep breath in and sigh out.
Another deep breath in,
Consciously letting go of anything that preceded this moment and breathing out.
Once more a deep breath in and sighing out,
Relax the body,
Clean the screen of the mind.
I'd like you to visualize that you were sitting in nature warm and cozy even although the ground may be frozen,
There may be snow,
There may be no leaves on the trees for it is still February but you are warm and cozy observing a bank of snowdrops.
Their little heads bobbing in the wind and allowing yourself to breathe the freshness of the air,
Breathing in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils.
Letting the fresh air fill the center of your being fill the center of your being.
Letting the fresh air fill into the corners of the lungs.
Fresh air as an antidote to virus.
Fresh air spring cleaning the lungs,
Breathing in the sweetness of the chilly air and breathing out.
Another few observations of the breath,
Visualizing that you are breathing in the chilly February fresh air.
Perhaps flaring the nostrils to allow the greater uptake of oxygen and then letting the breath go,
Observing in your mind's eye that you are observing this beauty of beauty,
This snowdrop in its pristine white and visualize that you too are garbed in a cloak of white with a hood that covers the head clean and white.
Allowing the whiteness to settle into your being,
The whiteness to be absorbed within the skin,
Within the energy within the body,
The calm whiteness to settle within the mind.
There is a sweetness in allowing the mind to be a white screen or a white space filled with calmness,
Stretching your calmness out like a clean white cover in front,
Behind,
To the left and right,
Above and beneath,
Spreading out and smoothing that spirit of whiteness,
Becoming clear and bright.
Imagining the warmth that is coming through in the February sun,
Shining on your whiteness,
Becoming illuminated from within.
Allowing that whiteness,
That purity to spread in all directions,
Bringing hope,
Spreading whiteness in all directions,
Illuminates,
Sheds light,
Soaking up the lightness of the February sun,
Becoming clearer,
Brighter,
Visualizing all the corners of your mental space,
Becoming clearer,
Brighter,
As a single candle can illuminate a whole room,
Light chasing out the darkness.
Coming back into breathing pure clean air,
Imagine whiteness into the corners of the lungs,
Breathing in and out more deeply,
Long smooth inhale and a long smooth exhale,
Visualizing whiteness,
Cauterizing any residual darkness,
Pure white,
Clinical white,
And then allowing your heart to become filled with a hope,
A precious hope,
A trust in the process of life,
In this moment and in all moments.
I am well,
I am cared for,
I am held in highest esteem,
Allowing hope to blossom as a simple bloom in the heart,
Cherished space in the heart,
Illuminated with hope,
For hope is the most precious thing of all,
All is well.
And then allowing the breathing to become more noticeable,
Perhaps moving the fingers,
Moving the toes,
Bring yourself back into wakefulness and noticing how you feel in a body that has a purity and calmness with the precious cargo of hope in your heart.
I wish you a happy day carrying this precious hope,
Let it radiate across your face into smiles and kindly deeds,
With my highest blessings,
Blessings,
Aum,
Peace,
Amen.
