Today we are going to learn a skill.
And that skill is to hold on to your center.
And just bring your eyes to a close.
Take a moment to get comfortable.
Notice and feel your breathing.
This breath that is your best friend.
And reminds you to return home to your body.
Let your inhale carry you down into this home.
And let your exhale root you into the earth.
And just feel the earth supporting you again.
Opening and softening to receive this support.
There's a skill we must remember.
This skill is to hold on to your center.
So that life may come as it does.
Swirling around us.
But we have a connection to our center,
Our core.
That which is immovable inside of us.
That has always been there.
But has been forgotten.
You see,
There was a time long ago where something was too much,
Too fast,
Too soon.
And the only strategy of protection we had was to leave our precious bodies our center.
This strategy served a very important role in protecting us long ago.
But today it serves as a void that we long to fill and remember.
You see,
The young parts of us only know how to protect us by looking outside of us.
But there's also a wise one within.
This wise one knows that the path to wholeness,
Safety,
And truth is to return to our center and look within.
So we must practice.
We must practice remembering and returning home to our bodies.
So today we're going to gently familiarize ourselves with our center.
This core essence of us that sits quietly inside like a mountain.
Waiting for us to land here as we are.
So I invite you to begin to imagine this mountain living in the very center of you.
This plot of land that houses the wisdom and true essence of you.
Before the veils of chaos and the swirl of life left its mark.
You see,
It's so easy to dissociate from our lives.
It's so easy to leave our body,
Abandon ourselves amongst the chaos and turbulence.
It's easy to get disoriented,
To forget the peace of a sunrise,
The loving embrace of another,
And instead get stuck in the passing storms.
It's so easy to merge with the swirl and forget the essence of who you are.
The you that is watching calmly.
The you that loves to play.
That is here to connect and is present to all of life.
It's so easy to forget the one who is the witness to the swirl.
The one who feels all of it,
But is not one with it.
I know it's easy.
But you see,
There is an immovable center in all of us that houses the true essence of our being,
That always remembers.
Remembers what is actually true.
Placing your hands on your heart and bowing your head down towards your body.
I invite you to explore the longing deep within you.
Calling you to sit here with your hand on your heart and to welcome all the turbulent feelings and loud sensations.
I invite you to explore the plot of earth within you,
Housing the wisdom of your body,
Waiting for you to remember to return here as you are.
Asking us to stop doing and looking and searching outside of ourselves.
Something deep within us longing for us to slow down,
Stop and just be.
Just be right here,
Right now,
In this body of ours.
To welcome everything.
To be held and to hold everything with a sense of curiosity,
Wonder and kindness.
I see you.
I hear you.
I'm here for you.
And now we accept the invitation.
It's time to return home to our body now.
You have the capacity now,
Wise one,
To just be here now.
Nothing to do and nowhere to go to find what you've been searching for.
That thing you've spent your whole life searching and longing for has always been here.
It's just a matter of remembering.
So we let go of all the doing,
The searching outside of ourselves.
And we remember what we have known all along.
That truly everything we need to feel safe and held and loved lives within.
That we came here with a knowing and we tend to these truths.
We honor what's sacred.
The quiet mountain within,
With our breath and presence and open heart.
It's so easy to get lost.
To leave the body and try to fill this void with endless doing and consuming.
I know.
But it's never ending.
A lost cause.
An endless void never to feel true sustenance.
But you are wise and you are not alone.
You are supported and held.
And with your hand on your heart,
Bowing your head down towards your body,
You welcome yourself.
All parts of yourself.
Home.
Bring your mountain within,
Your center.
And your in breath carries you further down into the center.
And your out breath connects you deeper to the earth.
And day by day we strengthen our remembrance to hold on to our center.
To honor the sacred mountain within.
A mountain that is sustained by our breath and our presence.
A holding space that is welcoming and kind.
This remembering is a process.
A practice.
That is never ending.
It never stops.
But the mountain within you remains.
It may at times become obscured by worry or doubt.
But it is never lost and neither are you.
And you realize that it is just a matter of remembering.
As my teacher Sarah Blondin says,
Remembering what is immovable in you.
Understanding what is actually true.
That you are mighty.
That you are wise and you are whole.
That you are capable and you are brave.
And that you are resilient.
Thank you for being here with me on this journey.
And thank you to the wisest and greatest teacher of all.
Your body.
Have faith in the process.
Hold on to your center.
Whatever that is the only way.
Gently coming to open your eyes.
I hope you return to this image of you and your mountain often.
Knowing that we can use our imagination to step toward the self that is waiting quietly for us to remember.
