Welcome to this meditation,
Serenity in the Storm,
A grounding exercise to connect us to what is serene at the core of our being,
No matter the nature of the weather happening outside of us.
We are alive in a time of great shift and change,
Which can sometimes feel overwhelming and burdensome.
To maintain our equanimity and hopefulness,
It's essential that we regularly ground ourselves in a deeper awareness.
I invite you to settle into a quiet space,
Close your eyes if you wish,
And center in your breathing.
Begin by performing a gentle body scan.
Bring your attention to your posture,
Lengthen your spine,
Soften your brow,
And relax your shoulders and hands.
Inhale and exhale deeply and fully to release any tension you're feeling anywhere,
And then continue breathing naturally at your own pace.
These days I think often of the words of my late mother-in-law,
Whose many nurturing qualities included a mantra,
This too shall pass,
She used to say when we came to her in any way out of sorts.
This too shall pass.
This mood,
This movement,
The contour of the land and of the waves,
The push and pull of the branches and the trees,
And in our psyches and societies.
In our individual lives and in the world that surrounds us,
Times of peace and times of tempests come and go.
It's in the nature of life,
In nature's nature,
And therefore ours.
We live in our own challenging time.
Every age has been challenging for those living through it.
All who came before us lived through seasons of discord and harmony,
Disturbance and calm,
Ebb and flow.
At the heart of all these things there exists an essential quietude.
At the core of every storm there is serenity.
When we're feeling unmoored,
Anxious,
Nervous,
Fearful,
Confused,
Doubtful,
We have one steadfast tool that is ours completely,
Our breath.
Breathing is our old friend,
Our companion in bringing calm to our own ocean in times of stormy weather.
When we can be a calming influence and presence for another,
For we may be called upon to assist,
Help,
Change,
To stand by,
To comfort,
Our breath is our guide.
When we feel helpless,
Ineffective,
And alone,
Our breath is our guide.
I invite you to call to mind a place of deep serenity for you.
It might be a physical place.
It might be the presence of someone who has a calming effect on you,
A person,
A pet.
It might be a feeling you can locate of a time when you have known deep peace.
Bring that to mind and body now and notice the feelings of relaxation and alignment that occur immediately within you as you connect with this being,
Place,
Or feeling.
As you take your next deep breath,
Ride the air down to this calm core.
Feel your ribs expand as you touch that space.
And as you exhale,
Feel the relaxation of your ribs and belly,
Steady and abiding.
This indwelling peace at your core is always available for connection,
Is always just a breath away,
Whether for a mere minute or many minutes throughout your day and week.
Whenever you think of it,
Touch down into this realm and release your thoughts into your breathing.
Let your calming breath absorb the energies and disruption to your serenity.
Your breath is made for receiving from the trees and plants the oxygen to feed your being and in turn to feed the trees and plants the carbon dioxide they depend on for theirs.
It's a life-sustaining act of interdependence and creation.
Thoughts will come and go today.
The breath will arrive and recede.
So too will information,
News,
Positive feelings and experiences,
Negative ones.
All will come and soon will go.
This too shall pass.
As artists,
There are moments of centering that are integral to our craft.
Like the quiet that comes when we sense that our muse is in the room,
Bringing inspiration and inviting us to receive it.
As well the moment after we receive it,
In that self-collection that happens just before we pick up brush or pen,
Just before we place our first step into the new choreography,
Just before we open our mouths to speak,
Sing,
Blow our horn,
Strum our string or strike our drum.
In that moment between the seeing with our mind's eye and the capturing with our camera's lens.
In this serenity,
In this void that remains,
In this space of serenity,
In this void that resembles the pause at the bottom of our exhale,
Just before we take our next breath,
All is right and good.
The martial artist and actor Bruce Lee said this about the void,
Quote,
Voidness is that which stands right in the middle between this and that.
The void is all-inclusive,
Having no opposite.
There is nothing which it excludes or opposes.
It is a living void because all forms come out of it and whoever realizes the void is filled with life and power and the love of all beings,
End quote.
Let this living void be your serenity and let your breath take you there.
Let it undergird and underscore all tempests that surround you,
Bring light to any chaos,
Turbulence and upset.
Let it bring you life and power and the love of all beings.
Let it bring you peace.
This too shall pass.
