Hello,
My name is Rachel and I'd like to welcome you to our meditation today,
Meeting with vulnerability and why I believe it is our superpower.
So to begin with,
We're just going to connect with our breath.
So finding yourself in a comfortable seat or position,
Allowing yourself to relax the shoulders and the jaw,
Maybe straightening the spine a little bit,
Just so you can allow the belly to really expand and relax as we start to breathe.
Then connecting with your breath,
Just allowing yourself to naturally breathe in and out.
Whatever pace that is for you right now,
Might depend on the time of day or the type of week you're having.
Savouring the sound of your breath,
That little whisper in and out of the nostrils.
Beautiful,
And now we're going to create a box breath or a ratio breath.
So we're going to start with four counts in and four counts out.
Four counts in and four counts out.
If you're comfortable with four,
You can stick with four,
Or if you feel like you can expand the breath a little bit.
Maybe you experiment with six or maybe eight,
Seven,
Five.
Just finding that nice comfortable rhythm,
Breathing in and out evenly.
Now,
If you feel comfortable,
We're going to take a little pause at the top of the inhalation.
So you may just hold the breath for a moment,
Or maybe you hold the breath for two seconds.
Inhale normally.
Inhale and hold,
Exhale.
And after you've done that a few times,
If you feel comfortable,
You may like to hold out the exhalation.
So breathing in,
Holding the breath,
Exhaling,
Holding the breath and starting again.
So you don't want to create any tension in the body.
So if holding the breath doesn't feel right for you today,
Then feel free to just continue with that even inhalation and exhalation.
And once you've finished your next round of breath,
Just allowing the breath to go back to a normal,
Natural rhythm,
Not focusing on the timing or the length.
And just checking in with the body,
Seeing that you're still feeling nice and relaxed.
Your face is soft.
Your eyes are soft.
I believe vulnerability is a great strength.
Otherwise it would be easy to do.
And I call vulnerability your superpower because allowing yourself to be vulnerable is courageous.
It is also allowing you to connect and build relationships with people on a deeper level.
This connection is created by trust.
It can allow you to release fears of the unknown or fears of someone's reaction to something.
Now if you don't have them closed already,
Maybe closing down eyes here,
Just allowing yourself to really connect with within.
And then see if you can think of a time in your life when you felt really vulnerable.
Where did you feel it in your body?
Did you feel it in your heart?
Did you feel it in your stomach?
Did your body feel tense?
Was your brain screaming at you to run away?
So just sitting with this feeling for a moment,
Knowing that you're still in a safe space.
You're still seated wherever you are.
Just allowing yourself to have this feeling come up in the body.
Just allowing yourself to breathe.
Now imagine yourself or someone you might admire sitting with you during this discomfort.
They may hold your hand.
Maybe they give you a big hug.
Simply give you words of support and affection.
Maybe they sit there simply giving you a warm smile.
Allowing whatever feels comforting to you right now.
This person or yourself is giving you that.
Right there by your side,
Supporting you.
Now start to breathe deeply into the part of the body which is holding this discomfort about being vulnerable.
Allow the breath to gently massage and maybe expand this area.
I love to imagine a beautiful white or golden colour here or maybe a soft pink.
Gently caressing the tension.
Expanding and opening.
Maybe this feeling,
This breath,
This colour starts to expand into the rest of your body.
Maybe it connects you with your other self or that person you admire that's with you.
Connecting you two together.
Breathing together with this other person in this beautiful connection.
Vulnerability is all about practice.
The more you do it,
The more likely you are to realise that nothing horrible or bad will come from being vulnerable.
Whatever happens,
Meet yourself with love and compassion.
We might keep the visualisation here as we move into Nadi Sharana.
This beautiful breathing technique,
If you have not practiced it before,
Is a beautiful calming technique.
So if you take your right hand and allow your forefinger and middle finger to touch the forehead,
Use the thumb to block the right nostril and the pinky to block the left nostril.
So we're going to alternately breathe through each nostril.
At first just maybe connect the forefinger and the middle finger to the forehead to the third eye.
Just take a few breaths here with both nostrils open.
And inhaling fully.
Exhale through the left.
Then inhale through the left nostril.
And switching fingers,
Open the right and exhale out through the right nostril.
Inhale through the right nostril.
Switch fingers,
Exhale through the left.
Inhale through the left.
Exhale through the right.
Inhale through the right.
Inhale left.
Inhale left.
Breathe out right.
Inhale right.
Then continuing to follow this pattern like a beautiful infinity sign.
And if you get lost don't worry too much.
Keep that calm steady rhythm of your breath.
If your arm starts to get tired you can support it with the opposite hand just holding the elbow.
I'll take two more rounds here.
Once you've finished just allow the hands to drop onto the lap or the knees.
And you can allow yourself to sit here simply breathing for as long as you want.
Just enjoying this moment with yourself.
With your courage.
And with your beautiful,
Beautiful vulnerability.
Inhale through the left.
Inhale through the right.
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