From Shane Piñata,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we send compassion to families separated by war.
Welcome to the Circle.
Welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine where we honor Ukraine and also practice self-care to stay strong as allies.
If you're new here,
Welcome.
So the only item we need today is something that reminds you of family.
This might be a family something or other that you have in your house,
In your life,
Could be a photo of you with your family,
Could just be a good memory of you with your family.
And when I say family,
It does not need to be blood family,
It can also be chosen family.
So one of the first things I like to do when we get together is to kind of bring us all into this present moment.
So to do that today,
I would love to go back to our 5-4-3-2-1 practice.
So to do that,
Look around and see if you can see five things.
And if you see with your hands,
Use your hands for this.
Great.
And now see if you can touch four things.
Perhaps you can find four things with different textures from one another.
And now see if you can hear three things.
And see if you can smell two things.
And see if you can taste one thing.
Great.
Thank you for joining me in that.
As you know,
Early on when we were first beginning the show,
We did 5-4-3-2-1 quite a lot,
Along with looking around the room for square shapes,
And round shapes,
And things that were blue,
And things that were red.
These are very simple practices,
And they are designed to help us come into the moment.
They are good tools to calm a busy mind and help us land back in the body.
And speaking of being in the body,
Let's also take a moment to just feel down into the earth.
Just notice what you're sitting,
Standing,
Or lying on,
And see how it connects down to the earth.
Trace the path from your body,
Through what's beneath you,
And through what's beneath that,
And through what's beneath that,
All the way down until you find the earth.
Maybe take a couple of breaths,
Just allowing your body to slow down,
Allowing yourself to come in contact with the earth.
And now let's turn to that family item.
If it is something you can touch,
You can go ahead and hold it in your hands.
And if it's something that you're imagining or remembering,
Just hold it in your mind's eye.
Ideally,
This is something that helps you feel connected to the people you call family.
Perhaps it helps you remember where you came from,
Or is a reminder of the people that you know,
Or is a reminder of the people in your family group who are in your life now.
Whatever it is,
Just begin to notice how you feel when you hold this item,
Or think of this image.
What feelings does it evoke in you?
Be a witness to your own experience right now.
And if there are any aspects of seeing this image,
Holding this item,
That are hard for you to that are hard on your heart,
Light a candle of compassion for yourself.
And also bear witness to any positive,
Warm feelings you feel when you look at this image or you hold this object.
And if you would like,
You can light a candle on the inner for the love you feel.
We're just creating room for your experience right now.
Just really honoring what's there.
We've all had our own journey through life and the ways we've connected with family,
The many kinds of family there are in life.
And as we sit here doing this work,
I honor your journey with family.
And as we sit here doing this work,
I honor your journey with family.
And I honor whatever you're feeling right now.
And now that we've been with our own experience for a few moments and offered ourselves some compassion,
I'd like to widen this meditation to encompass the families who are separated because of the war right now.
And to do that,
Perhaps we can gather as a circle around a large table that is full of candles.
And we can slowly begin to light these candles.
Lighting these candles to honor and to bear witness to families who are separated by war.
So perhaps we could each step up to this table,
Move toward this table,
Move toward these candles,
And just allow yourself to see this table.
Let me see how big it is,
How many candles you see on it.
Maybe you'll even intuit or sense or imagine the other members of our circle around the table with you.
And I invite you to just follow your intuition and begin to light a few candles as you feel called.
Knowing that behind each candle is a family.
And all the things,
All the things that separation can bring.
Grief and loss and worry and guilt and confusion,
Anxiety,
Perhaps a lack of having someone to read a bedtime story to you,
No matter how old you are.
Perhaps not being able to hold someone's hand or tell them how much you love them.
Just very gently,
With a great deal of compassion,
Honoring these stories that we will never fully know.
As we light these candles on the inner,
With as much respect as we can for our loved ones,
As we light these candles on the inner,
With as much respect as we can hold in our hearts.
If you are someone who works with energy and with your hands,
You might hold your hands out as we begin offering this energy out to Ukraine and to all the world really.
Sending out compassion to those separated from loved ones.
Remembering that you are still grounded and allowing this compassion to flow through you.
You might imagine us all standing around this table with our hands open,
Palms facing up around this beautiful table of candles.
The candles bearing witness to these stories we will never know,
And our palms allowing the prayer to go forth.
The prayer for compassion.
Compassion and comfort and connection.
And when you feel like the magic is done,
The prayer has been sent,
And these stories and these people and these families have been honored,
I invite you to slowly,
Slowly begin to come back into your space.
Begin to gently transition back,
Letting go of the candles in our mind,
Letting go of the prayer,
Letting go of the thoughts,
Letting go of the struggles in our mind,
Letting go of the prayer.
Just trusting they will go out exactly where they are needed.
Maybe taking a breath,
Coming back into your space.
May we always honor the power of family in its many forms.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today.
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
