Guided Meditation to Connect with Messages of Encouragement

Hi,

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Shannon and grateful that you're here.

I think that many of us along the way on our path in life have probably experienced times where we're feeling like we need some encouragement to keep going,

To keep moving forward.

Sometimes when things aren't clear or we don't have a good perception about the direction we're going,

Encouragement is even more necessary at those times.

If we wait for the encouragement to come to us externally from other people around us,

We might wait for a long time to receive those words.

It isn't that people don't necessarily care about us,

It's just that everybody sometimes gets a little bit busy in their own lives and can't always be there for us all the time.

This practice that we'll be doing will allow us to connect with that internal voice of our higher self,

Of our connection with spirit,

That brings us those words of wisdom and encouragement that we might be needing to hear.

This then becomes our ability to be our own best cheerleader.

My inspiration for our guided practice comes from one of my favorite children's stories that I read growing up called Charlotte's Web by E.

B.

White.

In this story,

The two main characters are Fern,

The little girl,

Who lives on a farm,

And Wilbur,

The pig that she is bound to save.

He is born the runt of the litter,

And her father isn't able to keep Wilbur.

Through the course of saving Wilbur's life in this story,

It is the spider Charlotte who comes up with the plan that will rescue Wilbur.

It is her words of encouragement that let Fern's father see that Wilbur really is a special pig.

I'd like to share with you a short passage from the book Charlotte's Web by E.

B.

White.

Far into the night,

While the other creatures slept,

Charlotte worked on her web,

For she ripped out a few of the orb lines near the center.

She left the radial lines alone as they were needed for support.

As she worked,

Her eight legs were a great help to her.

She loved to weave and she was an expert at it.

When she was finished ripping things out,

A big empty circle sat in the center of the web.

A spider can produce several kinds of thread.

She uses a dry,

Tough thread for foundation lines,

And uses sticky thread for snare lines – the ones that catch and hold insects.

Charlotte decided to use her dry thread for the writing of this new message.

If I write the word terrific with sticky thread,

She thought,

Every bug that comes along will get stuck in it and spoil the effect.

Now let's see,

The first letter is T.

Charlotte climbed to a point at the top of the left-hand side of the web.

Swinging her spinnerets into position,

She attached her thread,

Dropped down,

And as she dropped,

Her spinning tubes went into action.

She let out thread.

At the bottom,

She attached the thread,

And this formed the upright part of the letter T.

Charlotte was not satisfied,

However.

She climbed up and made another attachment right next to the first.

Then she carried the line down so that she had a double line instead of a single one.

It'll show up better if I make the whole thing with double lines,

She said.

She climbed back up,

Moved over about an inch to the left and touched her spinnerets to the web once more.

Then she carried a line across to the right,

Forming the top of the T.

She repeated this,

Making it double,

And her eight legs were very busy helping.

Now for the E,

Charlotte said.

All night,

Charlotte worked,

Over and over,

Until all the letters in the web had been formed.

And so talking to herself,

The spider worked at her difficult task.

When it was completed,

She felt hungry,

She ate a small bug,

And then went to sleep.

The next morning,

Wilbur arose,

Stood beneath the web.

He breathed the morning air into his lungs.

Drops of dew catching the sun made the web stand out clearly.

When Larry arrived with breakfast,

There was the handsome pig,

And over him,

Woven,

Nearly in block letters,

Was the word,

Terrific.

Another miracle.

So you see,

Just like Wilbur and his family get to see that he is something special,

Sometimes we just need those words of encouragement.

What words are you needing to hear today to help you on your path?

Just like Charlotte the spider brought words of encouragement for Wilbur,

She'll bring you words of encouragement today.

Before we go on this adventure,

I'd like to read this quote by John O'Donohue from his book Walking in Wonder.

Imagination is one of the closest presences in the whole family of wonder.

In a way,

Imagination is a quality of all these different presences,

And imagination is the threshold at which they begin to emerge.

Imagination never pretends to know it all,

It never demands or claims an absolute standpoint.

It always relishes and celebrates the fact that it is on the threshold where it cannot see everything.

As we move into this guided visualization today,

Know that it is your imagination into this journey of wonder and discovery within yourself to see that these messages are there for you and they're waiting inside of you.

We'll bring those messages out to provide you with those encouraging words that you're needing.

Allow yourself to step into this world of wonder,

Imagination,

And encouragement.

I'll have you move into a comfortable position in which to go on this journey with me,

Either seated or lying down.

When you feel supported and comfortable,

I'll have you close your eyes.

I'll have you begin by taking a deep breath in and exhaling,

Allowing your body to connect with the ground underneath you,

That support of Mother Earth.

In your imagination,

You now find that you are standing in front of your third eye.

And as you stand here in this space in front of your third eye,

You see that there is a doorway present.

You reach out with your hand to touch the door of your third eye,

And as you touch it,

It activates a beautiful indigo doorway of light radiating and shining brightly in front of you.

To connect with this energy and this doorway of your inner self,

I'll have you take a deep breath in and exhale with that open doorway of light in front of you.

As you're ready,

I'll have you imagine stepping through that doorway.

As you step through the doorway,

You find that you are now standing in a beautiful open field of grass.

The grass touches your legs gently and a cool breeze brushes against your skin.

As you look around this field of grass and above you,

You see that it is night time.

The stars twinkle overhead and the moon shines brightly.

With the light of the stars and the moon overhead and your eyes get used to the darkness,

You see that in the distance is a barn and there is a light glowing in one of the windows.

Just then you look down to see that you have been joined by a kitty who leaps through the grass and appears at your feet in front of you.

You greet this kitty,

Your guide.

What color is the cat who is going to lead you through this meditation today?

Imagine reaching down,

Touching the kitty to say hello.

What does he or she look like?

Allow yourself to connect with this kitty guide now.

Now when you stand back up,

You see that the kitty is moving towards the barn and would like you to follow him or her.

You follow the kitty through the grass,

Stepping easily through the field,

The whole field lit by the beautiful moon overhead.

As you walk through this grassy field towards the barn,

Overhead the meteors shoot across the sky like shooting stars.

Allow yourself to connect with the meteors,

The stars,

The grass that you're walking through.

Connect with this place now.

Now as you look in front of you,

You see that you have reached the barn and have come to the front door of the barn which is slightly open.

You see that the kitty is gone inside and you follow it and step inside the barn as well.

As you walk through the barn and follow your kitty guide,

He or she leads you to where there is an empty stall inside the barn.

As you step into this stall,

It has an open window that opens to the outside air as well,

The night sky shining through.

As you look through the window of that stall in the barn,

The light of the moon shines and illuminates a spider web that is hanging in one of the corners of that window.

And within that spider web,

There is a beautiful spider who is on the web who greets you now grateful that you've joined her.

You say hello and she introduces herself as Charlotte.

What does she look like?

What does her web look like shining in the moonlight?

Allow yourself to connect with Charlotte the spider and her beautiful web.

Now as you look around the stall that you stand in,

There is a bale of hay and a blanket lying on top of the hay.

Your kitty guide has jumped onto the bale of hay,

Calling you to sit down as well.

In your imagination,

You go over to the bale of hay,

You spread out that beautiful blanket and sit down on top of the hay.

Your kitty guide sits next to you,

Laying by your side.

Take this time now to connect with the space around you,

The barn,

The stall,

Charlotte the spider and her web,

And the beautiful moonlight shining through her web.

Connect with the energy of this space.

You take a deep breath in,

Breathing in this beautiful,

Comforting energy.

To exhale,

You connect directly with Charlotte the spider.

You ask her now if there's any messages that she wishes to share with you,

That you are needing to hear to help encourage you on your journey.

Charlotte the spider now asks you to close your eyes.

You close your eyes,

Allowing Charlotte the spider to connect with your energy,

That she might discern what messages to gift you today.

In this next moment of silence,

Allow the moonlight coming through the window and the stall to surround you in light as you move into a space of relaxation.

You take a deep breath in now,

Breath out slowly.

In your imagination,

You open your eyes and you look to the window of that stall in the barn and see that there is a message written on Charlotte the spider's web just for you.

These words of encouragement.

In your imagination,

You stand up,

Walk over to the web and read the message of encouragement for yourself.

What does it say?

After reading the message,

You close your eyes,

Allowing the energy of the message to move through your whole body,

Bringing this encouragement,

Wisdom and light to move through every cell of your body.

What does it feel like as you receive this beautiful energy?

Where do you feel it?

And how does it feel encouraging to you?

Inhale deeply,

And as you exhale in your imagination,

Opening your eyes,

You thank Charlotte the spider for her gift today to you.

She in return thanks you for being present with her today as well,

And lets you know that you can come back to this space anytime you're needing more words of encouragement.

Your kitty guide now stands right next to you by your feet.

He or she now walks out of the stall of the barn,

Back through the entrance of the barn and back into the grassy field.

You follow your kitty guide out of the barn and into the field,

Once again underneath the stars and the moon shining overhead.

Now for a moment you stop in this beautiful field of grass,

Standing there with your feet connected to the earth.

You imagine taking the message that you received today,

Placing it into your hands and then imagine that it moves up your arms and into your heart.

Then as it reaches your heart,

That encouragement begins to shine brightly through your chest,

Through your arms,

And grows bright and big like one of the shining stars overhead.

As your whole body connects with this message of encouragement,

You see a shooting star streak across the sky.

You take a deep breath in.

You begin to walk through the field of grass,

Following the kitty,

Your guide who brings you back to that doorway of light through which you first entered.

You bend down now and say goodbye to your kitty guide,

Thanking him or her for being present with you today.

He or she leaps back through the grass,

Back to the barn and disappears inside.

You turn and face that indigo doorway of light,

Taking a deep breath in.

As you exhale,

You step through that doorway of light and find yourself standing back in front of your third eye.

You turn around,

Facing that doorway,

Reaching out and placing your hand on it,

Allowing the doorway to close.

As that third eye doorway closes,

In your imagination I'll have you close your eyes as well.

Take this time now with your breath to reconnect with your physical body here in this present moment.

Take a deep breath in,

Exhale,

Joining me back here,

Taking another deep breath in,

And as you exhale when you're ready,

Opening your eyes,

Allow yourself time to stretch gently,

Wiggling your fingers and toes,

Stretching your arms and legs,

Opening your shoulders and chest.

Thank you so much for joining me and Charlotte,

Our spider weaver of encouragement.

I hope that you received the word or words that you're needing to hear today to help you on your path,

On your journey,

Knowing that you're not alone as you connect with the energy inside of you that is present for you to encourage you every step of the way.

I'd like to close our practice today with a poem written by Paula Gunn-Allen,

Who is an indigenous grandmother.

Her poem,

Called Grandmother,

Not only honors the energy of Spider and her messages,

But also those of our ancestors,

That energy within us.

Here is Paula's poem,

Grandmother.

Out of her own body she pushed silver thread,

Light,

Air,

And carried it carefully on the dark flying where nothing moved.

Out of her body she extruded shining wire,

Life,

And wove the light on the void.

From beyond time,

Beyond oak trees and bright clear water flow,

She was given the work of weaving the strands of her body,

Her pain,

Her vision into creation and the gift of having created to disappear.

After her the women and the men weave blankets into tales of life,

Memories of light and ladders,

Infinity eyes and rain.

After her I sit on my laddered rain-bearing rug and mend the tear with a string.

May the message of encouragement you receive today from Charlotte the Spider be woven into your own energy to give you the strength and courage you need on your path.

These words of encouragement are woven into your heart,

Into your own energy.

All you have to do is walk in wonder and connect with your imagination.

Thank you again for joining me on this adventure.

Have an amazing day.

Namaste.