Hi,
Welcome.
My name is Susan Guttridge and I'm honored to have you here.
This is a meditation for parents.
I hope it aids in strengthening your spirit and rekindling the flame of courage within.
In this practice,
We will center with our breath,
Then look at what it means to show up with courage and bravery,
And then a guided practice for you to connect with your courage and bravery in your present day life.
What this means is I'm going to be a bit wordy up front,
Then we'll slow down for your reflection and personal process.
This guided practice includes the healing rhythm of bilateral stimulation,
Mirroring that which is used in EMDR therapy to aid you in reconnecting with your inner sources of strength,
Your innate courage and bravery.
At approximately minute 10,
The music will change to include this alternating rhythm,
So it's best to listen with headphones.
No worries though if you don't have a set.
I'll also prompt you in gently tapping back and forth on your shoulders.
Try it with me now.
Place your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right shoulder,
Then just lifting the fingers of one hand,
Tap on your shoulder,
Then switch to lift the fingers of the other hand and tap on that shoulder and alternate back and forth.
Just like that.
All right,
You can let your hands relax down now.
As we get started,
I want to first acknowledge all the energy and effort you put into parenting.
Pretty much everything you do,
You do with the complexities of someone else's needs at the forefront of your mind and cradled in your heart.
Of course you do,
And that can be a lot at times,
So it's okay to acknowledge here that we feel tired at times.
All parents encounter moments of exhaustion,
Be it physical or emotional.
All parents experience the weight of worry,
Grief,
Anger,
And fear at times.
Loving someone as a parent loves the child,
Loving fully,
Means we're going to feel fully when we notice these emotions present within us.
We can use them as signals,
Reminding us to pause,
To take a moment to recenter,
And in so doing,
We connect with our resiliency.
That pause is so important because emotional overwhelm has the power to erode our best intentions,
Even diminish our capacity for patience and empathy.
By noticing it,
By moving through it with our breath,
We recalibrate our hearts and our minds,
Restoring our ability to remain attuned to the needs of ourself and our loved ones.
Let's practice that breath together now.
Close your eyes if that feels right for you,
Shift your body if needed to sink ever more deeper into the cozy space you are in,
And breathing in through your nose,
Allow your breath to flow all the way into your abdomen,
And exhale out.
Breathing in,
Say to yourself,
I am breathing in,
And as you breathe out,
Say to yourself,
I am breathing out.
Breathing in,
I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I am breathing out.
Continuing that just at your own pace now.
It is often during these moments of focused breathing,
When we drop into our breath and our body,
That we realize how much tension we have been holding.
If you just notice that,
Relax the space between your eyebrows,
Let your shoulders relax slightly back and down,
Allow your abdomen to unclench,
Shift your body as needed to further release tension or jittery energy.
As you notice your body relaxing now,
Extend a word of gratitude to yourself for engaging in this act of self-care.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of pausing,
For choosing to replenish your inner well of strength and patience.
Allow the beginnings of a smile to linger at the edges of your lips,
As you say one more time to self,
Thank you.
Now,
Today may have been a tough one for you.
But please remember that you are on the right track.
Every time you show up with your loving heart,
You are making progress.
Reflecting helps you identify where you might need to grow,
Learn,
Or pivot.
If you had a less than ideal parenting moment,
As we all do at times,
Know that it's okay.
You can make amends,
Learn from it,
Approach it differently next time.
You are strong enough to handle this.
If that sounds difficult for you right now,
If you need a bit of help reconnecting with your inner strength,
Well,
I've got you.
With your breath slow and deep,
Your shoulders relaxed,
Your body comfortable and at ease,
Let's begin by deconstructing the concepts of courage and bravery.
I view courage as the emotional resilience that allows us to face discomfort,
Uncertainty,
And that which we may fear while maintaining a connection to self and others.
It's a river of strength that resides within us,
Flowing forward in moments of challenge and rippling throughout our entire essence as we manage and overcome fear.
When this courage ignites,
It sparks empathy,
Self-compassion,
And a vibrant energy that enables us to engage with life's hurdles.
Courage is the force that compels us to keep going,
To learn more,
To gain new perspectives,
Even when the path ahead seems daunting.
Courage is not a solitary current,
It's fed by the unwavering streams of bravery.
Bravery strengthens our capacity to face what scares us.
It's the conscious choice to stand in the arena of our lives,
Protecting,
Defending,
Working towards achieving something we value.
Bravery involves an empathetic understanding of self and the situation at hand.
It includes recognizing,
Acknowledging the emotional cues and messages that fear gives us.
Bravery mobilizes this awareness with actions that align us with our values and commitments.
Ryan Holiday writes,
The act of courage is the act of making a choice,
A choice to persist despite the discomfort.
This persistence is what turns fleeting moments of bravery into a lifelong practice of courage,
Allowing us to continuously show up in our lives,
Grow,
Evolve.
Armed with this knowledge,
I'd like you to bring to your mind's eye a memory of a moment in your life when you took a courageous,
Brave action and there was a positive outcome.
Nothing risky,
Just an everyday courageous moment.
Any memory,
No matter how recent or far back into the past.
As you reflect on that moment,
What do you notice in your body?
What is the felt sense of emotion that goes with that moment of bravery?
Perhaps you feel it as warmth in your chest,
A sensation of steadiness or groundedness,
A tingly feeling in your body,
Or perhaps your breath becomes deeper.
Beginning to tap back and forth on your shoulders now,
Focusing on those sensations that go with your memory of being brave.
And stopping tapping now,
Take a deep breath in and let it all go.
Scan through your body,
Notice what's there now.
Did the sensations of courage and bravery strengthen?
Did you notice your body feeling stronger,
Perhaps easing into a more comfortable or confident posture?
Your breath becoming more even and deep.
Picture that memory of courage and bravery in your mind's eye with its positive outcome,
Allowing those sensations to deepen in your body as you tap back and forth now,
Stopping tapping as you take a deep breath in.
And exhale out.
Scan through your body,
Just noticing what's there.
Enjoying any sensations of relaxation,
You are coming to a point where you are now.
Enjoying any sensations of relaxation,
Your comfortable posture,
Your breath deep and even.
What words go with courage and bravery for you?
Picturing again your memory of showing up with courage and bravery,
Holding that in your mind's eye with its positive outcome,
With the sensations in your body,
And with those words and begin tapping back and forth.
And now,
Stopping tapping,
Taking a deep breath in,
And exhaling out.
Just noticing any sensations of relaxation in your body,
Sensations of calm,
Of strength,
Of resolve.
Just enjoying those.
Now,
Using your best imagination,
If you could give your courage a color,
What color would you If you could give your courage a color,
What color would you give it?
Picture courage as that color you've chosen,
And where in your body would you notice it?
Now,
Noticing that color of courage in your body,
With all the words that go with it,
And begin tapping back and forth.
And as you stop tapping,
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale out.
Imagine for a moment that you could bring just a bit of that courage into your current life,
To deal with whatever challenges you're facing.
Now,
When you think about how you would like to show up today,
With courage and bravery,
What do you see yourself doing?
Remember,
Bravery and courage don't always show up with volume.
In fact,
Some of our bravest moments might be in silence,
Where our grounded,
Calm presence does all the talking.
Picturing now your courage,
Where you feel it in your body,
And with the color you chose,
Noticing where that sits in your body.
And thinking now about how you would like to show up in your life,
With courage and bravery,
And begin tapping back and forth.
As you stop tapping now,
Take a deep breath in,
And let it all go.
And let it all go.
Scan through your body,
Just noticing what's there now.
You can embody your courage and bravery.
You can allow it to guide your actions and choices,
Aligning with your resilience,
Your compassion.
And now,
Connecting with where you feel courage in your body one more time,
Using the color if that felt right for you.
Picturing how you will show up with courage in whatever situation unfolds before you,
And begin tapping back and forth.
And stopping tapping as you take a deep breath in,
And exhale out.
And allow your arms and your hands to relax.
You possess these qualities,
This courage and bravery.
Place a hand on that part of your body where you pictured courage.
Allow your hand to rest there as a reminder of your strength.
Remember that no matter what you are going through,
You are strong enough to handle it.
Welcome courage in as the warm light within your heart,
Growing brighter with each breath.
And bravery as the steady force within your core,
Grounding you in your truth,
Compassion and purpose.
Take a deep breath in,
Drawing in the strength these qualities offer,
Trusting in self,
And exhaling out,
Releasing doubt,
Releasing fear.
As we near the end of our time together,
Take a moment to reflect on how you would like to take this practice with you into the rest of your day.
Maybe one word comes to your mind when you reflect on the practice you did here.
I invite you to select that as your cue word,
A word that you say to yourself that anchors you into your core of courage and bravery.
Start to notice the sounds in the room around you.
When it feels right,
Let your eyes slowly flutter open.
You have the capacity to face life with a heart full of courage and a spirit enriched with bravery.
I'm so pleased you took this moment to refuel your strength.
If you'd like,
Please share your cue word in the comments to further strengthen it in your memory,
To foster our shared humanity,
To inspire others.
I so appreciate you for taking this moment to remind yourself of your courage,
To reinforce your resiliency,
And to emerge more connected to your love and kindness and your patient parenting self.
Thank you and be well.
