The Spaces In-Between

This is a Susie Gibson We Retreat meditation.

Finding space and stillness,

A time for you just to be.

Begin by finding a place that you won't be disturbed for a while.

You can be sitting or lying down,

Finding a position that's comfortable for you and making sure that you'll be warm enough.

I invite you to close your eyes during this meditation,

Or you can just keep the gaze downwards and soft without focus.

And of course,

If your eyes are closed,

You can open them again at any time you choose.

Let's take a few deep and grounding breaths together,

Allowing your body to start to relax and your mind to arrive in the present moment.

Imagine you're drawing the breath in from the soles of your feet,

Inhaling the breath all the way up to the top of the head,

Releasing the breath back down the body like a sigh.

Another nice deep breath when you're ready.

Releasing the breath,

Letting your body start to feel heavy and relaxed.

Let your third deep breath be the deepest breath that you've taken so far today.

Inhaling deeply once more,

Exhaling to start to release the body to the ground.

And then allowing your breath to naturally find its own rhythm.

Get a sense of starting to withdraw your attention from the external world,

Withdrawing your attention from the things that most often hold your attention,

Be it a job,

A business,

Relationship,

The roles you have,

The things you do,

The places you go,

The conversations,

The thoughts.

Imagine withdrawing your attention from all of these things for a while as you start to turn your attention to yourself.

Feel the support beneath you,

Whether you're sitting or lying down.

Notice what your body is in contact with.

Feel the points of contact between your body and the support beneath you.

Notice that beneath the support is further support,

Perhaps in the way of the floor of the room that you're in.

The support of the building that you're in and its foundations.

And in a greater sense,

Noticing and acknowledging the support of the earth beneath you.

And as we acknowledge that support is solid and strong and secure.

Perhaps it feels a little easier to relax back into that support.

Notice how your body is feeling in this moment.

Its weight,

Its temperature,

The position of your arms,

Legs,

Your head.

Noticing any areas of tension or ease and comfort.

And as you breathe in,

Imagine breathing into any areas of tension.

And as you breathe out,

Allowing tension to leave that area.

Each exhale,

An invitation to further soften,

To soften into the support beneath you.

And to let go of anything that you don't need to hold on to in this moment.

And as you notice how your body is feeling,

Doing the best you can to be as okay as you can be.

Of how your body is feeling in this moment.

Noticing the breath as it flows in and out of your body.

Noticing the sensations of breathing.

The coolness around the tip of the nose and in the nostrils as you inhale.

The change in temperature,

The warmer exhale.

The rise and fall of your chest.

Perhaps movement around the ribcage,

Maybe the abdomen.

Notice how you're feeling in this moment.

As if gently inquiring of yourself,

How am I?

An inquiry between you and you,

How am I?

Listening to the answer.

Maybe it comes in words as a picture,

A body sensation,

A feeling.

And doing the best you can to be as okay as you can be with how you're feeling in this moment.

Noticing your mind.

The thoughts coming and going.

Some random perhaps in nature.

Some well-known thinking patterns.

Just becoming aware of your ability to notice and observe your mind.

Knowing that it's quite natural during this meditation for you to drift off into thinking from time to time.

And whenever you notice that that's happened,

Just coming back gently and easily the best you can.

So having noticed your body,

How you're feeling,

Your mind,

You have a good idea of where you are beginning from today.

Now bringing your attention back to your breath.

There's no need to change it.

Just observing the natural rhythm of air flowing in and out.

Beginning to notice that after each inhale is a pause,

A space.

Before your breath changes direction and becomes an exhale.

Beginning to notice that after each exhale is a pause,

A space.

Before your breath changes direction and becomes an inhale.

Observing that moment between your breaths.

That moment between breaths is a moment of complete stillness.

Remember you don't need to change the breath,

Just observing the space.

Being aware,

Being mindful of that space,

Of that stillness,

Of that pause.

Continuing to watch and observe the still silent spaces between breaths as you begin to connect more deeply with them.

No need to change the breath to do this,

Or to grab or manipulate that space in any way.

Simply watch the spaces come and go,

Naturally,

Mindfully,

Gracefully.

If you drift off into thinking,

Just gently coming back to the spaces in between the breath.

Watching the space,

The stillness,

And allowing it to grow.

Just getting out of the way and letting it happen.

As you observe the space and stillness,

Be curious if you feel it reflected somewhere in the body or somewhere in the mind.

We experience whatever our focus or attention is on.

So as you're attentive to these spaces,

Notice where it's reflected.

Can you feel space inside?

Space in front?

Space behind?

Noticing if you feel connected to the space or separate from it.

I wonder if you can allow yourself to merge with that space.

Allowing yourself to rest there a while.

Allowing the space and stillness to soothe,

To relax,

To balance,

To settle.

Allowing your attention now to wander from the spaces between the breath and starting to notice the space between everything.

The space between sounds.

The space between movements.

The space between sensations.

The space between thoughts.

The space between these words.

Noticing that each moment contains space.

Or perhaps the space contains each moment.

A constant,

Eternal,

Graceful,

Still,

Silent space that contains everything.

A blank canvas that everything is placed upon.

Everything coming and going within space.

And now in your wonderful imagination,

Picturing yourself standing outside in the open air that you would describe as spacious,

As expansive.

Perhaps it's a wide meadow.

An endless beach.

Seeing,

Feeling,

Imagining yourself in this spacious landscape.

Feel that sense of spaciousness all around you.

There is nothing pressing for your attention.

Just you and the infinite,

Peaceful space.

Imagine the sense of being connected to that space all around you.

A sense of spaciousness and openness expanding inside you as well.

No clutter,

Stress or tension.

Simply floating away.

Leaving you feeling light,

Free.

Take a few moments now to simply rest in this feeling of spacious stillness.

Knowing that this stillness,

This peace is always available to you.

All you need to do is notice the spaces in between.

To reconnect with the sense of stillness,

Of space,

Of calm within.

And as you rest here,

You won't hear my voice for a couple of minutes.