Meditation To Find Clarity In Moments Of Difficulty

And we'll start with a few deep breaths at your own pace,

Allowing yourself to really deepen the breath,

Allowing on the inhalation to be really long,

Bringing in and accepting,

Receiving a sense of calm,

A sense of relaxation.

And on the out breath,

Release,

Allowing yourself to just let go,

To surrender to this moment.

So I'd like to start by bringing your attention to your feet firmly planted on the ground and really noticing what it feels like to have your feet grounded,

Moving to your knees,

To your thighs,

And really investigate here if you might be holding some tension in your thighs.

There is a tendency for us to,

In moments of tension,

Really squeeze the thighs together and bring our knees together.

So if that's the case,

Just see how you might be able to again release that tension,

Bringing relaxation to that part of the body.

And shifting now to the seat that's beneath you,

Noticing the chair,

The bed,

The couch that's holding you,

Noticing what that's like to feel supported,

To be held.

And now shifting to really taking notice of your posture,

Noticing if perhaps you might be slouching or leaning back.

The invitation here is to hold a stern but relaxed posture.

So maybe creating some space between you and the chair or the bed head or the couch that's behind you.

And on this next inhale,

I invite you to bring your shoulders up to the air and roll them all the way back.

On the exhale,

Using a cleansing breath,

Listening to the sound of your breath,

Go ahead and roll those shoulders back,

Allowing yourself to release any tension that you might be holding there as well.

Continuing to breathe and on the in-breath,

Again receiving a quality of calm,

A quality of relaxation on the exhale,

Allowing yourself to release,

Let go and let be.

Shifting your attention now to your jaw,

An area of the body where we tend to hold quite a bit of tension.

If you're like me,

You might grind your teeth but check in with the jaw to see if you might be holding some tension there,

Maybe clenching the teeth and see if it's possible to find some relaxation to release some of that tension.

You might try gently opening the mouth and maybe even bringing a slight smile to the lips.

Might be interesting to check in with the tongue,

As strange as that might sound,

And see if perhaps the tongue is affixed to the bridge of your mouth and if it is,

Allow the tongue to rest in the mouth,

Sliding back into the throat.

We'll check in here with our facial muscles and see where in the face you might be holding some tension as well.

Maybe checking in with the eyebrows and seeing if you're knitting the brow,

Maybe squinting the eyes or pouting the mouth and just see how you might be able to release that tension.

And as we sink into the quality of presence,

Into a quality of calm,

A quality of relaxation,

Just noticing our state of mind,

Our state of being,

Noticing if there's any discomfort,

If there's any resistance,

If there's any restlessness that might be present for you and just take this opportunity to using the breath,

Really exhale and again bring a sense of calm and relaxation and maybe surrender to this moment.

If perhaps you're distracted by sounds that are outside your space,

Maybe voices of your family members,

A television that might be on,

Cars in the background,

Try not to push those away.

Instead invite them into the practice,

Just allowing them to be.

And now I invite you to allowing your breath to just do its thing,

Returning to its natural rhythm.

Really tune into the breath,

Tune into that part of your body where you can feel your breath the most.

So we'll start by checking in with the nostrils and seeing if you can feel the air as it enters and leaves the nostrils.

Checking in with the back of our throat and perhaps you can really feel the air tickling the back of the throat coming in,

Coming out.

Perhaps you can sense the movement in your chest moving up and down with each breath.

Maybe resting a hand on your belly and noticing what it's like for the air to push your belly out and bring it back in with each breath.

So take a moment here just to tune in to that part of your body where you feel the breath the strongest.

And in these next moments really using the breath as an anchor for your focus and attention.

As you get distracted your mind might wander during the practice and we will continue throughout the practice to use the breath as an anchor.

We can always go back to the place where we experience our breath the strongest.

So tune into that part.

Tune into that place where you can really sense the breath and start to notice the details of the breath.

Checking in to see if maybe you can feel a particular temperature of the breath.

Maybe it's warm,

You might notice that it's cold.

See if there is a particular temperature there.

Noticing the pace of the breath.

Maybe it's fast,

Maybe it's slow,

Maybe you're breathing deeply or maybe in this moment you happen to be having a shortness of breath.

And so the goal here is to not try and control the breath in any way but to just notice the breath.

Just observe the breath.

Remembering that at any moment if you get distracted by a sound,

By a thought or maybe a sense of discomfort in your body reminding yourself that you can always return to the breath and really anchor your attention and your focus on the breath.

And transitioning now to the RAIN practice we'll start with the R of recognizing what is present for us in this moment.

Perhaps reflecting on our experiences over the course of the last week,

Maybe two weeks or three weeks and just allowing your thoughts,

Your emotions,

Any sensation that might come up just recognizing,

Seeing them.

And perhaps you can name the thought,

The emotion,

The sensation that is most present for you,

The experience that you're noticing the strongest.

See if you can identify what that is.

You might name anxiety,

Worry,

Nothing,

Pain,

Resistance,

Restlessness.

Whatever is present,

Good,

Bad or indifferent,

Just notice what is there.

And then exploring if perhaps there's a particular experience that you associate with the experience,

With the thought,

With the note,

With the emotion,

With the feeling that is present.

See if you can identify a particular moment that stands out in your memory that you can associate that with.

Is there a particular place?

Is there a person that is present?

Are you reading something or maybe listening to something?

Just see if you can recall the elements of that moment.

And again using the breath as a way of opening even more to that experience,

Allowing yourself to open as much as you are comfortable with.

If you find it difficult to recall this experience,

Just allow yourself to open as much as is comfortable.

And asking yourself,

How can I just let this experience be?

How can I create space,

Create an opening,

A willingness to allow the experience to arrive?

Pulling on the breath to support you in doing that.

Again,

Inhaling a sense of calm,

A sense of relaxation.

And on the exhale,

Letting go any tension that you might notice.

And now investigate where in your body are you carrying this experience?

Knowing that our experiences live in our bodies,

That there is a physiological manifestation of this memory.

And so allowing yourself to transition from the cognitive processing of this memory and really dipping into your body,

Identifying the somatic experience.

See if there is a part of your body that you can notice.

See if there is a particular sensation that is present for you.

It might be the neck.

Worry tends to have a gripping sensation at the neck.

It might be that you are experiencing a tightness in the chest.

Fair has a way of squeezing.

Maybe it's somewhere in the belly.

And it could also be in another part of your body.

Just notice if there is any sensation as you scan your body from head to toe,

If there is a particular part of your body where you feel your breath of this experience,

Where you can feel this sensation.

And as a way of really gathering your focus and attention to that part of your body,

A way of really tuning in to investigate that part of your body.

Maybe placing a hand.

Go ahead and place your hand on the part of your body where you experience the sensation that is most present for you.

Continuing to breathe,

Continuing to really use the physical touch as a way of collecting your attention,

Tuning in to that part of your body.

And take a moment here just to notice this experience.

If you find yourself getting emotional,

Allow yourself to just surrender to this experience.

Allow the tears to come if they'd like to.

Maybe you feel nothing.

That might be a sign of some level of numbing.

And you might also be somewhere in between.

The invitation here is not to try and do anything with this experience,

But simply to notice whatever experience is present for you.

Continuing to allow the breath to be a source of calm,

To be a quality of relaxation.

Rest here for a moment and just observe what is present.

Examining if this sensation has a shape.

Maybe there is a size,

Maybe it's very small,

It might be a knotted ball,

It might be quite large,

It might be a sensation that's covering your entire body.

Notice the size,

Notice the texture,

Notice the temperature of this sensation.

Take a moment here to notice whatever you can about this sensation.

What do you notice now?

If perhaps your mind has wandered off,

There might be a person or a sound or a sensation in the body that you've been distracted by that has taken your mind away from the practice.

Give yourself permission to let that distraction go and return to the practice with focus and attention on the breath.

Revisiting the part of your body where you might be carrying this experience by placing a hand on that part of the body and really allowing the sensation of your physical touch to collect your attention and really focus in.

And now asking yourself,

What does this part of my body need most?

What does this part of me,

This experience that I'm carrying,

What does that part need most?

It might be that you're in search of reassurance,

It might be that you're in search of connection,

Of love,

Of comfort.

And so allowing yourself to bring a sense of comfort to that part of you and we can experiment here,

You might bring a second hand to that part of your body,

You might hold your hand as if holding the hand of a child,

You might try giving yourself a hug and squeezing the shoulders or the elbows,

You might even try holding your face as if holding the face of a child.

And if none of those are comforting for you,

You might imagine a person or a place that is particularly comforting for you and imagine yourself there,

Imagine yourself being in the comfort of that person,

Maybe sensing what it would be like for them to hug you.

This might be a person who is alive,

This might be a person that might have passed,

But imagine if they were there with you,

Comforting you,

Holding you,

Identifying the source of comfort that is easiest,

Go ahead and allow yourself to receive that comfort.

And now resting in this moment of presence,

Go ahead and taking a single deep breath,

Allowing the nourishments of this practice to wash over you.

On the deep breath in,

Allowing yourself to receive love,

To receive comfort,

To receive kindness,

And exhaling anything that you sense would be helpful for you to let go of,

Anything that you've been carrying that you want to release,

Anything that might not be serving you.

So go ahead and maybe take two deep breaths,

And then really bringing a sense of connection,

A sense of community with those of us who might be practicing this together,

Imagining that we are all united,

That we are all gathered together.

And so taking this next breath,

I will guide you by counting on the inhale,

Breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Holding one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And then exhale two,

Three,

Four,

Allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm,

Just checking in with yourself to notice your experience in this moment.

Notice the difference between the experience that you noticed at the beginning and what it's been like to try to create some space and to open yourself to that experience.

Just taking a moment to observe what this experience has been like for you,

And then very gently starting to bring some movement back into your body,

Maybe moving the fingers,

Twiddling the toes,

Maybe moving the head left to right,

Up and down,

Maybe allowing your nose to create circles,

Maybe rolling the shoulders up and back,

Maybe taking a nice stretch,

Maybe a yawn.

And when you're ready,

Gently open your eyes and return your attention back to a virtual space,

Just checking in and really sensing your experience in this moment,

The quality of your presence,

And maybe just naming what that experience was like for you.

Thank you.