Hello,
This is Barbara,
Welcome to this brief meditation practice.
I invite you to take a moment now to arrive,
To really slow down and feel yourself landing in the body.
Noticing what it's like to be in this very moment.
Maybe noticing what's happening with your muscle tension.
Is it loose and soft or is there tightness?
Paying attention to the quality of your breath.
Maybe noticing the pacing.
Is your breathing rapid and shallow or is it deep and slow?
Noticing where it enters and exits.
Can you feel the breath on your top lip?
Or maybe you notice your belly rising and falling.
Rib cage expanding.
Motion in the chest.
And maybe even bringing in some curiosity.
Is there a way that you need to or want to change your breathing?
Asking your body what it needs.
And then offering your body exactly that.
Can you notice where your body is making contact with the surface?
If you're seated,
Noticing your bottom.
If you're standing or seated,
Noticing your feet.
And if this is available and feels right,
Can you wiggle your toes and your shoes?
Noticing the four corners of your feet.
It's a way of kind of grounding and really feeling yourself in your body at this moment.
Softening any places that want to soften.
Perhaps the brow or the jaw.
Or maybe the shoulders.
Maybe paying attention to the temperature in the room.
What are you noticing?
And asking,
Is it comfortable?
Deciding what you'd like to do with that information.
Do you need to make some adjustments?
Or are you aware that this is a moment of appreciation and gratitude if the temperature is just right?
Or maybe a moment of appreciation that even if the temperature is not just right,
You are still okay.
And can you now also pay attention to the sounds in the room?
Maybe the sounds outside of the room.
Are there people around?
The hum of appliances.
Maybe birdsong outside.
Planes passing by.
Cars.
Children playing.
Just notice what you notice,
Taking in the total of your experience at this moment.
And if it feels right,
Breathe deeply into this time.
This moment of recognition.
I am alive.
I am here in this moment.
And I am present to my experience.
How can I use my presence to offer myself the care and attention I need?
I might begin by asking myself a very specific question.
How do I feel?
What words would I bring to this experience right now?
What sensations are coming up?
Can I name them?
And maybe asking myself,
What do I need?
Recognizing that I have the opportunity and the capacity to recognize and meet my own needs.
Reminding myself that I know how to show up for myself.
That I know how to be with my feelings.
And I know how to care for myself.
Reminding myself that I do deserve my own care.
Pause here and really let that thought bloom in the body.
Noticing what it brings up for you.
Is there resistance or spaciousness?
Or something else?
It's important for all of us as human beings to understand how to use our attention so that we can be intentional about meeting each moment.
And so at this moment,
We are using attention to turn into the experience of this moment.
And with intention,
We are caring for all that arises.
We are remembering that we can trust ourselves to be with whatever arises.
And we offer it our compassion,
Our care.
Maybe bringing in some phrases of self-compassion.
I see you anxiety and I am here for you.
I'm here with you.
I know how to care for you.
May I remember my courage in this moment.
May I remember my strength in this moment.
May I remember my wisdom in this moment.
I see you sadness.
I am here with you.
I'm available to care for you.
May I be patient and gentle in this moment.
May I be kind.
I see you anger and I'm here to care for you.
I'm not afraid of you.
I'm with you.
I've got you.
May I stay connected to my strong and wise self.
May I remember that I can trust me.
May I find the wisdom and clarity in my anger.
May I not be afraid.
I see all my feelings,
All the ones I like and all the ones I don't like.
I recognize the corresponding sensations in my body.
I notice when they rise and when they fall.
And even then I maintain my capacity and my ability to pay attention to all that is here.
So yes,
Even though sadness is here.
I stay connected to my capacity for joy.
And yes,
Even when anger is here.
I stay connected to my innate wisdom and clarity.
And yes,
Even when anxiety is here.
I stay connected to my patience and my gentleness.
I stay connected to my compassion and my courage.
I remember that all feelings come and go.
And I remember that I'm having an experience.
I am not my feelings.
But I am the one who knows how to see and manage the feelings.
I'm the one who knows how to care for the feelings.
I am the one who knows how to show up for all of me.
I am the one who loves me,
Who offers love to all of me.
Who remembers that I deserve my own love and care.
I use my attention well.
And I bring the intention to be with my experience.
The intention to be with the experience with gentleness and love and care.
And I vow to return to this practice again and again.
Having faith and trust.
That no matter what happens,
I am available to care for myself.
I will not abandon myself.
I will not collapse with overwhelm.
May it be so.
May it be so.
It is indeed so.
Namaste
