A meditation to support you to slow down, to listen to your own needs and to be receptive to change.
In this meditation we take our inspiration from the soothing, receptive and cooling qualities of the moon. So on days when you’re feeling depleted or overstimulated, this meditation will help you to tap into a receptive, cooling and inwardly focused energy, helping you to feel calm and centred.
You may find this meditation particularly helpful to listen to on days when you’re feeling hot or overheated. It aims to support you to slow down, to listen to your own needs and to be receptive to change.
20 minute listen. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones on.
Listen to other meditations in the Powerful Pause series.
This guided meditation was written for one of our new Powerful Pause meditation sessions, where we come together to meditate every few weeks. If you’re a Performer member you can take advantage of these free sessions (please ensure you’re opted in to receive our emails).
Meditation Transcript
Bea Grist, Health and Wellbeing Manager:
So welcome to this meditation which is themed around light
And it’s this idea that the darkness is not something to fear
It is simply a place of the unknown
And this meditation provides an opportunity to turn inward
And to greet whatever is there
To welcome the light and the dark
Maybe there is an invitation here to shine a little light or curiosity
to any challenging spots that you might be facing right now
So if you haven’t already
Just finding a comfortable position
Where you can properly settle in
For these next 20 minutes or so
You may like to be seated
or perhaps lying down
Do whatever feels best for you today
Just finding a place where you can be relaxed
But also focused
We don’t want you to fall asleep
But if you do, that’s ok too
You probably need it!
So in our meditation today
We will be using the light of the moon
as our inspiration
We’ll be tapping into the
reflective and soothing qualities of the moon
And if this idea of the moon
Doesn’t work for you
That’s ok
Just take what works
And let go of what doesn’t resonate
So on days when we’re feeling
depleted, overstimulated, or overheated
We can tap into this lunar energy
Which is receptive, cooling and and inwardly focused
To help us to feel calm and centred
The moon teaches us to slow down
To listen to our own needs
and be receptive to change
So just making any adjustments
And see if you can already bring an awareness to this
Soothing, gentle and receptive energy
So as you make any adjustments
Try slowing down your movements
Dare to do everything 20 or even 30 percent slower
Just slowing everything down
Letting everything be soft and gentle
So very slowly easing out the shoulders,
Maybe just rolling them
forwards or back a few times
Imagine that you’re doing everything in slow motion
There is no where that you need to get to
This is time for you to just be
Time to slow down
To breathe
Be tender with yourself
Letting go of any judgements
And just accepting
whatever is arising in you
Maybe taking some very gentle
and slow movements or stretches
Of the head and the neck
Imagine that you’re moving through water
Let everything be soft and slow and gentle
Just doing whatever feels good for you
Ensuring that you’re listening
To what your body needs in this moment
If you’re sitting
just ensuring
that your back is straight
Your spine following it’s natural curves
Imagine a piece of string coming
From the crown of your head
Just very gently pulling your head up
Elongating your neck and your spine
And if you haven’t already
just closing the eyes
Or softening or lowering your gaze
if that’s more comfortable for you
And whatever morning or day you’ve had so far
Just give yourself permission to let that go now
Just meeting yourself where you are
Knowing that whatever is here
Thoughts, feelings, emotions, doubts, worries
It’s all ok.
It’s so welcome.
Let’s take a deep breath here
Feeling that sense of releasing and letting go
The soothing energy
that we will cultivate
In our meditation today
Will help us to slow down
To take a moment
To breathe
So just meeting yourself in stillness now
And seeing what comes to the surface
Welcoming it all
Like opening your arms to an old friend
Accepting wherever you are in this moment
You don’t need to do anything
Apart from be present
And just like the moon
Know that it is in times of darkness
We are reminded of the strength of our light
Bring your awareness to your breathing now
Taking slower deeper breaths than you’ve taken all day so far
Welcoming this slow soothing yin energy into your breath
Taking a deep breath in through your nose
And slowly letting it out through your mouth
Notice what it feels like as you breath in
(small pause)
And notice what it feels like as you empty the breath out
Continuing to breathe this way
Feeling your lungs expand out
as you inhale
And contract back in as you exhale
Following the breath all the way in
And all the way out
Just noticing the gentle sensations
Of your breathing
The rise and fall of your chest
The air entering your lungs
And the heavy release of each exhale
Feel your whole body getting heavier
and heavier
As it relaxes and melts
with each exhale
Be curious about your experience,
Give yourself permission
to let go of a need for it to be a certain way
This is an invitation to just be with your experience
without judgement.
And if the mind wants to get involved
Or make stuff up
Maybe it’s jumping ahead
Or thinking about something from the past
That’s ok
That’s normal
We’re not trying to create a blank mind here
Just notice that it’s wandered off
And slowly bring it back to your breath
To my voice
And as you sit there
just enjoy that initial sense
Of putting everything down
Having left everything behind
And just that feeling of being present again
Noticing the sensation of the body pressing down
Into the seat or whatever is beneath you
That feeling of being grounded
Rooted and supported
Held gently by the earth
You don’t need to change or fix anything.
Everything you need is right here.
You are here.
Bring your awareness to your body now
Noticing how your body feels
if there is any tension or any tightness.
Becoming aware of any heaviness, or lightness
Just scanning through
With this gentle and soothing awareness
Being really curious and receptive to what is there
Noticing all the sensations in your body.
Just becoming aware of what is here now.
Any time you notice that thoughts come up,
just imagine breathing them away
Letting each exhale carry them into the air
See the thoughts floating away from you
They are completely separate from you
Because you are not your thoughts
Noticing the parts of you that feel heavy
or maybe tense or tight
Becoming aware of the parts of you that feel light and open
Sensing the lighter thoughts and feelings
Also noticing the darker
more difficult thoughts and feelings
And we’re not judging ourselves
We’re just noticing and bringing a gentle curiosity to our experience
Noticing how the breath feels now
Is it light or heavy
Is it long or short
Is it shallow or deep
Just sensing
Just noticing
Knowing there is no right or wrong
This is an invitation to turn inwards
And greet whatever is there.
Welcome the light
Welcome the dark
Welcome the joy
Welcome the challenges
Welcome the knowing and the not knowing
Welcome the yin and the yang
Then moon is sometimes in shadow
But that’s ok
It’s pointing us to the places
where we need to get really curious
To those parts of us that perhaps we hide from the world
What if we could welcome those parts too
Send those parts some love?
Let them know that they are welcome here
That everything gets to be exactly as it is
Just allow yourself to feel whatever is here for you
Because it is so welcome.
So just noticing what comes up for you
Giving yourself permission to slow down
To feel
And to listen to your inner wisdom
Because your inner wisdom is here
It’s your home.
And when we have a strong sense of home
We can welcome and embrace the dark
And we can grow with ease.
And just like the moon
We make waves by being ourselves
Every time we tap into our inner wisdom
We send ripples out into the universe
We make an impact on those around us
So know that your waves
are very much needed in this world
And we won’t always know
When to push
or when to pull
When to hold on
And when to let go
When to end
And when to begin
Trust that the waves
Already know
Trust yourself
Trust the process
All is unfolding exactly as it needs to
Let’s take a deep breath in here
Breathing in softness
Breathing out acceptance
Breathing in light
Breathing out any heaviness
Soon we’ll bring this exercise to a close
So let’s taking a deep long breath in here
And this time sigh it out through the mouth
Ahhhhhhhhhh
Let’s do that one more time
Deep breath in through the nose
Sighing it out through the mouth
Just becoming aware of your physical body
Becoming aware
of how you feel
Noticing any sounds that might be around you
Feeling your body
in contact with the chair
Or whatever you’re sitting
or lying on
Another deep breath now
returning to this space and this time
Breathe in the space
breathe in your presence
And wherever you are
just beginning to find some
Very soft and gentle movement with the neck
So maybe just very gently moving the neck from side to side
Perhaps bringing your head forward so your chin comes to your chest
Feeling that lovely stretch in the back of the neck
Maybe slowly rolling the shoulders back or forwards a few times
Just easing out any kinks or tightness
Beginning to gently move your fingers and your toes
Move your body a little too or take a wake-up stretch if that feels good
And before you open your eyes
Just take a moment to notice how you feel
And then when you’re ready
slowly open your eyes.
Photo by Marty Finney on Unsplash