Going to a special place...

This week’s piece is a chance for you to create space for yourself, maybe here at the end of a long week and maybe on a Monday morning when you see this.

You will need a few items for this exercise – do not pass GO if you have not collected the following:   

Ten minutes for yourself

A piece of paper

One of your favorite writing utensils

We are going to start with a meditation, and you can choose to do this either by reading the script below or by listening to the meditation below. Big choice. Go with your gut on this one.

Meditation - audio version

https://youtu.be/wdr3yt5KOwQ

Meditation - written version

Find a nice space, indoor or outdoor and get into a comfortable position, one free of pain.

If possible, find a position where your feet are on the floor, where you are sitting tall, extending each of those vertebrae to their greatest height. Let those vertebrae breathe life into your body!

Once you have the position that feels good, just sit with that for a minute. Start to slow down the mind as the heart and your emotional/spiritual self takes over command of the ship.

Now, in a completely different place than you were a few minutes ago, you are ready for a journey.

Take some nice, slow, deep, rejuvenating breaths.

Air in, deep into the recesses of those lungs, into the abdomen.

Air out, expelling all that does not serve.

Take as much time as you need here, enjoying the state of being, the state of breathing.. This is your time, and no one is rushing you through it.

Smile, and relax those face muscles. Smile at life, smile at the moment, smile at something that has made you smile earlier today. Smile at all of your loved ones.

Now, with eyes gently closing, take yourself to a special place, a place that you have not been able to visit because of the pandemic. Take yourself to that place right now. Smell the fragrances this place brings to mind. Touch the things around you. Listen to the noises of this special place. Feel the energy around you. Sit with this and enjoy being and breathing in this special place for a minute or two.

Let’s invite one person to enjoy this space with you. Maybe a person who, like this special place, you have not been able to see due to the pandemic. Or maybe someone that comes to mind when you think of this special place.

Invite them to join you. If you are at a beach, they are not sitting beside you in the soft sand. If you are hiking a forest or a favorite trail, they walk in stride with you. If you are in a place of prayer or meditation, they are praying/meditating next to you.

Enjoy this person’s warmth and presence, as you both soak in this special moment together.

Take your time here. This is your time and the clock has stopped ticking. Your heart is now the only beat of time present, and it is set to “timeless” mode.

When you are ready, a few more deep, rejuvenating breaths and then open those 2 eyes to join the 3^rd eye that is wide open at this point.

Paper and favorite writing utensil in hand, you are now going to write a hand-written letter to that person who joined you in the meditation. You are filled with healing energy and the writing itself is furthering your healing. There is something about writing on paper that reveals ourselves in a way that typing onto a phone or computer simply cannot. As you write, think of how this letter is going to brighten the person’s day. Think of how you are going to deliver it. Write in joy! Deliver the letter within the next week.

Repeat as needed.

After posting this piece, Veronica Hutchison, an amazing mentee of mine, writes the following along with the picture above: "Just listened to your newest Writing to Heal meditation. I found this funky envelope that I made at a "self care" Native Health Initiative event. Perfect for this letter!"