Calling in Supportive Presence

8 Limbs Yoga Centers recently invited me to write about ways we can call in supportive presence. This is an excerpt.  Click here to read the full, original piece.

Here are four ways to call in and be replenished by what supports you, including a guided meditation just under 12 minutes.

Choose Your Company

Bring to mind three compassionate beings. You may or may not know them. They can be living or have passed, and include pets as well as deities, goddesses and gods. The only requirement is that you experience them as kind and generous. One at a time hold each in awareness. Notice what you see and feel in body, savoring their presence. Then write their names (or draw them) onto a small piece of paper, and post on a mirror or computer, in your wallet … someplace where you’ll regularly see it. In moments of difficulty read their names and allow your body to remember their presence. You might even imagine one of them sitting to your left, one to your right, and one behind you – reacquainting yourself with what it’s like to be surrounded by support.

Feel Your Seat

Deceptively simplistic, this meditation can be quite restorative. While seated, begin sensing into points of contact your body is making with surfaces below. Note pressure, stability, warmth and any other sensations. You might also pay attention to gravity helping the lower portions of your body to ground. Notice too how you needn’t try to be held – the furnishings and floor are holding you. Is it possible to surrender to this support? Might you be open to knowing additional ways you are held every day?

Count Your Blessings

Upon waking or before going to bed, write 3-5 things you are grateful for. Alternatively, make this a meal-time ritual – beginning with everyone expressing a gratitude. People who commit to rituals like this report feeling less isolated, more attuned to the interconnectedness of their life. They also remember more readily their capacity to show up for others.

Calling in Supportive Presence Guided Meditation

For more guided meditations check out the OpenSpace Mindfulness YouTube channel. They can also be found in the blog’s Guided Meditation category. Check out the classes page for upcoming and on-going mindfulness meditation offerings. Head to the coaching page for ways to bring mindfulness into your business.