Guided Meditations by Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement: 2025

A Meditation for Embracing Possibility In Deep Grief

Brenda K. Mitchell

Pastor, Activist, Teacher

“In the midst of intense grief, you sometimes don’t really realize that you’re shut down. Tears don’t come easily to you because you haven’t had that emotional breakthrough. Mindful compassion allowed me to see that, and I finally gave myself permission to be emotional.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. Let’s begin by closing our eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Inhale. One, two, three. And exhale. One, two, and three. 
2. If you’d like, place one hand over the other on your heart. Remove everything that you may have brought in here with you—the tension and the anxieties that may be present in the moment, in the room, or in your neck. See if you can open up and loosen everything that you may have brought with you. Let’s breathe one more time. 
3. Now, do a quick body scan and allow for more movement within the structures and the internal parts of our body. Let’s get comfortable—like a couch potato, like Netflix comfortable. Feel that release down into the neck as we open up to receive enlightenment and the divinity of nature and the wonderfulness that is our very own body system. 
4. Let that comfort flow down through your shoulders and down through your hands. Shake your hands just a little bit to know that you’re in control and you’re operating and let that flow go through the center region of your body. Blowing up and down through your hips, your thighs, your legs. Allow your feet to feel planted on the solid ground beneath you today.  
5. If you are facing deep grief in this moment, I invite you to make room for those feelings. You might notice that sometimes in our fragility, brokenness, and disappointments, we stop imagining that anything good can ever be possible again. There is a block there, a hopelessness. We can’t see a way forward at all. 
6. For this moment, I invite you to embrace the possibility of possible. That’s it. You don’t have to have answers, or lots of hope, or a clear path forward. This is just about opening the door and allowing the possibility of possible. 
7. See if you can gently settle onto a vision of yourself embracing possibility. What does that look like for you? Where are you? Are you indoors? Are you out? Is there anyone with you? Do you see the colors and the possibility of the dreams that we dream that can go dormant in grief? Maybe you can feel the warmth and the beauty of the sky. What does it mean for you to accept the hurt and pains of what was, while also moving toward the possibility of possible? 
8. I invite you to open your eyes as you are ready, and return back to my voice. There’s a poem that I’d like to share with you that has allowed me to imagine a future version of myself who could open up to what is and embrace the possibility of possible. It is written by Gilda Radner and it states, I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. It’s called Delicious Ambiguity.  

A Meditation on the South African Greeting Sawubona (“We See You”)

Shelly Harrell

Psychologist, Mindfulness Teacher, Founder of the Soulfulness Center

“Soulfulness is experiencing and expressing a deep, embodied and interconnected inner aliveness, attunement, authenticity, and alignment.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

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1. Sawubona is a South African phrase that means, “We see you.” It’s often translated as “I see you,” but it’s important to understand that in an African worldview context, this is an extended “I” as the self is experienced as collective. When greeted with Sawubona, it is a communication that you are seen, accepted, and cared about not just by the individual but by the ancestors and the interconnected community that we carry with that. Today we’re going to center on this phrase in our meditation practice.
2. Start by taking a deep centering breath, inhaling deeply to clear space. Gently sweep the clutter in your mind. Open a passageway to that deepest part of your body. Then exhale a nice, long exhale through your mouth, settling into yourself and full presence in this moment, with this practice. 
3. Take another centering breath—a deep inhale, opening your heart space, receiving what you need in this moment. Exhale slowly to release any inner blocks or toxins that don’t serve you. Take another full clearing inhale, receive what you need. Open your heart. Exhale again, releasing, and go down to that inner river, settling on the riverbanks of your soul center. 
4. Let’s start our Sawubona practice. I invite you now to bring to mind a person or group or community that you care about. It could be someone going through something difficult who may be struggling, suffering, who may feel unseen and unheard. Compassion begins with a willingness to really see, hear, and feel another person. Compassionate action is energized by love and infused with the truth of another’s lived and embodied experience. So visualize this person, group, or community in your mind’s eye. Feel them in your heart and soul. 
5. Now imagine encountering that person or crew. Greet them with Sawubona and the intentions of its deepest meanings to see, hear, and feel another. Meeting them where they are. Meeting them and their truth as you greet them. Send them the energy of Sawubona with genuineness, humility, and care. Bring them into your mind’s eye and your heart center. When you greet them and say Sawubona, you are saying, “I see you. I see you through eyes that transcend my own sight, that transcend the visible and the material. I see you beyond your conditions and circumstances. I see you behind the walls you have put up and the masks you have put on. I see you as more than what you have done or what has been done to you. I see your humanity and your humanness. I see you at your best, thriving, soaring, and manifesting your greatest purpose and soul’s calling. I see the soul of who you are. I see you.” 
6. Take another deep breath, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Bring this person or persons into your mind’s eye. Greet them and say Sawubona. You are saying, “I hear you. I hear you through ears tuned into the whisperings of soul and spirit. I hear you behind what has been silenced or muted. I hear you beneath what you say, beneath the words you use and the language you speak. I hear you beyond what I want to hear. I hear the voice of your deepest longings, your truest intentions, and your highest aspirations. I hear your cries and I hear your celebrations. I hear your song, your story, your truth. I hear the soul of who you are. I hear you.” 
7. Take another deep breath. Bring your person or persons into your mind’s eye, into your heart. Greet them and say Sawubona. You are saying, “I feel you. I feel you from the vibration of our oneness, where our souls recognize each other. I feel you behind the visible and invisible barriers that separate us. I feel you beneath our differences in that space of our interconnectedness with each other and all life. I feel the power of the ancestors flowing through you over generations, across space and time. I feel your rhythm, your flow, your energy, your unique vibration in the world. I feel your vulnerability and your victories, your struggles and your strengths. Your tears and your triumphs. Your regrets and your risings. I feel your light and your glow. Your goodness and your love. I feel the soul of who you are. I feel you.” Take a deep breath. Sawubona.
8. Here are a few thoughts for reflection, discussion, or journaling. I encourage you to imagine your next encounter with the person or group you’ve visualized and imagine greeting them with Sawubona and all that means. In doing that, what might be different in your interaction with them? What would it look like for you if you were to bring the energy of Sawubona to how you interact, meet, greet, and see others? Finally, how might you bring the energy of Sawubona to how you’ll meet, greet, and see yourself? Let’s take a final deep breath together. Inhaling deeply, and exhaling slowly through your mouth. Thank you for engaging in this practice with me. Sawubona.

A Meditation for Unconditional Love When You’re Struggling

Caverly Morgan

Founder of Peace in Schools, Teacher, Author

“What we long for is our very being. We are what we’ve been striving after. Who we truly are, what we truly are, has been calling us home.” 

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. I invite you to begin this meditation with three of the longest and deepest inhalations and exhalations you’ve taken yet today. So often we take the breath for granted. Give yourself permission right now to simply enjoy breathing. 
2. Picture a moment in your life in which you are struggling. If the scale is one to ten, ten being the greatest struggle you’ve ever known, pick something in the middle. Think of some time, perhaps in your recent past, when you were resisting what is, or seeking a different experience. 
3. Notice what you were saying to yourself as you were struggling. Or to be even more accurate, what “the judge” was asserting, maybe commanding. Maybe for you there wasn’t any negative self-talk present, or perhaps the voice of the inner critic wasn’t alive in that moment. But for most of us, in moments of struggle the judge is somewhere on the scene. For this contemplation, see if you can get a sense of what’s being said. 
4. Now see yourself as the one who’s listening to the judge. Really play with this in your imagination. Maybe you even see a young part of you that’s taking this message in. You might even let yourself feel, consciously identifying with this young part of you feeling what they feel. 
5. From this space ask, What do I need to hear? What do I need to know? If it’s not this, what is it? 
6. Now in this struggle, take on the feeling as though you’re drowning, flailing your limbs around. See someone sitting on a dock nearby. Someone that really loves you, knows you, sees you. It might not be a real person in your life. It might be a kind stranger that is walking by the lake and doesn’t want to see you drown. See this person? With a bright, shiny, brand new life preserver in their hand, see them tossing it to you as your arms flail. Let yourself grab on to it. 
7. If there were messages inscribed on this life preserver, what would the messages be? Perhaps it’s really simple. Like, I’m here. You don’t need to flail around any longer. You can hang on to me. I’ve got you. What phrases light up for you? What sentiments? Touch that unmet need. There’s no right or wrong here. 
8. What is important is that the sentiments are unconditional. If they were to come in the form of phrases, they’re phrases that have no opposite. For example, they wouldn’t be something like, You’re a winner! Rather, they would be things like, I love you no matter what. 
9. Take a moment now to say these phrases to yourself. Offer this part of you who’s been struggling the unconditional Love. It’s not transactional or based on performance. Offer that now. Really see the part of you that needs to hear these things. It needs to know these things. 
10. If it feels difficult to access this in this moment, that is absolutely fine. It’s just not the right moment to touch it. A part of you might be blocking the love. That’s always in the backdrop of our experience, but they can often feel out of reach. See if you can touch this love, this recognition that you are worthy.  
11. Next, play with the image of releasing the life preserver. Just breathing and floating in the sea of presence. You don’t need to strive. Floating isn’t the byproduct of your hard work and your effort to do this “right.” It is your nature to float, just as it is your nature to love. If you meditate to be a better person, you’ll always be busy trying to be a better person. If you meditate because you’re in love, resting in your own luminous, infinite being in this sea of love, you’ll always be in love. 
12. For one more full minute, let yourself rest in love. I’ll stop talking now. And if you wish to rest in this way for longer than a minute, I invite you to do so. If you need to move into your day, just give yourself one more minute before doing so. Resting in love. Letting yourself float.

A Neurodiversity-Informed Meditation for Wandering Attention

Sue Hutton

Social Worker, Mindfulness Teacher, Disability Rights Advocate

“Every single person who sits down to meditate is doing so through the fabric of their wiring and their brain structure, so it’s going to be different for every single solitary person.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. This is a neural diversity informed, guided meditation called Dual Anchor. It can be really useful to help bring a mind that wanders excessively and struggle to pay attention, to concentrate on two anchors at the same time with our senses. This practice utilizes our vision and our breath together at the same time. 
2. Many of us carry a lot of overwhelm inside the body, so we don’t want to exacerbate that when we do our meditation practice. We come to this path seeking to cultivate calm stillness inside. I encourage you to bring a spirit of compassion to everything that you do in your meditation path, along with a sense of gentle curiosity. Try the practice best you can, but don’t push herself if anything is overwhelming or bringing up any kind of sensory overwhelm. 
3. Let’s start off with concentrating using your vision on an object in front of you. A candle can be a very useful object to focus on the tip of the flame. But any object will do so, allowing your posture to be upright and observing something in front of you with all of your attention visually. 
4. Feel yourself concentrating on the center of that object. Notice the body softening as you concentrate on vision. The same way a film director zooms in, focus very clearly on an object. Allow your mind to sharpen, letting everything else fall to the background, holding full command of your gaze on this object. 
5. Soften the brow, soften the jaw. Allow the body to be soft as you engage in observing this object very, very closely. Can you get a sense of the color, the texture, the shape? Just observe. Your vision is very focused. 
6. Now let’s include awareness of the breath. Begin with closing your eyes just for a moment while you tune into the breath. As you close the eyes, just allow them to soften as though the eyelids just rest on the eyeballs, like gentle blankets, giving you a a calm, quiet space inside. 
7. Now, feel the breath in the way that works for you. You can observe the breath through sound, breathing in so loud that you can hear the sound of your breath like an ocean tide flowing in and out, observing the sound of the breathing, with full awareness of the sound on the inhale and exhale. You can also try experiencing the breath by just observing the gentle flow in and out in the body in a way that works for you. You can have your hand resting on the belly and the chest and just feel the sensations wherever it’s comfortable, either on this surface feeling the hand’s rising and falling with the breath or from inside the body. If it’s comfortable for you, you can try to feel where inside the body do you notice that mechanism of breathing in and breathing out. 
8. All the while, we’re bringing a sense of deep compassion and love for ourselves as we do this. You may even feel some warmth of compassion flowing into your body through your hands. So there’s a loving touch, compassion for ourselves as we breathe in and out. Remember, every outbreath is an opportunity to give yourself permission to relax and soften. This is a space for you to cultivate and calm within. 
9. Now open your eyes once again and focus in on that object, and let’s combine vision and breath. Focus deeply all your concentration visually on this object: sharp concentration, unwavering, steady focus. Soften the brow and jaw. 
10. Now, cobmine the rhythm of the breath in the way the works for you. Allow yourself to feel yourself right at the center of this deep concentration, sharp, focused vision and unwavering connection with the experience of the breath, vision and breath. Allow there to be a soft calm inside the body. 
11. As you experience this compassionate rhythm of the breath, using this focused alertness with your vision. And allow the next exhalation to be one that lets go even more. What else can you relax and release on the next breath? 
12. There is a clarity as we concentrate on these two objects at the same time. See for the next few moments if you can go even a little bit more committed to being in the center, staying focused on the breath and your vision, full concentration, and allow there to be even more softening and letting go of the whole body from the top of the head all the way down to the toes, releasing and relaxing, sharpening that concentration vision and breath. 
13. You can now allow the eyes to close as you stay connected with the breath. Again, just resting like soft blankets over the eyes. Feel that letting go and softening of the whole face. You may observe it’s not pitch black under the closed eyelids, but there may be some shape, some light, amorphous, moving, perhaps softening you even more and observing what you can witness underneath these closed eyelids in this calm, relaxed space, feeling that compassionate rhythm of the breath. 
14. If it’s comfortable, allow your eyes to gently open. Let the eyes just look around the room at different objects, observing how you can engage in vision as a grounding tool. Look at another random object and focus on that, observing the texture, the quality, the color. You can name the object, too—just one word, not description. 

A Meditation on Creating an Anchor of Inner Strength

Melli O’Brien

Mindfulness Educator, Entrepreneur, Mental Health Coach

“It’s time. We are all part of shaping what comes next. By choosing to remain loving, wise, and strong, we can rise to this, in love—together.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. Start by finding your way into a comfortable a position. Sit in a comfortable way, with the spine more upright rather than slouching. When you’re ready, gently close the eyes, if that’s comfortable for you. Otherwise, you can just have them downcast with a soft gaze. When you’re ready, take three deep, slow, full breaths.  
2. As you exhale, allow your physical body to soften. Relax a little, feeling the softening through the jaw, shoulders, belly, and hands. Again, another breath in, and out. Let go of anything that’s on the mind. To-do lists, worries, ruminations—allow yourself to arrive right here, right now, in this time,  this place this moment. 
3. As you let the breath settle back into its own natural rhythm, continue to feel the flow of sensations of that breath moving in your body. Breathe naturally, feeling the sensations of the breath as it enters the body and leaves the body. Rest awareness on the feeling and the flow of the natural breath, allowing the breath to anchor you in the present moment. 
4. Now bring to mind a feeling of gratitude. What does gratitude feel like in your body? You might like to take a moment to dwell on thoughts of what you’re grateful for. The food in the cupboards or water from the taps. The fact that you are safe right now and that you have this time to take care of your mental well-being. Maybe you’re  thinking about the acts of kindness you’ve received in your life, from the smile of a stranger to bigger gestures of support. Maybe you’re remembering the people who’ve loved you, supported you, forgiven you, encouraged you. What else can you be grateful for? Maybe the miracle that you’re alive at all. Allow these feelings of gratitude flood through every fiber of your being, filling you up like golden light. That feeling you have when you notice that you have enough, that you’re supported by life, a feeling of relaxing and feeling abundant—intensify that feeling. What does it feel like in your body? How do you breathe? How do you hold yourself when you feel grateful? Bathe in that feeling. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. What do you say to yourself when you feel grateful? 
5. Now squeeze your right fist gently as you feel that feeling of gratitude. Make an intention right now that you’re taking this gratitude forward with you in your life, maybe mentally saying to yourself, Thank you, this gratitude is with me now. 
6. Now bring to mind the feeling of calm. Maybe you can remember times when you felt calm. Like when you were standing at the ocean’s edge watching a sunset or sunrise. Or you can just conjure up this feeling, maybe imagining a calm scene. Let  calm wash through you. Let it come alive in you. What does calm feel like? Let it move through you, soothe you, and ground you. Bring the feeling of calm to mind when you feel fully at ease, when you can be totally yourself. You’re safe, comfortable, and relaxed. Notice how you feel when you’re calm. How do you breathe? How do you hold your body? Feel the peace, the serenity, and the ease. Bathe in that feeling. 
7. Feel the goodness of calm, the strength of it, and then gently squeeze your right fist as you feel that feeling. Mentally say to yourself, This calm is with me now. Making an intention to take the calm forward in your life. 
8. Now bring to mind a feeling of grit. What does it feel like when you have grit? You know that feeling that you have when you know you could never be stuck because you always find the way forward. You always find the way through. You’re not stuck in problems, you’re thinking about solutions and creative ways forward. You’re resourceful, determined, and even playful when it comes to facing difficulty and challenges. What would grit feel like? Imagine it, remember it, let it fill your body and flow through you. How do you breathe when you have grit? How do you move? When you’re empowered, you’re focused on where you’re going, and what matters deep in your heart, your purpose, your truth, nothing’s going to stand in your way. Intensify, the feeling, that feeling of grit.
9. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. Squeeze your right fist as you’re feeling that feeling and make an intention that you’re now taking grit forward with you in your life, mentally saying to yourself, Thank you, this grit is with me now. Feel it become a part of you. 
10. Now bring to mind the feeling of love. Maybe you’re remembering times when you opened your heart, when you gave love freely, when you gave someone the benefit of the doubt. Or a time when you forgave, showed compassion, kindness. Imagine or remember love, what it’s like to feel love, embody love, give love. Connect with it now and let it wash through your body and your being. Maybe even place your hands on your heart. What does love feel like in your body? Bathe in that feeling the goodness of, the strength of it, letting love wash through every fiber of your being, every cell of your body. 
11. As you feel that love, gently squeeze your right fist. Mentally say to yourself, This love is with me now. Feel it become a part of you. 
12. Now bring to mind another quality that you want to develop. Take a moment to remember what that feeling, what that quality feels like. Connect with it, remember it, conjure it up, and let it wash through you. Let it come alive in you now. What does it feel like in your body and your mind, in your heart? See if you can intensify that feeling as if it was filling all the cells of your body, flowing through every inch of skin and bone and being within you. How do you breathe when you feel that feeling? What do you say to yourself? How do you hold your body? 
13. Bathe in that feeling. Feel the goodness of it, the strength of it. And then squeeze your right fist as you feel that feeling and make an intention that you’re taking this quality with you forward from this day in your life. Mentally saying to yourself, Well, this quality is with me now. Feel it become a part of you. 
14. Now you can drop awareness back into your breathing. Just breathe naturally. Ride the waves of the breaths as the body breathes in and as the body breathes out, just feeling strong. As you breathe out, wriggle the fingers and the toes, and notice how you’re feeling after taking this time out for meditation. When you’re ready, open your eyes.

A Meditation for Present Awareness

Nanea Reeves

Founder and CEO of TRIPP

“The goal of meditation is not focus. It’s not calm. Those are avenues. The goal is ultimately to get to present awareness, and then we become aware of how we treat others, the impact we’re having.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or watch the video practice.

1. Welcome. This guided meditation will help us open up to the present moment and feel a deeper connection to ourselves and the world around us. 
2. Let’s begin by turning our attention inward. Set down any objects and adjust your posture to get as comfortable as possible. For just a momen, lower your eyes and let your gaze rest just past the bridge of your nose. 
3. Notice what it’s like to be here right now, opening up to the moment just as it is. Release any muscles that you don’t need to use right now. Soften the face and shoulders. Let the arms rest gently and allow the belly to relax. Notice what is present with you, any energy moving through you. Pay attention to your inner state without judgment or trying to change anything. See if you can meet whatever is here with kind, attention and care. 
4. Take a breath in, and breathe out slowly. Notice how everything, including the breath, is shifting and flowing moment to moment. 
5. Now slowly lift your gaze and rest your attention on the sights you see in front of you. Let’s practice four rounds of coherent breathing. Breathing slowly through the nose can help us regulate our nervous system and bring a sense of calm presence. Take a breath in for five, and breathe out for a count of five. Do that three times.  
6. Return to your natural breath. See if you can notice any shifts in how you feel. Notice if the quality of your attention has shifted. Continue to rest your attention on what you see in front of you. Let everything else fade into the background, including thoughts about what has come before and what might happen next. Simply be in the experience of this moment, allowing your awareness to be wide open. 
7. Notice the play of shapes and colors that you see and allow yourself to be here with a beginner’s mind, as if seeing for the first time. You become curious and open to the sights unfolding in front of you, perhaps noticing something you’ve never noticed before. 
8. Check in again with the breath and body. Allow your next natural exhale to sink you into deeper relaxation for just a moment. Lower your eyes and let your gaze rest just past the bridge of your nose. 
9. With your gaze still resting on the images, now notice the soundscape around you. Open your senses to sounds and frequencies that are designed to soothe the mind and body. Sharpen your focus. Let sounds wash over you as you take in sights and sounds. 
10. Expand your awareness to notice any sensations in the body. Notice energy flowing through the body and what it feels like to simply be alive. Take another breath. Sink in deeper and feel yourself become more grounded. 
11. Giving ourselves space to relax and open up to the sensory experience of the moment helps us become deeply present. We here see and feel with more clarity. We become more awake. We connect more deeply with ourselves and in turn, the world around us. We open up to deeper understanding, focus, and are empowered to flow with purpose for the rest of the day. 

A Meditation for Finding a Middle Way Between Denial and Overwhelm

Vidyamala Burch

Mindfulness Teacher, Writer, Founder of Breathworks

“Pain is just one aspect of this multifaceted experience of being alive right now.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. Start by establishing a meditation posture. You can do it sitting, you can do it lying down. The main thing is to choose a position where you can be as relaxed as possible and yet alert. Once you’ve chosen your position, begin to settle. Allow the weight of the body to rest down into the support beneath you. If you’re sitting, it’ll be through the bottom, into the chair, through the feet, into the floor. For lying down, it’ll be through the back of the body, into the bed or the floor, and then the head resting into the pillow, the cushion. 
2. See if you can cultivate a sense of rest, allowing the body to be held. Let go of gripping. Receive the support of whatever’s beneath you. To help this, you could take a few deep breaths and then on each outbreath release a little bit more, letting the next in-breath flow back in in its own time. 
3. With each in breath, breathe in freshness and vitality. With each out breath, let go of gripping. When you’re ready, allow your breathing to find its own natural rhythm. Allow your awareness to pour out of the head, where it so often seems to be located, and feel the body resting inside the movements and sensations of breathing.  
4. Let’s allow your awareness to fill in the body a little bit more. Let it pour down through the torso, through the hips, feet, and legs. We’re not looking in from the outside or thinking about the legs and the feet as a concept or an object. Rather, we’re resting inside sensations of contact with the floor, with the chair, or the bed. Maybe there’s a sense of tingling, buzzing energy. Maybe there’s dullness or numbness. Whatever our experience is, allowing awareness to fill the feet and the legs. If there’s pain or discomfort, see if we can meet this with an attitude of kindliness and care, softening automatic habits of resistance and tension. Allow awareness to come to the buttocks, letting the buttocks be soft, resting into the chair, into the bed.   
5. Allow awareness to fill the whole torso—including the belly, the chest, the front and the whole back of the body and the back, the whole spine. Have a sense of the torso opening a little bit in all directions on the in-breath and subsiding on the outbreath. Be careful not to force or strain. Receive on an in-breath, letting go on the outbreath. Again, if you’ve got pain or discomfort anywhere in the back or the front of the whole torso, see if you can allow it into awareness with an attitude of care and kindliness. Let it be part of our experience, softening the resistance and the automatic tension that can so quickly arise. 
6. Now bring awareness to the shoulders, arms, and hands. Let your hands be supported, resting on the legs or in the lap if sitting. Rest them at the sides of the body, palm upwards (if lying down) or on the legs, palm downwards (if sitting). Let go of gripping in the arms with tension, just letting them rest into gravity. Let the shoulders fall away from the midline of the body into gravity. Allow shoulders, arms, and hands to be full of awareness. This might show up as discomfort, tingling, heat. It could be sensing the contact with clothes, contact with the surface the hands are resting on. Receive all this into awareness with kindliness. 
7. Now come up through the arms and up to the neck and the head. If you’re sitting, let the head be poised on the top of the spine, maybe tucking the chin in just a tiny bit so there’s a release through the base of the skull and yet openness in the throat. If you’re lying down, see if you can let the weight of the head be fully held by the pillow or the cushion. Let go of holding on, gripping in the head, letting it rest. Let the jaw be soft, the lips and tongue be soft so the wind of the breath can flow freely through the back of the throat on the way into the body and then back out again on the way out of the body. Let the cheeks be soft, eyes soft, forehead soft. We could imagine the brain resting inside the head softly. 
8. See if you can feel into the physicality of the head. So often the head can feel split off from the body. The head is just a thought factory and then the body’s just this kind of thing that we drag through life. But the head is a limb off the body, just like the arms and the legs, the limbs of the body. Sense the feelings, the sensations in the head. Temperature, tingling, buzzing, softness, maybe even contact with the air brushing against the skin.  
9. See if you can have a sense of wholeness in the legs, torso, arms, neck and face. This experience of embodiment, moment by moment by moment, the flow of sensations in the whole body arising and passing, arising and passing.  
10. If you’ve got pain or discomfort right now, let’s attend to that part of the body. Take your awareness to that part of the body and notice if it’s surrounded by resistance or hardness. Let’s see if we can find this sweet spot between denial on the one hand and overwhelm on the other. Denial will be a kind of turning away, a hardening and not wanting, a pushing away. Maybe there’s a little bit of breath holding. Maybe there’s tension in the head, tension in the bottom. If you notice that, then see if you can turn a little bit more towards the experience, metaphorically speaking, adding it into awareness a little bit more, very gently and tenderly, breath by breath. Let it be part of this flow of experience in the whole body. Breathe into that area and imagine that the breath is bathed in kindliness.  
11. If, on the other hand, you’re feeling overwhelmed, the only thing in experience is the pain or the difficulty. The practice here is to broaden. Feel the bottom on the chair or the bed. Feel the support beneath us. Feel breath in the whole body. Feel the whole range of sensations in the whole body. The pain is just one aspect of this multifaceted experience of being alive right now. If you notice yourself hardening up again, tensing, turning away, suppressing, denying, blocking—use awareness to interrupt that process and soften. Relax the palms. Relax the hands. Come closer. Breathe kindly. 
12. This is a training in wholeness, integration, and kindliness. We’re able to be with all of our experience with presence and kindliness. If we have a wound, we broaden. If we’re blocking off, we come closer. That is the practice. Our awareness is dynamic, subtle, receptive, fluid. And you can keep on practicing if you’d like to. But I’ll bring this guided meditation to a close. 
13. Let’s bring the weight of the body to the foreground of awareness, feeling, resting into the support beneath us. Feel breathing in the whole body. Broaden awareness to be aware of sounds around your environment. Open the eyes if they’ve been closed. Bring a tiny bit of movement into the body, maybe the fingers and the toes or some other part of the body. Notice any tendency to immediately halt the breath and immediately start pushing and rushing. Stay inside this subtle movement with a soft brow. And when you’re ready, come into bigger movement. In our own time, reengage with the activities of the day.

An Meditation for Connection and Understanding

Shalini Bahl

Mindfulness Teacher, Researcher, Consultant, Author

“Mindfulness doesn’t have to be all serious, something we only do when we’re stuck or when there’s suffering. We can even play with mindfulness.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. Welcome to Interbeing, a guided practice for connection and understanding. Zen master and peace activist Dick Narcan coined the word interbeing to describe a basic interconnectedness and interdependence as living beings. This practice invites us to explore this interconnectedness, especially when facing challenging conversations or polarizing situations. By recognizing our needs and those of others, we can foster greater understanding. This compassionate awareness can empower us to work together in new and creative ways that benefit all involved. 
2. Let’s begin by coming to a comfortable sitting posture that allows you to be alert and relaxed. Gently close your eyes, or simply soften your gaze. Rest your awareness on the breath, moving in and out of your body naturally and effortlessly. Invite your mind to be here with your breath and body. Feel the spaciousness in your chest with each inhale and exhale. 
3. Now picture a vast open sky filled with white fluffy clouds. See these clouds gathering to become larger and darker, heavy with life-giving rain. Feel the cool drops falling, sinking deep into the earth below. Sense the trees drinking deeply, their roots reaching deep down into the earth and the branches lifting towards the sky. 
4. Think of these trees, well-nourished by the rain water by this earth, offering their fibers to be transformed into the very paper we use in our everyday lives. Just as this rain nourishes the earth and the earth nourishes the trees, so too are we nourished by this web of life around us. Each breath we take connects us to the trees, the rain, the earth and all living beings. 
5. Take a few moments to connect with this sense of awe and wonder in whatever way feels most authentic to you. Sense this interconnectedness with this web of life and all beings. 
6. In this spirit of interbeing, bring to mind now someone you are or will be interacting with—at home, work, or in your community for whom you want to feel compassion. This could be someone you want to connect with more deeply as someone you’re having a conflict with. 
7. Once you have the person and this interaction in mind, return to your present moment. Experience the breath moving in and out of your body. If your mind feels especially active today, place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly as you feel the rising and falling of your body under the gentle touch of your hands. 
8. Every time your mind wanders away, which it will, bring it back with kindness to your breath moving in and out of your body. Once your mind is stabilized, listen within to your needs in this interaction. Quietly asking yourself, What are my needs in this interaction? Stay here with kindness without forcing an answer. Listen then with patience. What would you like to get from this interaction? What are your needs? What are your intentions? What would you like to see happen? 
9. Don’t go with the first response. Wait. Listen. Notice any kind of rushing judgments or fears. About what you may discover, making space for it all. Allow yourself to see, to feel whatever is your experience.  
10. Feel free to pause this recording and journal or if you need a little more time. Once you feel ready, quietly asking yourself the following: What are the other person’s needs? Again, no need to search for answers. Just make room in your mind and your heart to listen within. 
11. What is coming up for you as you make room for. the other person’s perspectives? Their lived experiences? What might be going on for the other person, and what are their needs? If possible, see that person, the whole person beyond the situation. The ways in which they, too, care about the things that you care about. The ways that they, too, have suffered, just like you have in your life. 
12. You’re not assuming you know everything. You’re just trusting yourself to know what you need to know. All we’re doing is making room, with the intention to see this other person. 
13. When you find yourself overly distracted, or getting into a thinking mode, return to your breath. Your breath is an anchor to your natural place of connection with your body, yourself, and others. From this place of connection, open your mind to listen to the other person’s needs. 
14. Again, if you like, you can pause this recording to do some journaling. Even the subtlest of shifts in your perspective can have a big impact in how you show up. 
15. Based on your reflection today, how might you show up for yourself and the other person? Take some time to create an intention for showing up with understanding and kindness. And before you begin your interaction with that person, remember to return to your contemplation of the Interbeing, your intentions, and trusting your natural goodness. May this practice help us navigate challenging interactions with grace, compassion, and wisdom. May our practice together benefit us and all beings.

A Meditation on Connecting Lands and Stories

Yuria Celidwen

Scholar, Researcher, Teacher, Indigenous Nahua and Maya

“It is the understanding that happiness is only possible in community, when we cultivate our relationships toward all kin, from human to more-than-human, and to our living Earth.”

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

1. Hello, lovely Siblings, may you be sharing goodness. My name is Yuria Celidwen, of Nahua and Maya lineages from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Gratitude multiplies as your presence manifests in this shared moment together. Thank you.
2. If you haven’t done so already, turn off your devices or leave them in a different place from where you will do this practice. Find a place within easy reach where you may feel comfortable. If this place allows you to overlook the landscape, that’s fantastic. If you can sit outside, surrounded by the natural landscape, even better. Wherever you decide to sit, make it easy for you so your practice becomes accessible whenever and wherever in your daily life. 
3. Let your body rest in a way that helps you stay relaxed but attentive. While you may know that some meditation practices engage in contemplation with eyes closed, in this practice, keep your gaze soft but open, taking in your surroundings with a soft, expansive, panoramic view. 
4. Pause. Notice where your attention is. Just notice where your mind is wandering. Where is your mind wandering? When is your mind wandering? How is your mind wandering? Just notice. Gather your attention gently. And bring it back to this present place and moment. 
5. Request permission to enter the lands, offering your gratitude for their welcoming. Open. Breath, anchor, presence. Notice the texture of the lands where you are. What are the smells, fragrances, scents? What are the forms, colors and shades? What are the tones,  resonances, timbres, rhythms? What is their touch, their temperature, their strokes? What are their subtle tastes? Even more subtle memories, imagination? 
6. Breathe, acknowledge, recognize, welcome. Welcome to the lands. Welcome the lands. Pause. Who are the lands? What are they? Where are they? Pause. The lands are telling stories. They have voices. They sing songs. With the utmost care as you would to a precious elder or a newborn child, just pause to listen. What are the lands telling you right now? What are they singing about themselves? What is their story about you? 
7. Take a few moments to hold this experience. Embrace our first opening into our shared sacred space, our discovering of an open welcoming of the lands. Offer them your gratitude for that opening, for welcoming you. Take a deep breath and exhale, bowing to the lands. Now let this experience flow. 
8. Here are a few cues to animate your experience. Feel each of these cues as they rise in your body, heart, mind, memory, imagination, and belonging. Let these inquiries connect you to the world. What emerges? How are the lands connecting with you? What are their languages? How are they arising? And how do you relate and reciprocate? 

This practice was excerpted with permission from Flourishing Kin: Indigenous Wisdom for Collective Well-Being.