Guided Meditation Circle – No.1 – Friday 6th November 2020
Hello, and welcome to the first in the series of guided meditation circles. This is the first in our series of weekly meditation circles as we lead up to Christmas. Today we are doing a grounded and golden suns meditation, that should last approximately 11 minutes long.
Today’s guided meditation circle is suitable for absolutely everyone. During the meditation circle, I may make reference to Jesus and God, and the holy spirit but I acknowledge there is diversity with everyone here that will be listening, so thank you for joining in, and thank you for taking the time to listen.
So please do feel welcome, whether or not you are from a christian denomination whichever one that may be or whether you are agnostic, or whether you are atheist or whether you are hindu or buddhist or muslim, or higher krishna mormon seventh-day adventist, pagan, witch, astrology believing in the universe and angels. Whichever it is that that is your personal belief that is personal to you and everyone here is welcome. So please if i say something or use terminology which doesn’t feel comfortable with you please forgive me and just substitute it for yourself, with whatever word makes sense to you.
We’re going to start now with a couple of deep breaths, and then we’re going to move on to a grounding meditation, before concluding with a golden sun meditation. So that will all take roughly 11 minutes. And then after the meditation is over, then i will share with you a prayer and some quotes to end the meditation circle.
Deep Belly Breathes
Please wherever you are, find somewhere that’s comfortable to you. If you’d like to just adjust yourself, wiggle your toes or your hands, wriggle your shoulders, to make sure you are completely at ease. And when you’re ready you may turn your attention inwards and and gently close your eyes. Please bring your attention to your stomach. We’re going to take some deep belly breaths. If you’d like to place your hands over your stomach let your your stomach be filled up with air as if you were blowing up a balloon and with your hands on your stomach you can actually feel your your stomach as it expands so let’s take a deep breath in now expanding your stomach and then breathe in by by sucking your stomach back into your belly button. And you pull up your chest as you moves upwards as you let the air out and then you can actually blow the air out of your mouth. Now breathe in through your stomach by filling your stomach up with air and then breathe out through your mouth. Now take another breath in. This method of taking in breath is often referred to as “singers breathing”. By breathing in through your stomach, as if your stomach is a balloon that you are blowing up, this is what I am referring to as taking deep belly breaths. And it’s a useful technique especially if you’re experiencing shallow breathing. It is common to struggle with shallow breathing if you’re all caught up with the stress of the moment with any headache or anxiety. If we are experiencing panic or anxiety, then it can help to get air into your lungs – if you focus on instead on your stomach (instead of your chest). Bring your attention to your stomach, and imagine that you are blowing up your stomach, as if it were a balloon. Fill your stomach up with air to breathe in and then breath out sucking your stomach in to let the air out, and then breathe out.
We did some breathing for relaxation before we moved into the grounded meditation and the golden suns meditation. I write more about the grounded meditation in a separate blog post.
I then shared a prayer from the Methodist Church prayer circle, and some quotes from some of the meditation books I’ve enjoyed reading. I have this book here written by Becca Anderson, it’s the woman’s book of prayer so I thought I would read to you what she’s got on page 189 it’s numbered 203 and it’s called the virtue of patience.
The Virtue of Patience
“Dear Jesus, you know intimately the challenges that I face in showing patience toward the people you have put in my life. I have failed so often to bear with others in love. Forgive me. Thank you dear Savior for paying in full the price for these failures. Thank you for your life of perfect patience lived in my place. Give me strength today to reflect your patience to others, amen”.
Molly Shara
Now, let’s take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And there’s another quote that I’d like to share with you, this is written by Marianne Williamson (on page 188 of Becca Anderson’s book), and it’s numbered 202 and called “The Wisdom of Forgiving Others”.
The Wisdom of Forgiving Others
Forgiving others.
“Forgiveness is not always easy, at times it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it, and yet there is no peace without forgiveness.”
Marianne Williamson
The next quote that I am going to read is from this book, again on page 189, and it’s numbered 204 and called “Soar”, and it’s written by Fatema Mernissi, and here it is.
Soar
“When you are in trouble you need to put all your energies into thinking that there is a way out then the bottom the dark hole becomes just a springboard from which you can leap so high that your head might hit a cloud”.
Fatema Mernissi
That’s a nice cheerful one to end on, by Fatema Mernissi. But I will read just one more and this one is called The Blessing, from Celtic Woman, and it’s by B. Graham and D. Downes.
The Blessing
“In the morning when you rise
I bless the sun, I bless the skies
I bless your lips, I bless your eyes
My blessing goes with you
In the night time when you sleep
Oh, I bless you while a watch I keep
As you lie in slumber deep
My blessing goes with you
This is my prayer for you
There for you, ever true
Each every day for you
In everything you do
And when you come to me
And hold me close to you
I bless you
And you bless me too
When your weary heart is tired
If the world would leave you uninspired
When nothing more of love’s desire
My blessing goes with you
When the storms of life are strong
When you’re wounded, when you don’t belong
When you no longer hear my song
My blessing goes with you
This is my prayer for you
There for you, ever true
Each every day for you
In everything you do
And when you come to me
And hold me close to you
I bless you
And you bless me too
I bless you
And you bless me too”
Brendan Graham and David Downes
Praying the breakthrough prayer
God of love, God for all,
your purposes are more beautiful than we can possibly imagine.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Help us let go of all that holds us back.
Open our lives and our churches to new seasons of humility and faith, of change and growth.
Shake us up with the Good News of Jesus and show us the way.
Amen
Methodist Church
Thank you for joining me with me for this week’s guided meditation circle. And I look forward to seeing you all again next week.
References:
Becca Anderson, “The Woman’s Book of Prayer – 365 Blessings, Poems, and Meditations”, (Mango Publishing, 2019, Printed in USA).
Maggie Oman ed, “Prayers for Healing – 365 Blessings, Poems & Meditations from Around the World”, (Conari Press, 1997, Printed in USA).
Methodist Church, “Breakthrough Prayer”, Accessed 7.11.20 at 21.51pm
Alice Letts 