Powerful Pause Meditation: Togetherness
Inspired by the tragic events in Ukraine, this meditation focusses on togetherness and how it makes us stronger and more resilient.
This 30 minute meditation by Spotlight's Mental Health and Wellbeing manager, Bea Grist, is inspired by the idea of togetherness and what gets created when we come together. It’s designed to calm and soothe the nervous system and can be helpful to listen to when things in our lives (and the world) are feeling out of control.
We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.
30 minute meditation.
This guided meditation was written for one of our Powerful Pause meditation sessions, where we come together to meditate every few weeks. If you're a Performer Spotlight member you can take advantage of these free sessions by booking a spot via our emails. Please ensure you're opted in to receive our emails for upcoming dates and booking information.
Listen to more Powerful Pause meditations.
Meditation Transcript
Hello, my name is Bea and I’m the Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager at Spotlight.
This mediation was written for a Powerful session at the beginning of March 2022 and it was inspired by the events that were happening in Ukraine at the time, and continue to happen as I’m recording this. It’s this idea of togetherness, being human and walking this path together. It’s about getting curious about what gets created when we come together and how does togetherness make us stronger and more resilient.
So let’s begin by finding that comfortable position
A place that allows you to feel supported and relaxed
You may like to have a cushion behind your back
Just helping you to sit up straight
Or if you prefer you can lie down
Maybe having a pillow or cushion underneath your head
We can often cool down during meditation
Making sure your warm enough so perhaps having a blanket over you
Just allowing your arms to rest softly wherever is comfortable
Maybe in your lap or by the sides of your body
You may prefer to rest the hands softly on your stomach
This can really help to connect to the breath
And let’s take a nice deep breath in here
And let it go
Breathing in
And releasing
Just arriving into this time
Time for you
When things in the world and our lives can feel out of control
We can remember that the breath is a place we can always come back to
By taking this time
We’re prioritising ourselves
It can feel hard to do that sometimes
Especially with everything going on in our lives
But we can always choose to stop
To maybe put down our phone or our to do list
And switch off the distractions from the outside world
In doing so we allow ourselves to step back for a moment.
Powerful Pause is about
putting our oxygen mask on first
And in doing this we can be there for others
Because that is what togetherness is all about
And in being together with your fellow performers
We are creating a community of likeminded people
A place where you can come and be held
It’s a reminder that we don’t have to hold the heaviness by ourselves
And that we’re all connected in this big beautiful web of life.
We can often spend time in our heads
Making up stories and narratives about what happened / or may happen
Maybe about the past or the future
But stories are just that - stories
And they’re more fun when we get to share them with an audience.
So let’s use this time to give the mind a rest
This is story time for the nervous system
Taking this time to be with all parts of you that need to be heard
Allowing yourself to step back
To let go for these 45 minutes
And just be
We’re so used to doing
This is your time
Time to rest and reset
To come back home to you
Together with all parts of you
Welcoming them like an old friend.
Feeling those points where the body is in contact with whatever is underneath you
That sense of support from the earth beneath you
Feeling your clothes against your skin
So let’s soften into the shoulders
Maybe taking a few shoulder
Bringing the shoulders up to the ears, back and down
Just allowing them to melt down and let go
Relaxing your jaw
And it may feel nice to gently massage the jaw for a few breaths
Just giving it permission to release and let go
This can often be a place where we hold a lot of tension and tightness
Often without realising
And let’s take a nice deep breath here
Breathing in
And letting go
Just taking a moment to arrive into this moment
Switching gears
Slowing down
Knowing that there is nothing you need to do
And nowhere you need to be
Just closing the eyes now
Or softening the focus
If you haven’t already
Take a deep breath
and this time breathing gently into the belly
Feeling your sitting bones on the ground or on your seat
Feel your feet on the floor or in contact with whatever is beneath you
Just bringing you back to your centre
Taking this time to turn towards all parts of yourself
And greeting whatever is there
Knowing it all welcome
And we may find that certain external energies can pull us in
And perhaps make us feel heavy, or out of sorts
It happens at work, it happens with friends, it happens with loved ones, it happens with strangers, it happens when we read the news.
So today we’re going to take some time to come back to just being
Back to centre
Back to a peaceful space
Being with ourselves
Being with the breath
Together and welcoming all parts of us.
Becoming aware of your breathing
Placing your attention on the fact that you are breathing
And just noticing that
How does it feel to breathe today?
Becoming aware of your inhale and your exhale
Just noticing how the breath is moving in and out
Following it as it enters and leaves the tips of your nostrils
Just following the inhale and the exhale.
Breathing in from the belly
Feeling that sense of expansion as you breathe in
And feeling the belly drop back down as you breathe out
Allowing yourself to sink into, just this
All you need to do is notice the breath
Flowing in and flowing out.
Just allowing it to be
Allowing it to flow naturally.
And now just allow your attention to locate a place in your body where maybe you’re experiencing some tension
Maybe there’s something that has been weighing down on your mind
Where can you feel that in your body?
Just notice.
So often we might feel sensations in our chest for example
Or the jaw can get really tight
Especially when we’re holding on to some suppressed emotions such as anger
Maybe you can feel it in lower back
It can be anywhere
So just tune in and find yours
And then just simply breathe and be with that place in your body.
So we’re not trying to change it
We’re just cradling that space
With loving, kind awareness
Breathing in
And out.
Breathing in
And out.
Putting one hand on your chest
One hand on your belly now
And just breathing into this space.
Just staying with it
Letting go of the story of whatever it is that’s coming up
Keep staying with your breath
Knowing that any feelings or emotions are really welcome here
It’s safe to express who you are
It’s ok to relax and let go
Trusting your breath to take care of you
And trusting in the process we’re all in right now.
By diving back into your body
We’re really coming back to this place of wholeness
Coming back home to you
Connecting to all that wisdom within you
That deep sense of knowing that comes from being together with all parts of you.
With each breath I am feeling calmer and more peaceful
With each breath I am coming back into my power.
Maybe there’s something that needs closure or forgiveness
Keep staying with the breath
Moving away from the mind and following the breath
Not worrying about the words right now or what the mind wants to make up
We’re just curious about the sensation
And as we go into these sensations we’re no longer in the movie or story
We’re just in the feeling
These are the parts of us that are longing for attention.
Keep breathing into there
Instead of framing these parts as bad
Or right or wrong, or perhaps ‘negative’
Just coming back to the sensation.
What wants to be met right now?
What wants to be held?
Keep giving that attention
Breathing in to those tight places
And just responding to them like you would to a child that needs your attention
Gentle loving kindness
As your breathing into that you can feel that space
becoming clearer
Becoming lighter
Becoming free-er
Just noticing how the breath can flow more easily
As you continue to be with your breath.
I am safe
It is ok to relax and let go
Breathing and releasing tension
Like a lullaby for the nervous system
Gently and lovingly taking this time for you
Being together with all parts of you
Accepting all parts of you
Letting it all be here with you
Because it is all welcome here.
You are giving yourself space
Space to breathe
Space to grow
Space to feel
Space to care
Space to love
Take a deep breath in through the nose
Feeling a sense of taking in fresh new air
The lungs expanding
The body expanding
Breathing in calmness
Breathing in peace
And allowing it to nourish every part of your body
Breathing into your heart space now
Letting the breath fill your heart right up
Almost like the breath is giving the heart a hug
Breathing in and feeling a sense of gratitude and love for your heart
that beats for you every day and every night.
Taking a deep breath in
And then sighing it out
Telling yourself:
I am stopping.
In this moment I am stopping
I am slowing down
In this moment I am slowing down
I am breathing
In this moment I am breathing
I am this breath
I am alive.
I am supported
In this moment I am supported.
I am okay
In this moment I am okay.
I am releasing resistance.
In this moment I am releasing resistance.
I am calming my nervous system.
In this moment I am calming my nervous system
I am renewed.
In this moment I am renewed.
I am powerful.
In this moment I am powerful.
I accept all parts of myself
In this moment I accept all parts of myself.
Following the flow of new air
As it goes in
and comes outInviting a gentle current of softness into the body
Welcoming any sensations of peace and heaviness that may be in your body
Breathing in
And taking a long deep exhale out
This is your time
To be with yourself.
Another deep breath in
Exhale out.
We can always switch from doing to being
And find the gift in the present moment
And know that this place
is always available to you.
And let's give the mind plenty of space now
Just for a few breaths
So if the mind wants to think, let it think
Giving the mind lots of space to think and do whatever it wants
Soon we’ll bring this exercise to a close
So let’s inhale for 3
1, 2, 3,
And then just sighing it out
Inhaling again for
1, 2, 3
And let it go
Noticing how you feel
Staying present
Keep observing
Noticing what thoughts come up
Just letting it unfold as it is
Another deep in breath now
returning to this space and this time
And wherever you are just begin to find some
soft, gentle, easy movements
So maybe starting with the fingers and toes
And just trusting that the body knows what it needs to wake up
Maybe taking a few shoulder rolls
Maybe a nice wake-up stretch
Just easing out any kinks or tightness
We’ll take a big inhale here
And sigh it out
One more time
Inhaling
And then when you’re ready
slowly open your eyes.
Image by Chang Duong via Unsplash.