[A meditation] Thank you, Body.
In early October I found myself, while at a 7 day silent meditation retreat, in a full blown emotional tailspin.
The silence has done little to ease my soul and rather given way to all the fear and worry and pain I’d been ignoring for the last 2 months.
On the morning of the third day I woke up early to snag a quick hike with the hope that moving my body might help shake off the fear. Cruising up the hill I took in the sunrise and the hawk gliding above and tried hard to embrace the serenity around me.
I made each step a walking meditation, feeling my heel, then the ball of my foot, then my toes touch the earth. I felt my lungs take in big deep breaths of fresh air, my thighs firing and my torso gently twisting with each stride as I pushed off the hillside, climbing higher and higher.
I began to find relief in my body’s exertion and noticed that my gratitude for it soon became a verbal meditation of thanks.
“Thank you legs for taking me up this hill,” I said out loud.
“Thank you knees for staying flexible and mobile.”
“Thank you back for keeping me upright.”
"Thank you arms for catching me if I stumble.”
“Thank you heart for pumping, and feeling, and loving.”
“Thank you eyes for guiding my way and taking in this view.”
I continued my thanks up and down the hill. I thanked my feet for walking, my elbows for bending, my neck for turning. And as I took my final step off the hill, I felt lighter and more clear. The fear was still present but it had shifted to the background, making way for joy and calm which arrived in finding thanks for the small functions my body gifts me every moment of every day.
Many of us are ramping up for holiday festivities, parties and commitments, while also winding down what has truly been a life-changing, heartrending, world-altering year.
Here is a recording of the Thank You, Body meditation I did on my walk. The next time you feel untethered or worried OR you just want to be flooded with gratitude and joy for the miraculous little things, try this mediation.
You can do it whether sitting or moving and when you do, notice how your body begins to respond to all the thanks being offered her.
If you enjoyed this post, please keep reading!
This conversation is between myself and an incredible woman named Ani, who shares how she learned how to be authentic, practice self-compassion, and take up space without guilt or shame through my 6-month group coaching program, Homecoming. Ani is a model for how to excavate internalized misogyny and live authentically without fear of others’ opinions. The conversation originally took place on my podcast, The Path Home.