Wild Card: Paint Your Toes Meditation

In the spirit of play (and while I'm waiting for my fingers to finish typing out my other projects) I have been exploring this theme of self-care and reflection. So today we are going to continue down that journey and dip a pinky toe in the beauty of surrender.

Meditation is Surrender

While everyone has a different relationship with meditation, the root of the problem, it seems, for many is quieting the mind. Being told to stop the endless internal dialogue about daily tasks and to-dos may sound like bringing your day to a crashing halt. And it is. It is surrendering to silence and the beauty of this moment. I've talked about how we endlessly run around throughout our day without a nap or snack in sight. We treat ourselves with the same amount of compassion we have for the broom in the closet. That's not very nice. So how can we surrender to the moment and quiet our minds for a few minutes a day? My answer for beginners is always going to be a guided meditation. When we allow ourselves to let someone else gently pull us back and guide us back to the silence, we are able to breathe a little deeper. Surrender.

Doesn't Surrender Make Me Vulnerable?

YES! Yes, it does. And that is part of the point. We feel the need to grip and guard against life instead of falling back and allowing ourselves to enjoy what life is all about. It's messy and crazy and beautiful. Whether your hiking in the mountains or sitting on the subway, there is something great happening in this moment that will never happen again. We miss the little things around us when we continue to follow our narrow-minded paths. Mediation gives us a safe space to practice being open and present. Today during my yoga practice I came up with a guided meditation that is perfect for when you are lying in Shavasana (Corpse Pose). Here is how it goes:

Lie on your back in a comfortable spot with no distractions.

Let your arms and legs lie flat and open around you.

Close your eyes.

Feel the world and its problem melt away from you for this one moment.

Feel yourself hovering in a safe bubble.

There's something in the bubble with us.

It's a meditation nome.

They have such a kind and gentle smile, but they're blind.

They're holding a paintbrush and a bucket of green paint.

They start painting the bottom of your feet with this paint.

It's cool.

Smooth.

The brush is soft as it paints the sole of your foot.

Your toes.

The tops of your feet.

Then the brush moves up your legs, painting up and down.

From your ankle to your knee and back again

Gently being painted green.

Moving up to the thighs

Relaxing into the cooling of the paint.

Moving across your pelvis

And glutes.

Releasing tension as the paint moves up your torso

And back

The green paint covering your chest

and upper back.

The brush paints your shoulders, relaxing you with the cool paint

Traveling up the neck

and throat.

Moving up the sides to your ears

and back into your hair.

You feel the bucket of paint wash over the top of your heads

Cool and easy like water.

The brush glides over your forehead

releasing any tension or worry

Down the temples and the jaw.

Painting the nose and eyelids

Dropping down the cheeks and chin

Painting above the lip and finally over the lips

Encasing you in a beautiful, vibrant green.

The paint begins to harden and slowly lift off your skin,

Extracting the heaviness we carry with us throughout the day.

The green paint lifts off this weight

and with a heavy sigh, it floats away.

Floating out the air vents

Into the sky

Where it hits the air

And purifies from the touch of nature.

The heaviness is now replaced by this warm glow

Deep in your gut, you feel this glow

Shiny and loving

It is the feeling that will carry you throughout your day

It is the feeling of peace.

And now the bubble has dissipated

Laying you gently back on the ground

Here in this moment

Feel your body present in this moment

And whenever your ready open your eyes.

I hope that this guided meditation helps you find some kind of peace in your day.

As always, this "article" is written in the spirit of play, dedicated to making you think outside the box and add some word vomit to the chat! Until next week!