Focus
Welcome. This meditation supports the Stage One task of trusting the river of your life, or the divine, to take you where you need to be. It can be hard to trust your river, because no life is without some measure of sadness, struggle or pain. There will be loss. There will be lessons. And we cannot see around the corner. This is true. The key to trusting your river, or the divine, is in recognizing what you can influence and what you cannot. We must let go of what we cannot influence, and focus on what we can do, what we can change, and what we can affect. This meditation will support understanding the difference between what we can and cannot influence and letting go of the rest. It will support peacefully and joyously flowing in your river as it takes you where you need to be.
Posture
Take a moment to get comfortable. You can sit or stand or lay down. It’s doesn’t matter. You want to close your eyes for this journey. Do what works for you.
Presence
Take a slow deep breath. Let it out like a sigh of relief. Be at peace. You are here now. Take another slow deep breath, and this time, send it out slowly, consciously, with purpose, all the way. Be at peace. You are here now. Pause and repeat these breaths until you feel relaxed and at peace.
Journey
Imagine that you are standing in the middle of a wide, calm river. The water is about waist high. The current is mild. It flows around you like it flows around the stones and rocks it encounters. You touch your hands to the surface. The water is the perfect temperature. The banks of the river are low, sloping, and covered in a lush green grass. Beautiful trees dip down to shade the sides of the river.
This is the river of your life. It has brought you to a beautiful and peaceful place. You can walk around exploring all the parts of the river, the sides, the plants, the rocks. You enjoy the sun and the shade. You feel gratitude for this peaceful place.
Slowly, the current starts to build a bit. It is becoming stronger. And perhaps the river is starting to push you forward. It is a bit more peaceful towards the sides, but so much harder to move forward. You can move forward quickly in the middle, but the current is swift and a bit frightening. You worry that if you let go into the rapid current in the middle, you might never make it back to the peaceful shorelines. You miss the calm, peaceful place you were before. But you seem to have no choice.
But you do have a choice. You can choose to let go and flow with the now mighty current in the middle, or you can cling, unchanging and frightened to the banks. You always have a choice. What will it be?
You decide to let go into the middle. At first it is scary. The water is swift. Things are changing rapidly in the scenery all around you. But you notice, you are always above water. You can breathe just fine. You breathe deeply, knowing this breath is yours. This body is yours, this river, too, is yours. You ask the river to take you somewhere peaceful and joyous. You relax into the water’s supportive and reliable cradle. It is carrying you where you need to be.
You let go. The river carries you. You trust that it will take you where you need to be. You start to enjoy the ride. Uncertainty becomes the promise of new and exciting things. The unknown makes room for big and amazing. You cannot see around the corner, but you trust, it is where you need to be. You flow with your river.
You round the corner as the river deposits you into the most beautiful, calm pool. It is peaceful. It is more peaceful than the one before. It is more beautiful than the one before. It is exactly where you need to be. You feel gratitude for the journey.
And the journey has changed you. Now you know that when the current is mild, your influence is absolute, and when the current is swift, joy is quickly found in letting go.
Can you feel the current of your river right now? Is it swift or calm? Is it time to influence and explore? Or is it time to let go and flow?
Return
When you are ready, bring your awareness back to your surroundings. Notice how you feel. Take this feeling with you and return to it anytime you like. When you are struggling against your river, use this to parse out what you can influence and what you cannot. Let go and focus on what is yours to affect, and when the time is right to affect it. Trust in your river or the divine to handle the rest.
