Awe Meditation: Final Text

We’ll start our experience by getting comfortable. Sit in a chair, or lay back on the floor or the ground. Breathe deeply. in for six counts, and out for six more.

Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.

As you breath in feel its freshness seep through you all the way into your heels

Allow your body to begin to relax

Breathe out any tension in your body.

Feel your feet. Feel the pressure of your feet against the Earth. Slip your shoes off and allow your toes to relax into the ground. Feel the relaxation rise through your ankles, up your lower legs….to your knees….your upper legs…

Relax your hips….feel your hips as they relax into your chair or if you’re laying down into mother earth.

Relax your lower back. your stomach. Relax your chest. Slowly, as if you were weightless, raise your shoulders toward your ears. Lower them just as slowly as you breathe out. Let all the weight of the world slip off your shoulders through your body and into the warm earth.

Feel the weight of your hands as relaxation spreads down your arms. Each finger is wrapped in warmth, Heavy. relaxed.

Let the relaxation spread to your chin, your mouth, cheeks, nose and eyelids. Feel the Earth pull you into her. Relax your ears, your eyebrows. Your forehead feels cool and relaxed. Even the tips of your hair should now be relaxed.

You feel warm. heavy.

Exhale and relax your entire body, Enjoy the feeling. Let it flow toward the inviting Earth. Your home.

You sit in a cool evening. The heat of the day is just starting to fade away. The darkness is complete and you are at ease. A sigh of wind rustles the trees nearby. Watch the slowly moving stars. Stars trail around the north star as we begin our journey. You feel lighter. When you feel safe, let gravity release. Your feet which have tethered you to the Earth let go of their bonds and you start to rise.

Above your house

Above your neighborhood

Imagine catching a ride on cloud as we rise higher.

By the time we get to see every corner of Colorado, we are 250 miles above the Earth. We are heading north over the top of the world. Bands of green aurorae dance on the horizon and then…they shimmer below us.

Return to your breathing. Breathe for six counts. All the way in; all the way into your heels. Release your breath for six counts. As you breathe in again, imagine your feet inhaling, and your hands exhaling. Watch your whole body, every pore, breathing as you breathe again for six counts. Out for six counts.

Dimly lit by the Moon, we move across a landscape of clouds.

In the dark blue on the horizon, a few lights appear, Then a spiderweb of lights, like a nebula, moves into view. White clouds silently pass below. As the clouds thicken on the horizon, white-blue flashes appear as we pass over a thunderstorm. See the lights of London and Paris shrouded by thin clouds. We recognize the upside down boot of Italy, outlined by the glowing cities along the Mediterranean and Adriatic. From 300 miles up, we see only villages, glowing dots across a dark background.

The only boundaries are between the land and the dark blue sea.  All the squabbles are faint echoes as we slide over Greece, the birthplace of western thought. After crossing over the wonders of the ancient world we glide over the Red Sea and into the dark deserts of mythic Arabia. And then into the depths of the Indian Ocean.

The names of places are only signposts, an idea of place. Think of all the children dreaming below. All the lovers wrapped in embrace. All the hopes of parents. Just like you, resting in peace.

We are born of a planet of wonder. Every moment on this journey brings us somewhere new. Every 45 minutes shows us a brand new sunset. As we pass into the night. Again, green ribbons dance as vast energies from the Sun cause the thin atmosphere to glow. Watch their swirling energy.

Watch the stars set over the everchanging horizon. We are all made of the dust of those faraway stars. You are star stuff. You are bound to the stars. You are ancient….and eternal.

The brightening arc along the horizon shows the source of our breath. Breathe in for six….out for six

That thin layer is all that stands between our friends on the ground and the black. Imagine the long shadows of towering thunderheads at the edge of day and night. See the pinks of sunrise reflecting off the clouds.

And in the span of 600 breaths, we sail into sunshine. Feel the warmth of the Sun as it washes across you. Coming back into the sunlight, explore the ten thousand blues of the ocean beneath your feet.

That wonder…yeah…it’s awe.

And now to the Moon. Set a course toward its silvery light. Feel our oldest companion pull you closer. As it grows, we see its battered history. Billions of years written in the dust of another world. Larger and larger it looms until we are swept around its cratered limb across a landscape seen only by a handful into a stunning darkness lit for now by a million stars. From here, all we can hear are the stars. Feel a silence and calm wash over you. All you hear is your slow breathing. No sounds from Earth; no voices, no television. Nothing but the silent pricks of light in the canvas of night.

And there it is, even before the Sun, we see Earth, a blue orb hanging over another world. A beautiful ball against all those stars. Our very own living spaceship.

Once, we took a photo of Earth from the edge of the solar system; 9 light hours away; 4 billion miles. In it, all of us sit on a pale blue dot in a beam of sunlight seemingly calm and motionless against a backdrop of night.

Everyone you’ve ever known. Everyone who ever was is from that little dot. Just one of many, each one of us takes up just the tiniest speck of that bluish pixel. From way out here, we truly are one.

Here at the edge, we’ve come so far. One day, we’ll live among the stars, but not today. Not yet.

Return to your breathing. Breathe in for six. Think about here and now.  Breathe out for six.

Still your mind. Throughout your day, think about awe.

The awe of seeing a sunrise.

The awe of tracing the Milky Way in a dark sky.

The awe of hearing a whisper of wind, of absolute silence, of rain on your tongue and the feel of sunlight on your face. The embrace of a loved one.

The overwhelming feelings of seeing your friends after a long time away.

Awe is sprinkled throughout every day. Take note of wonder…those things that give you goosebumps, This is awe working in your life.

Seek out your awe moments, stop and really sink into them.