196. Grain By Grain: Guided Meditation

We all carry things we were never meant to hold forever.

Stress. Grief. Expectations. Worry. Regret.

In this guided meditation led by Mia, you’ll imagine carrying a heavy sandbag filled with everything that’s weighing you down. But as the practice unfolds, something begins to change.

A small hole appears.

Then, grain by grain, the sand begins to fall away.

With each breath, the burden becomes a little lighter. The weight shifts. Your shoulders soften. The things you’ve been holding so tightly begin to loosen their grip.

You don’t have to drop everything all at once.

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The theme music for this episode, “Cenote Angelita”, was written and produced by Mar Abajo Rio AKA MAR Yoga Music. Dive deeper into this and other orig...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hey Yogis, welcome back to another episode of How Yoga Changed My Life. This is Mia. This week's episode is a guided meditation. I encourage you to find some dedicated time and space. It won't take more than 10 minutes, but I think it's nice to experience stillness while practicing this one. If you need to hit pause, find yourself a mat, a seat, maybe a bolster, take a moment to do so and hit play when you're ready. Set yourself up for some sustained stillness. Take these first few moments to ensure that you're comfortable, that you can explore breath and focus without discomfort. Take a few rounds of deep breath. Taking time to fill up. Taking even longer to let go. As you inhale, send your breath deep down into your belly. As you exhale, take time to fully empty out. If it's comfortable, you can close your eyes. I want you to picture a sandbag. Some of us use this in our yoga practice. Maybe you've interacted with a sandbag in a workout space. And maybe simply you're picturing a sack of sand. Think about the weight a sandbag carries. Imagine the sandbag is placed upon you. You can feel its weight pressing down on your body. It's not too heavy. You're able to maintain it. But it is solid enough to become aware of its presence. Take a few rounds of breath with this sandbag. Imagine a small hole is sliced in the side of the sandbag. A small, steady stream of sand is able to escape. Continue to breathe. The sand is escaping. The bag is light. The bag is losing weight grain by grain. The pressure and the force of the sand pushes that slit to be a little bit larger. The opening grows. Take a deep breath in and out. Take a few rounds of breath on your own. Bring some gentle movement back into your body. Allow that movement to grow and become larger. If your eyes are closed, gently blink them open. Allow yourself to return to your day, to the world around you. Thank you for practicing with me with how yoga changed my life. Check back every Monday for a new episode. Thank you.