a Guided Meditation

This is a practice of gentle breathing, complete releasing, and a profoundly deep surrendering, one that weaves Dàoist and Buddhist insights into a seated Tai Chi-inspired movement.

In short, a practice for Easing Muscle Tightness, Softening Pain, and Returning to Harmony...

Part 1:

a Space of Comfort, Settling into the Present Moment

Before beginning, find the most comfortable position available to you.

Your body may be resisting, tightening, freezing, bending into tension.

And yet, you are still here.

You are breathing.

There is no need to fight the body, no need to push it into a different form. Instead, we will soften around the resistance.

Begin by settling. Not forcing, not controlling. Simply resting into this moment. If your body feels frozen, tightened, or resistant, do not oppose it. Instead, acknowledge it. This is not the enemy. This is energy bound up in form, waiting to be released back into flow.

This is your potential.

Now, bring a gentle curiosity to the body’s own inner landscape, a landscape that has its own weather. Sometimes, the weather outside speaks to the body within. The salt in the air changes the blood’s chemistry. The pressure shifts. The muscles listen and respond, they may become rigid, they may shorten, the forearm may pull toward the bicep.

This is the body’s weather. If you feel this, simply note it. “Ah, yes. The weather is here.” We meet this inner climate not with a fight, but with a gentle, observing presence.

Now, imagine yourself as Jefferson, a well-loved, colorful stuffed bear. You are soft, but strong in your presence. Your seams are well-worn, not damaged, but proof of care, of years of being hugged, held, treasured.

Let your hands rest gently. We will use Cosmic Mudrā, a sacred hand gesture symbolizing the unity of all things.

To enact this gesture, rest your right hand palm up in your lap. Place your left hand gently on top, also palm up. Let your fingers remain together, aligned. Allow the middle knuckles of your index fingers to touch, forming a seamless connection. Your thumbs meet lightly, forming a soft arc over the palms, as though cradling an invisible egg. Those two thumb tips, now joined at their tips, rest just in front of the navel.

Come as close as you are able - while maintaining the softness and easygoing nature of Jefferson.

This gesture fosters balance and receptivity, merging the Earthly and the transcendent.

You are Jefferson. And you are held in this mudrā. You are safe. You do not need to resist, only to exist within the ease of being held.

Part 2:

Breathing as a Flowing River, 無為, Wúwéi and 氣, Qì

Breathe deeply, like wind moving through an open field.

Unhurried.

Effortless.

In through the nose…hold for a moment, just feeling the presence of air within you. Exhale slowly.

No rush.

The breath does not force change. It makes space. It moves without resistance.

Let’s try it again:

In through the nose…we hold for a moment, feeling the welcome presence of air within you. Exhale...slowly.

Again, no rush.

In Dàoism, 無為, Wúwéi Teaches us that the river does not push; it flows. Imagine your limbs as a riverbed, and the breath as water moving through. Do not fight for motion. Simply allow 氣, Qì, to move through the frozen spaces, like a stream washing over its stones.

Breathe in… 氣, Qì gathers where it is needed, filling the tight spaces within you, a warm presence seeping gently into every muscle, every joint.

Breathe out… 氣, Qì softens, spreads, dissolves resistance.

Your body may feel blocked. But what if we stopped pushing against it? What if we allowed flow to return without force?

Imagine each inhale filling you like cool morning mist rising from the Valleys as the morning sun breaks over the far mountain peaks. Imagine each exhale rooting you like long-awaited rains slowly seeping into the parched soil.

The body does not need to be forced into relaxation. It will return to flow, as all things do.

Part 3:

Meeting Rigidity, Warm Light, and Flowing Water

Now, bring your awareness to the muscles…

not to command them, but to understand their state.

You may find areas of rigidity, muscles holding a firm, protective stance against the changing inner climate. This, too, is part of the weather. See if you can offer a breath to that rigidity. Not to melt it, but to soften the space around it. Acknowledge: “This tension has a purpose. For now, it is here.”

Imagine a warm, golden light gathering at the edges of this sensation. Not pushing against it, but meeting it with infinite patience, with undistracted presence. This light holds no urgency, no demand. It waits. It listens. It warms. It envelops the frozen spaces, offering them comfort, offering them light, offering them softness.

Your muscles are not your enemy. They are responding. Offer them comfort. Offer them space. Let them feel they do not need to fight, they do not need to hold so tightly.

With a particular tenderness, bring your awareness to the arms. There may be a pull, a shortening, as if the forearm wishes to shorten the arm, to stop reaching out, to fold itself toward the bicep. If this is here, do not oppose it. Do not stretch against it.

Instead, imagine the arm resting in a gentle, sun-warmed stream. The water curls around the limb, cool, fluid, effortless. Let the stream cradle it. Let the water hold the tension, allowing the muscle to be exactly as it is. If the fingers hyperextend, picture them resting in this same healing stream, each digit separately cradled by the current.

The River flows, the breath flows in.

The River flows, the breath flows out.

Let motion return not through force, but through surrender.

Continue to breathe:

Breathe deeply, like wind moving through an open field.

Unhurried.

Effortless.

In through the nose…hold for a moment, just feeling the presence of air within you. Exhale slowly.

No rush.

Part 4:

無為, Wúwéi, Effortless, Sweeping Movement

Now, very slowly, we introduce movement through the Principle of 無為, Wúwéi, frictionless action.

Release the Cosmic Mudrā.

Let your hands rest softly on your lap.

Or where best they fit just now.

Imagine Jefferson’s paws being lifted by a soft, caring wind. There is no struggle, only buoyancy. Allow your arms to float upward, as if this inner wind lifts them. Let it be a slow, sweeping rise.

Inhale…as they rise.

The breath lifts the fabric of your being, gently expanding into ease.

Now, allow the arms to lower, as gently as a leaf settling.

Exhale…as they descend.

Resistance melts away, never forced, only softened.

Repeat this.

Slowly.

Up with the inhale…

like a ribbon lifted on a breeze.

Down with the exhale…

settling into soft, effortless presence.

Settling back into your lap.

Your limbs may feel locked, unwilling. Let the movement come from the idea of the air around you, from the image of Jefferson being moved. Not from force within you.

Even if the physical motion is small, the intention is vast. The energy flows.

Now, let the movement become a slow, Tai Chi-inspired flow.

Imagine Jefferson floating, his paws tracing large, sweeping arcs through the air. Let your arms make slow, circular motions, palms facing outward, as if painting the Sky with grace.

Inhale...

the movement expands outward, like breath filling a vast balloon.

Exhale…

the movement contracts, folding back into quiet, effortless ease.

Let your breath guide the motion. Never pushing. Only allowing flow to return.

Part 5:

Non-Attachment to Discomfort, Witnessing, Not Resisting

Pain may still be present. Tension may still remain. But today, we do not attach ourselves to discomfort, we witness it gently, as though watching the wind move through grass.

In Buddhist thought, we learn that attachment to struggle increases suffering. Instead of fighting the tightness, we hold it lightly, as Jefferson is held, gently, lovingly, without urgency.

Each inhale is a moment of presence, simply seeing what is here. Each exhale is softening, not eliminating, but allowing space.

Breathe deeply, like wind moving through an open field.

Unhurried.

Effortless.

In through the nose…held for a moment, just feeling the presence of air within you. Exhale slowly.

No rush.

The breath does not force change. It makes space. It moves without resistance.

For today, for now you devote yourself to the Principles of:

No resistance. No grasping.

For today, for now you devote yourself to the Principle of:

Acceptance of what is, and trust that ease will return when it must.

Part 6:

Closing, Stillness within Motion, Returning to Rest

Now, slowly, gently, allow the arms to return to stillness. Let the movement settle. Let the body be exactly as it is in this moment.

Feel the weight of your form. The support beneath you. Shift your hands into Heaven-Earth mudrā, a gesture of balance between stillness and movement.

One hand resting on each leg, each side of a lap, or wherever they find themselves:

· Your right hand rests lightly, palm facing upward, receiving. · Your left hand rests, too - facing downward, grounding.

You are held within this balance, the Sky above, the Earth below, you within the harmony. Not forced. Not resisted. Simply met with ease.

Breathe here: Inhale…

receiving the Sky’s ease.

Exhale…

grounding into the Earth’s support.

No part of you is failing. No part of you is broken. This is your body responding. And this is you meeting it with presence, patience, and care.

The river does not rush its path; it flows as it must. Your breath is that stream, continuing forward. Your presence is the mountain, steady within change. Your mind is the Sky, vast, unbound.

Part 7:

Completion, the Currents of Care

Remain here as long as you need...

Stay with the breath. Stay with the warmth, the imagined waters, the dissolving tension, the feeling of being Jefferson, soft, held, colorful, and resilient.

When you are ready, slowly release the mudrā. Gently bring awareness back. Wiggle your fingers if movement is available. Feel the ground beneath you.

Open your eyes, knowing that ease will return, not all at once, but in waves.

In breaths.

In surrender.

The salt may be in the air. The muscles may hold their shape. But you have met them. You have met the weather with flow.

You are here. You are held. You are not alone.

The currents of breath continue. The motion of 氣, Qì remains.

And softness will return, not forced, not demanded, but naturally.

Effortlessly.

Softness is Jeffersonian.

Presence is Jeffersonian.

Thank you.

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