Holding Onto Hope

It's natural to look at where we are as a society and not be satisfied. There are many ways our world can improve, and we yearn for positive changes that seem far off from where we are. For members of the LGBTQIA community, or for people who love them, it can feel like society is moving away from the safety and progress that we had hoped for. When we imagine a world where people are more empathic, accepting and kind, we may begin to feel like we have a long way to go, but it's important to take time to acknowledge the good that's all around us, the people and efforts made by groups of people that stand for the values that we hold dear. In this meditation, we'll take time to savor and appreciate the sense of safety and ease that we can nurture and revisit when needed. We'll invite a vision for the future that's even more safe, compassionate and kind than our current reality. By taking time to savor feelings of safety and connection in our lives, we encourage appreciation within ourselves and restore the vital energy that we need to stay committed to making positive strides in our world. So let's start by finding a comfortable seated position. And during this practice, you can close your eyes or leave them open, just resting your gaze softly on a spot in front of you. And we'll take a slow deep breath in and out of our nose just to allow ourselves to land right here. And then just start to notice the points of contact between your body and the surfaces that they're resting on. So feel your feet supported by the floor and feel your body supported by the chair or ground underneath you. And then notice where your hands are making contact with your legs or the floor, and just allow thoughts about what you were doing before or what you have to do later to fade into the background as you bring your awareness to your next breath. Taking a slower, deeper breath, feeling the abdomen and chest expand as you inhale. And deflate as you exhale. And then allow your breath to be natural and easy, just letting the body be breathed. And let's take a moment to acknowledge the safety that we feel in the space that we're in right now. Maybe it's the support of a semi-quiet environment or other aspects of the space you're in. Just take this moment to feel how the space that you're in feels supportive and safe. And then we're just gonna bring our awareness into our bodies, scanning from the bottoms of our feet to the tops of our head, just noticing places of ease in the body. Starting with your toes and your feet, your ankles and shins. Noticing if there's ease behind your knees, in your thighs, and then all the way up to your abdomen. Maybe there's ease in your breath. The...