So our meditations tonight are really aimed at helping us through this very, I think it's a very emotionally unsettling time at the moment because. I'm certainly feeling a real sense of, fear for for society, fear for our colleagues, fear for the people around us. The world feels very unsettled because we're all getting to grips with the impact of this, this very, very difficult time.

And those of you who work as vets and work in veterinary, in the veterinary industry, you know, you've had to just keep on going because animals still get sick, people still need that level of support. So, it's really nice to, it's really nice to have, be back with you all and hi there. Hi, Hilary.

It's lovely to be back. So our first meditation tonight, which I hope will, really help, and it's certainly one that I think I'm going to come into, is, every now and then, this is one of those ones that you can do right in the middle of one of your days, you know, if you find yourself in a place of struggle. In the middle of the day, you know, you're just working as a vet or working as a veterinary nurse, or you've just finished dealing with a difficult client and you, you're feeling emotionally overwhelmed, then sometimes it really does help to, drop anchor.

And I think it's a really useful metaphor as well, that metaphor of the anchor, because it's. To be used when we're experiencing something of an emotional storm, and what I want to do today was to help you deal with those. Stormy emotions that when it feels like we're being swept away, and there's nothing effective that we can do with the emotional stuff that we're trying to deal with.

And in those circumstances, sometimes, the first thing we need to do is to actually just drop an anchor. Now, if we think about it, when you drop an anchor and you're on a ship, the anchor doesn't make the storm go away, it just holds us steady. Until the storm passes in its own time.

And I think that's what we need at the moment is when we get this sense that will this dreadful time ever come to an end, and if we find ourselves being . Tossed about on the, the waves of emotion, as I think so many of us are, then sometimes we just need to hold that boat of life steady, you know, and when we do that, what we're trying to do is we're just not trying to make the storm go away because it will, you know, we know that, and it will go in its own time. But the one thing we can do is hold ourselves steady.

So the drop anchor meditation is one of those ones that can really help. And for those of you who try and use it tomorrow or the next day, it's really, really simple, because what we do is we, just use all five of our senses to allow us to drop anchor, as you'll see in a few moments' time. So if we can get ourselves into a, a position for meditation, and I'm assuming most of us are sitting today, and this is a really good one to be done from a seated position, and I don't really need to spend too much time here asking you to, Sort of prepare yourself because the, the meditation helps us with that.

So if we can just sit. Make sure that we're not going to be disturbed. And let's start.

So we get a sense of being. A ship Being thrown about amidst a very Very wild. Stormy sea.

And I have that sense that it feels like this storm is going to go on. And there will be no respite from it. And we can feel ourselves feeling quite wobbly.

We can feel ourselves feeling. And secure we can feel ourselves. In a state of Flux so we're no real constant sense of presence, and we feel we notice it in our bodies, in our tummies, we notice it in our chest, and we notice this sense of being in very difficult stormy times.

And We acknowledge that. And we recognise that we can do nothing to make this difficult time. And we can't influence how long the storm will last, so we move and we find our own bodies, and we take our attention down and we begin this process of dropping anchor by just pushing both feet hard into the floor beneath you.

Just pushing your feet down. And getting a sense of there's God's good earth, there's a solidity. And then we check out our own posture.

And we straighten our back a little bit. And we make sure that our posture looks dignified and strong and as we begin to do that, that enables us to get a sense of that anchor. That rigid strong anchor, that heavy immovable object that we Anchor ourselves too.

And we just Sit slightly forward in our chair. We straighten our back. And I'll ask you now to just bring your fingertips together.

Your right hand and your left hand. Just bring them together. And allow your fingertips to just touch.

And may become aware of your elbows. And just move them so that your Just bringing them together so your elbows are just touching the sides of your body. And just Allow yourself to move your shoulders, bringing your shoulders down.

And just Feeling our arms just moving all the way from your fingertips. To your shoulder blades. Sitting Beginning to anchor ourselves in this present moment.

And at this point we can acknowledge the storm. We can acknowledge that, gosh, there's an awful lot of difficulty going around at the moment. There's a lot of emotion that we're struggling with.

But there's also a body. Around that emotion. There's also a body that we can move and control.

So just notice your whole body now. Take your attention once more to your hands. To your feet To your back Pressing those feet down.

Just getting a sense of our whole body growing heavy. I'm beginning to anchor. And as we do this, I'm just gonna ask you now to very gently raise your gaze in the room that you're in.

And look around the room that you're in and quietly notice in your mind's eye 5 things you can see. And name each object in the room you're meditating in that you can see. One So 3 4 5 And Just reach out with your Hand your right or your left hand and just touch 4 things that you can touch.

That are close to you and as you touch them notice the different textures, the temperatures of the different things that you touch. And then quiet. And as we sit See if you can just hear 3.

Distinct separate sounds. It's Wonderful. And just notice there that you can use your olfactory senses, your sense of smell.

And just see if we can find 2. Things that we can smell. Just name them as we smell them.

And finally take your attention right inside your own mouth. And just check in and notice just one thing. That you can taste.

And you notice. But now that you've engaged all five of your senses. You've bought yourself back.

This is just you. And you've anchored your attention back into your body. Into your space and this is your body filling this space.

And We can look and we can see that there's something really difficult that we're all struggling with at the moment. But we can also notice our bodies. And we can also stretch, and we can also move our limbs.

And we can notice the room around us. And in that moment, We've dropped anchor. And we've returned back into this present moment.

Back in the room that we're in. And we're safe And we're grounded once more. We've dropped anchor.

And what we're doing is, remember, we're not trying to make what's happening around us go away. We're just allowing ourselves to stay with it. And to stop fighting it.

And to find that moment of peace. Well done. And to do that 54321.

Well done, everybody. It's the beauty of just finding 5 things that you can see, 4 things that you can touch, 3 things that you can hear, 2 things that you can. Smell and then just one thing that you can taste and just by dropping anchor in the middle of our day and reacquainting ourselves with our own bodies we can help ourselves get through.

Some very difficult moments. So the real joy, I think for today I hope is I know a lot of you really love, you've often had some very nice comments about this, is people really love the lake meditation, and it's John Cabot's in. The great John Cabot Zinn talks about using the lake to find peace in a frantic world, and it really feels like that's something that we all need to do at the moment.

So I'm gonna ask you this time to get yourself into your lovely, position. And this is a lovely meditation to be done lying down or reclining. But it can be done very, very effectively in a seated position as well.

So let's just get ourselves into a position where we're looking dignified. Let's allow our eyes to just very gently become heavy and close. And let's enjoy the lake.

Meditation Let's find peace. In this difficult frantic world. So we just begin.

By paying attention. To the actual sensations. Of contact and support that you can feel in the chair you're sitting in.

Or wherever it is that you're lying. All sitting in Noticing where your body is making contact with the chair. Or the floor Finding a sense of how your weight is distributed.

On the floor In the chair Actually sensing into your body. Feeling where your feet are. Getting a sense of where your legs.

As are and whether they are supported. Your hips. Your lower back and your upper body.

Finding that sense of your arms being held and cradled. Noticing where. The chair we're sitting in supports us.

Does it support our shoulders? Does it support our clavicle? Does our neck get some support?

And just finding our heads. And when you're ready, Now just bringing awareness to your breath. The actual physical sensations of breathing.

Without changing the breath in any way, letting the breath just be. As it is. Knowing that.

You're doing great. You're breathing perfectly well right now. And there's nothing for you to do.

Just want you all pleased tonight to find that real sense of being complete. Who In this very moment. As a whole complete entity.

Just letting your breath breathe. And as you rest here. Let's just see if we can find and allow an image to form in your mind's eye.

Of a body of water, a lake. Held in a receptive basin. By the earth itself.

Noting in your mind's eye. And your own heart. That water likes to pool.

In low places. It seeks its own level. It asks.

To be held And to be contained. And we allow ourselves. To be held and contained.

And as you let this image of the lake, this basin of water. Come into greater focus. Just allow the sense of that lake in.

And it may be deep or shallow. The colours could be blue or green or clear. And there's no wind.

And the surface of your lake. It's flat mirror like. Notice that it's reflecting the trees and the rocks and the moon.

It's just holding itself in itself. And the wind may come. And stir up tiny ripples and waves.

And sunlight might sparkle in the ripples and dance on the waves. And when the moon comes, the moon will shine and show itself on the surface of the lake. And in winter your lake may freeze over.

But even if it freezes over, it teems with life below. Just as we do. As we sit here breathing.

Establishing this image of a lake in your mind's eye. And when you feel absolutely ready. See if we can bring.

Inside ourselves, that sense of the lake. So that your being. Merges with the tranquilly.

Of the lake becoming one with it. So that all of your energies are held in the awareness. With openness and compassion for you.

Holding yourself with openness. Warmth and compassion in the same way. That our lake is held by the receptive.

Accepting basin of the earth itself. And we breathe as though we were a lake. Feeling Allowing your mind and body.

And your heart to be open. To reflect whatever comes near. Experiencing.

Moments of complete stillness between each breath. When both reflection and water A clear And other times as we breathe we just allow the surface to be choppy, stirred up. And through it all As you sit meditating, simply observing the play of the energies in your own mind.

And the impulses and the thoughts which come And go like waves. Noticing the effects of your thoughts and your feelings. Are they disturbing the surface and the clarity of your lake?

Our thoughts and feelings muddying the waters. Might it be possible? To let go of any thoughts.

Any feelings and just to connect with that entire body of water so that you become the stillness below the surface. And in the same way. In your meditative practise in your daily life.

Just allow yourself to consider whether you can be in touch not only with. The change in content and intensity of what's happening to us. But also with the stillness.

That every human has. And lakes remind us of this. Lakes teach us that we carry that stillness.

Within ourselves. And if you find that image of a lake to be of value. You may want to invite this lake image to empower you.

And to allow you to move through the unfolding of each day knowing that you too can find stillness. Find repose. Find peace.

In a frantic world And as we dwell here in the stillness of this moment. We can be our lake now. We can just sit.

Feeling he cradled, contained. So as we just wait for the next few moments of this meditation. Continue to sustain the lake.

That sense of a lake on your own. Just find that wonderful silence. Allowing yourself to.

Be the late Still Peaceful And calm Well done, everyone. I really would have liked to have finished that meditation off using my. Meditation bells, but for the life of me I couldn't find them.

This is the first time I would have needed them since, since I got poorly. But I will find them for next time. It would have been nice to have finished that with the bells just gentling us back into.

Our Sunday evenings. So it's lovely to be back, meditating with you all, . Look after yourselves.

And happy New Year to everybody that's taken part tonight, and for those of you accessing via the recordings, have a happy New Year too. And I think our next one is on the 14th of Feb. So really looking forward to seeing you.

Keep meditating, it is the way. Stay mindful, it'll take you through. This stormy, difficult time, guys.

And thank you so much for sharing this Sunday evening with me. Good night, everybody.