We all have times when we feel like we’ve been kicked in the teeth by life, when we’ve been stabbed in the back, or dragged through the mud. It’s hard to know what to do in these times. We might be told to do ‘self care’, but that can seem abstract or meaningless.
Working with a client, we recently co-created a meditation practice to support ourselves when we’re in this space. We decided to call this practice The Inner Florence Nightingale. If you aren’t sure who that is, she’s the founder of modern nursing, and worked with wounded soldiers. And, like the name suggests, it’s a meditative practice of nurturing self care. It’s not a flashy, transcendent practice designed for reaching enlightenment or connecting with ascended masters. Those things are all fine and good, but sometimes we just need to sit still and pick energetic shrapnel out of our tender bellies.
The practice is simple and effective. It just requires a some time and self trust.
First, we just need to sit still and breathe evenly. We allow ourselves to be convalescent for a moment, to be in a position where we realize that we need care, and can’t do much else until we receive it. This means we stop trying to solve any problems, or retaliate to any perceived wrongs, and just focus on healing for a moment. Feel your body take on the attitude of the patient – vulnerable, open, willing to receive healing.
Then, we recognize just as we are the patient, we are also the nurse. We channel our inner Florence Nightingale. We recognize that we are capable of care and compassion. We are capable of generating a healing energy. Feel your body take on the attitude of the healer. Feel yourself sweet and motherly, willing to lovingly face whatever wounds may present themselves.
Once we’re able to embody these two archetypes simultaneously and can feel their energies alive within, we just let them mingle. We scan the body looking for the most sensitive places, and then we extend our love and care into them. We might feel these areas of the body as achy or painful, they might feel dark or gross. Just let your intuition and healing instincts guide you. You might feel like extending a healing light to the area, or it might feel like it needs to be psychically washed out and purified. Trust that your inner nurse knows what to do, and give it the space to do it.
There is sometimes a tendency to try to ‘figure out’ what is going on. You might find an issue and wonder to yourself, ‘how did this get here?’. Let that go. This isn’t forensics. It’s triage. If you want to try to figure it out later, you can. But for now, we’re spending our time cleaning our wounds, changing bandages, applying ointment.
That’s all there is to it. When you feel complete allow yourself to come back into your space slowly, and be extra gentle and kind with yourself for the next while. Drink lots of water and repeat as needed.
If you try it, please let me know how it goes. If you’d like private instruction, or my assistance in going deeper, please feel free to reach out.
