Imagine yourself out in your favorite spot in nature, on the beach, by a stream, high on a mountain, or sitting at the base of a majestic tree. You are surrounded by a living fabric, experiencing it with all your senses, breathe deeply, and feel it with your whole being. You are by yourself, but do you feel alone? It probably depends.
Being by yourself and feeling alone sometimes go together but often do not. You may be by yourself out in nature and feel very connected. You may be in a group with many other people and feel alone. We all have places we feel less alone in and places where we feel more alone. Feeling alone, however, unlike being by yourself, is not an external fact, but in internal subjective experience of separation.
Now, gently, imagine yourself in a place where you tend to feel alone. Wherever that place is, close your eyes, let go of your surroundings, and drop deep into your own inner space. Using your creative imagination, remember that you are connected deep into the earth. Feel yourself grounded into her unconditional love and support. Remember that you are connected up into the heavens. Feel yourself receiving the unlimited life force and positive regard that flows unconditionally from Source.
In your own inner space you are supported and nurtured and never alone. Take a moment and check for any shadows here, any old feelings or emotions, any self judgments or anxious thoughts, and gently release them into the earth. Imagine this inner space being like a womb. Your whole awareness is in this space. You are present with yourself here and nowhere else. Let any thoughts drift away. Let any emotions dissipate. Experience spaciousness, warmth, safety, and the sense that there is a loving presence with you.
When you were physically in the womb, the obvious presence was your mother’s energy. In this imaginary womb of your internal being, the presence is that of Self and Spirit. The physical universe is woven from the fabric of unconditional love and acceptance that is Source, a presence that permeates the universe, including you. It holds you gently in an unconditional spacious safety. Allow yourself to relax into it.
On an energetic level the universe is like a hologram, where everything is present in everything else. As a human being you are like a piece of this hologram, with your own identity an ability to be by yourself and at times to feel alone, but the truth is, on the inside, the whole universe is always present and available. In the space between the molecules of your body, is the void, the living Spirit, that is both you and the larger whole of which you are always a part.
Feeling into this inner space of Self and Spirit, bring this knowing and feeling back to your human self and remember that it is never alone. This is not about connecting to divinity up in the sky, or even to the fabric of nature, but becoming aware of the Spirit that lives in your heart, and belly, and mind, the unconditional foundation of your Being.
This womb-like inner space, filled with the presence of Self and Spirit, a sense of safety and wellbeing, is unconditionally available. Know that it is there and practice accessing it. Practice will become habit, imagination will become experience, and though you may be by yourself at times, you need never feel alone again.
(© 1/2014)
