Guided, a bench by a river, three affirmations. Music underneath
There are peregrines nesting on the cathedral down the road from me. I sat in town one day wondering what one of them sees, and made this.
About 15 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
You end up on a bench by a river, watching one circle above the trees. In no hurry, not hungry, just up there. It is not frightened of anything on the ground and it does not fight the wind, it rides it. Then you take that back down to something today you have been dreading, and look at it from higher up.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
A day where you need some confidence and cannot find any, and the thing you are dreading is still coming.
There are peregrines nesting on the cathedral down the road from me. I sat in town one day wondering what one of them sees, and made this.
What happens in this meditation
A path with a river on your right and tall trees the other side. Sun on your face, a cool breeze. A bench on the left, and nobody else about.
Then a bird circling above the trees, close enough to recognise. In no hurry, not hungry, just up there.
You wonder what it can see. The tops of the trees, the river, you on the bench, cities and lakes in the distance. It feels the wind and does not fight it, it rides it. It is not frightened of anything on the ground.
Then you bring that back down to the bench, and to something today you have been dreading, and look at it from higher up.
Three lines to say and mean. I am strong and confident. I see the world with clear vision. I move through life with calm and peace.
How to get the most from it
Fifteen minutes, and it works best when you have something specific in mind for the second half.
Do not rush past the wondering. What the bird can see is the whole mechanism, and it only works if you actually picture it from up there.
Then use it on people. Wondering what somebody else can see from where they stand is the same move, and it is where compassion actually comes from.
Questions people ask
Is this pretending to be confident?
No. It is borrowing a viewpoint. From high enough up, a thing that filled your whole morning turns out to be one item in a wide landscape.
Do peregrines really feel confident?
Almost certainly not, and I say so. It is a way of getting at qualities we do have and rarely reach for.
Can I use a different animal?
Yes. Mine is a peregrine because I have loved them since I was a child and they nest on the cathedral. Pick whatever gets you above the ground.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
confidence · visualisation · nature
Read the transcript
Ever since I was a young child, I've always been fascinated
with peregrine falcons.
And living in Cornwall, having the lovely clear skies a lot of the
summer, we often had birds of prey.
And even now with the cathedral just down the road, we
often have peregrine falcons nesting in the top of the cathedral.
So, so I thought about the qualities the last time I was sat
down there in a bustling town and I was just sitting there thinking,
what does the peregrine see?
What does the peregrine feel?
What does the peregrine, what kind of feelings and what kind of
qualities does the peregrine falcon have?
So I decided to do a meditation on it as I did there in
that moment.
And I often do this.
So while you just get comfortable, I'm just going to talk
about some of these qualities.
Just allow your arms be placed either side of you and just allow
your body to relax into this moment.
Allow your breath to be what it wants to be and just become aware.
And while you're doing that, while you're settling in, I just
imagine a peregrine to have really good eyesight.
It can soar above the town or the fields.
It's just taking everything in.
It's got confidence of the skies, it doesn't have to worry about
too much.
And it seems to have this stability about it.
Even with high winds or whatever weather, it seems to always
not be frightened.
Where it nests, I'll take the highest, safest place and that's
mine.
And it builds its own nest.
And so those wisdoms and qualities I think that it wouldn't
hurt us to embrace a little more in our day to day lives.
So as I'm not the most creative of creators out there, I've
called this meditation, embracing the peregrine falcon, a
journey of confidence and calm.
So as we're starting to relax into this moment, just breathing
in, calm breathing out, relax, you don't have to do anything with
your body, just allow your body to relax into this moment.
Allow your shoulders, Allow your arms, your torso and your belly,
allowing your legs to relax, allowing your face and your neck
to any parts of your body.
There may be a little bit of tension, just allow it relax into
this moment.
Your body knows how to relax.
You don't have to do anything, just invite it and give it permission.
And it's the same with your breath, your body knows how to breathe.
I always say it's been doing it a long time without you taking
any notice.
And whenever we start taking notice of our breath, we always change
it we think we're the ones with the wisdom.
So imagine you're walking along a path to your right, there's
a river flowing gently.
The other side of the river there's some tall trees.
You can feel the sun on your face.
You can also feel the freshness of a gentle, cool breeze.
And you notice just up on the left, there's a bench.
Imagine yourself walking up towards the bench.
And when you get there, you sit down comfortably.
There's nobody else around.
It's just a nice river in front of you on the other side of
the tall trees.
And then you notice a lone bird in the sky, just soaring above
the trees.
Seems to be circling around, then disappears.
And then it comes back.
And then you notice the grayness, that it's a peregrine falcon
as it flies up above you, but close enough for you to recognize.
Doesn't seem to be in any hurry.
Almost like it's enjoying the day, just like you are on the bench.
And you start to wonder what the peregrine can see.
You can see the tops of the trees.
I can see the rivers.
It can see you on the bench.
Maybe there's some trees behind you.
It can feel the sun on the top of its wings and the back of its
body.
It can feel the wind going over its wings.
It can feel the wind in its eyes.
And maybe today the peregrine falcon is not hungry and it's just
flying around.
And it can see large distances, may be able to see cities
in the background and mountains and lakes.
And imagine if the pergen falcon can understand what confidence
is.
How confident would the peregrine falcon feel.
In there, in the sky, flying around the sky, Not having to be
anywhere.
Its ability to stay smooth and glide even though the air is buffeting.
So with all that confidence, it still remains calm.
It can see clearly around, it can feel the wind, but it stays strong
and steady.
It doesn't have to fear any of the other birds, doesn't have to
fear anything on the ground.
It's confidence that wisdom knows, that it's got the confidence
to know it's the king of the sky.
Now bring this energy and confidence back to you, sat on the
bench and imagine what you would be like today if you went around
your day with a similar confidence, a similar wisdom, and
your ability to see all the situations from all angles by stepping
out and stepping away.
How would you see things from this wider, wiser perspective?
And I like to go through a few affirmations just so I can use words,
just to allow me to Feel what perhaps the peregrine falcon might
feel if it had awareness.
We don't know it hasn't.
So these affirmations and feel them deeply throughout your whole
body as if they are totally true.
I am strong and confident.
I am strong and confident.
I see the world with clear vision.
I see the world with clear vision.
I move through life with calm and peace.
I move through life with calm and peace.
So while you sat there on the bench, just imagine a situation later
today where you may struggle with a little bit of confidence.
And just imagine what that situation would be like or how different
it would be if you had the clear view and the wisdom and the
confidence.
How much different you might approach it, how much different people
might treat you, how much more compassion and empathy you might
have.
And just before we bring this meditation to a close, it might be
nice to do a loving kindness.
So place your hand on your heart and just say with me and feel
it deeply.
May I be well, May I be happy.
May I be loved.
May I be well, May I be happy, May I be loved.
And we're going to turn this around and point it outwards and
we're going to include all the humans, all the sentient beings,
the animals, including that peregrine.
May we all be well.
May we all be happy.
May we all be loved.
May we all be well.
May we all be happy.
May we all be loved.
And just take a moment to feel that kindness in your heart as you
bring your awareness back to your breath.
And if you've got your eyes closed, just gently open your eyes
and move your arms, shake out your hands and just feel the wisdom
of the peregrine falcon and the wisdom you have within.
And also I just like to say how much when I'm out walking, when
I used to walk the dog or anything, I just, I like to look
at birds or animals and how do they see the world?
And we can do it with other humans and we can do it with other
people, and then we grow that compassion, that understanding from
their perspective.
It's the one sure way of deepening our wisdom and seeing things
from outside of ourselves.
And that's where confidence and that's where calmness and wisdom
come from.
Thank you for doing this podcast on inner peace meditations.
These are all my free, guided meditations and hopefully it gives
you a deeper perspective of just opening your heart and seeing
it from a different perspective.
You can contact me directly or, or you could support the podcast.
