A 12-Minute Meditation for Rediscovering Your Essence

In this guided meditation, Cara Bradley invites you to imagine stepping off the noisy city street into a quiet courtyard, a space where the chaos begins to fade, and your breath becomes your guide to calmness and clarity.

By Cara Bradley April 5, 2024 Calm

We often misunderstand meditation as an escape from real life, a place to get away from the noise, busyness, chaos, and confusion of our daily hours.

Cara Bradley offers a clarifying perspective: that, yes, the noise is a part of our real lives, but we also carry with us an essence that is quiet, calm, and deeply relaxed. When we take a moment to meditate, we’re actually dropping below the surface of our lives into this even more real part of ourselves, what she calls “the ground of our being.”

Yes, the noise is a part of our real lives—but we also carry with us an essence that is quiet, calm, and deeply relaxed.

Today’s guided meditation is a simple practice to reconnect with your true essence, the authentic self that thrives beyond the daily noise. This practice offers you tools not just for moments of meditation but also for bringing a sense of calm and clarity into every part of your day.

A Guided Meditation for Rediscovering Your Essence

A 12-Minute Meditation for Rediscovering Your Essence by Cara Bradley

For this meditation, it’s best to be seated or lying down with eyes closed. Simply closing our eyes can help to turn us inward and pause. Now, with your eyes closed, turn your attention to your breath. Simply notice your body as you inhale. And notice what’s happening as you exhale. Next, notice your body. Do a quick scan from feet to legs, hips, spine, shoulders, neck, and face, continuing to pay attention to your breath and your body. Now turn your attention even deeper and find your heartbeat. Notice the steady throbbing or pulsing of your heart somewhere in your body. Where do you feel your heart beating? At any time during this practice, if you feel like you start to run away in thought, don’t worry. Just come back home to body, to breath, or to your heartbeat. Greet yourself in this inner world with an inner smile. You might even say Hello there. It’s nice to see you again. Remember this place, this state, the simple way of being in your body, in your breath, listening to your heart. For this moment, remember how you feel. Remember this natural state, this ever-present awareness that streams through your veins, through your life. This way of being both calm and clear is always waiting for you to show up. This practice is simply a way of remembering.  For just these few moments, give yourself permission to rest, to explore, and to remember what it feels like to be below the busy mind on the other side of speed.  If at any time you find yourself lost once again, return to breath, to body, to heartbeat. Return to your inner world, where you remember who you are. Here in this natural state, on this ground of your being, there’s a deep knowing. There’s a deep remembering. A luminous aliveness that’s ripe with wisdom and insight. Be at ease in this place. Get to know the center of your being.  Now, very slowly start to deepen your breath. Ever so slightly, start to notice your body. If your eyes are still closed, open them halfway. Look around. Recognize this place as your natural state. Carry this state of being with you into your day. Others will feel it on you. They may feel more relaxed and at ease just being with you. They may feel happier or lighter. This is how we share our practice with others.  Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Thank yourself for taking the time to practice, and thank you for practicing with me.