A Trans Day of Visibility Guided Meditation

This is a transcribed video recording of a guided meditation commemorating Trans Day of Visibility on March 31, 2020. It was originally recorded live on Point of Pride’s Instagram. Below, you can also read the full meditation. We hope you enjoy this opportunity to relax, breathe, and celebrate being a part of our community. You are enough, exactly as you are. Thank you for being you.

Full Transcript:

Sit or lie comfortable. Eyes closed or open. Take a deep breath, hold, slowly release. I like to hold my palms up because it can help boost my mood and increase my feelings of connectedness.

Imagine that you are sitting in front of a mirror. In this mirror is your most authentic self. You notice that the mirror is covered in gems of all colors, shapes, and sizes. You realize that you can reach out and remove the gem from the mirror. As you hold it in your hand, you notice that it is a worry, or concern, or anxiety that’s floating through your mind. Maybe it’s  dysphoria. Maybe it’s economic concern. Maybe it’s a health concern. Hold that feeling in your hand. Recognize that your feeling is valid. It’s understandable. Think for a moment as you hold it about the many other people in this world who are holding concerns similar to you. And then, set that feeling aside. Maybe you put it into a bowl that’s next to you or in front of you. Maybe it’s just a pile. You’re just setting that feeling aside — it’ll be there when you’re done but for now we’re just focusing on centering ourselves, grounding ourselves.

Keep a gentle rhythm of breathing. In and out. In and out.

Repeat this process until you have collected all the gems from the mirror. Your pile might be small or large or somewhere in the middle. Whatever size that pile is, that’s ok. All of those feelings are real, and important, and valid. Now we’re going to shift focus to our reflection, looking at our most authentic self.

You may be on hormones, you may not be. Maybe you don’t want hormones. You may have had surgery. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you don’t want surgery.  That’s all ok. Your identity is real. Your gender expression is real. You are whole and complete, right now, in this moment. You are loved. You are part of a vibrant community all over the world. You are part of a rich history of overcoming adversity.

Take a deep breath. Imagine all the people in the world taking a breath with you. All the people you’re connected to in this meditation all over the world. All your trans siblings who love and support and affirm you.

As you breath in and out, focus on where you feel tension in your body. Gently scan up and down your body. And if you notice something that feels tight, on your inbreathe squeeze squeeze squeeze squeeze. Then breath out and release all that tension. If you notice dysphoria coming up, that’s ok. Notice this manifestation of dysphoria as a gem in the mirror. You can reach out, remove it, and put it to the side with the rest of the gems. Or if there are other worries or feelings that come up, that’s ok — add those gems to the pile.  Once you’ve put it aside, bring your attention back to your breathing. Remember that we see you, we are here for you, you are whole, and complete, and we love and honor your most authentic self.

Now we are going to do a slightly different breathing practice that has been shown to help protect our bodies against stress, anxiety, inflammation, and pain. We’re going to breathe in for a count of four and then out for a count of eight. And if you can’t do four and eight, do three and six or two and four. If you can do longer, that’s great! So together we’re going to do in, two, three, four. And out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Or whatever you can do. In and then slowly out. We’re going to try this five times.

And now we’re going to shift from our breath back to the body and we’re just going to check in. See how everything feels.

As you feel comfortable, maybe you want to end on an affirmation. Remind yourself that you are enough. If that doesn’t feel good to you, maybe it’s a simple thank you. It can be hard to feel grateful sometimes, but sometimes finding one tiny thing to be grateful for can help things feel more manageable. For me, I find that practicing being grateful helps make other things feel more manageable.

So thank you all for being here and joining us. Thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for being you.