Open Space Exercise
"The Backpack"
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
In this approximately 20-minute awareness exercise, I turn inward and notice what is occupying me right now. Without drifting into rumination, I direct my attention to where and how my body carries burdens, worries, or unresolved themes — perhaps as pressure, tightness, heaviness, or restlessness.
The image of a backpack helps me: a pack I am carrying, filled with everything that currently weighs on me or demands my energy. For a while, I am allowed to set the individual items down in front of me…
Toward the end of the exercise, I also discover within myself a place that feels lighter and freer — an inner open space that is always there, even when much feels heavy. I notice how this open space feels and savor the moment for a while.
In this attitude, I hear Jesus’ invitation:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”
Audio guide
*This exercise is used with kind permission of Peter Lincoln and has been slightly adapted.
From: Lincoln, Peter (2007): How Faith Finds the Body. Focusing as a Spiritual Path of Practice. Aussaat Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn. Accompanying CD.