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Find the Green Shoot: A Meditation for Quiet Renewal
A quiet, unhurried meditation for anyone feeling like something in them has been asleep for a while. This practice uses the imagery of spring — a green shoot pressing through dark earth — to gently explore what might be ready to return: energy, curiosity, joy, creativity. No forcing, no fixing. Just noticing what rises when you give it room.
All episodes of Inner Peace Meditations are brought to you without adverts by the generous donations of listeners treating Steven to a coffee.
DETAILS
Level: All levels Practice type: Body scan, Breath awareness, Guided imagery Duration: ~15:00 Companion episode: Stillness in the Storms EP162 — “What Rises When You Stop Pushing“
WHO IS THIS FOR?
- You feel like you’ve been running on empty and something in you has gone quiet — energy, motivation, curiosity — and you’re not sure how to get it back
- You’re coming out of a difficult stretch and want a gentle way to reconnect with yourself without pressure
- You find it hard to meditate when you’re told to “just relax” — you need something more specific and sensory to follow
- You want a short spring practice that honours where you are right now, not where you think you should be
- You’ve never meditated before and want somewhere warm and unintimidating to start
BENEFITS
- A felt sense of settling in your body before anything is asked of you
- Space to notice what’s been dormant without needing to force it awake
- A grounding connection to the season — spring as something happening in you, not just around you
- A gentle return to wakefulness through a slow, guided count-back
- A reminder that renewal doesn’t require effort — the seed doesn’t need permission to grow
ABOUT STEVEN WEBB
Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, podcaster, politician, and the host of Inner Peace Meditations. A former mayor of Truro in the county of Cornwall, Steven continues to split his time between politics and the contemplative work he is best known for. After a life-changing accident left him paralysed from the chest down, he found his way to inner peace through mindfulness, Zen philosophy, and the teachings of Alan Watts and Shunryu Suzuki. He now helps others find calm and resilience — especially those who find meditation difficult. Steven lives in Cornwall, England and shares his work at stevenwebb.com. You can also find his podcast on politics and public life, Stillness in the Storms, at https://stillnessinthestorms.com/
KEYWORDS
guided meditation, inner peace, spring meditation, renewal, awakening, beginner’s mind, body scan, dormancy, gentle meditation, beginner friendly
<p>Steven: [00:00:00] I'm Steven Webb and welcome to What Arises. This meditation is a companion to today's episode on stillness In the storms where we talked about renewal, about the things that come back to us in life when we stop trying to force them. Today, we're going to just sit with that gently, no effort required.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to listen to the podcast to benefit from this meditation. So just find a comfortable place to sit, whether you are lying down or sitting. Whatever your body is asking for. And when you're ready, let your eyes close or just soften your gaze, letting them rest just a few feet in front of you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>No focus. Just rest.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And let's begin where we always start with the body. ~Feel the weight of yourself. ~Feel the weight of yourself wherever you are, resting the chair, the bed or the floor. [00:01:00] Feel the surface holding you. You don't have to adjust anything.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to sit up straighter or relax or your shoulders. You don't have to do anything that you think meditation requires. Just feel yourself be held.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently just let the body begin to soften. Start with the face, the muscles around the eyes, your jaw. Notice if it's clenched at all. Just let it loosen</p>
<p></p>
<p>down through the neck. The shoulders, let the shoulders [00:02:00] drop. ~They've been carrying all things all week.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>They've been carrying things all week. They can put them down for a few minutes down through your chest, the belly, let your belly be soft. Let it rise and fall without you managing it</p>
<p></p>
<p>down through your hips, your legs, and your feet. Just a gentle wave of permission moving through the whole body. You can hold it all again later. For now, just let it all go.[00:03:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>And now just notice your breathing. You don't need to change it. Your body already knows exactly how to breathe. It's been doing it beautifully without your help since the moment you arrived. Just notice the rhythm, the in the out, the tiny pauses between them. The little gap where nothing is happening at all.</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Rest your attention wherever you feel the breath most closely.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Bang, bang, bang.~ Rest your attention wherever you feel the breath most clearly. It could be the nose, the chest, the belly, and just stay there with it, like sitting by a river watching it [00:04:00] flow. ~You're not the river.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>You're not the river. You're not trying to change the river. You're just here watching.</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Now I want you to try something generally, and if you don't have to work at this at all, and ~now I want you to try something gently. You don't have to work at this. Just let the question arrive and see what happens. Is there something in you that's been dormant, not something wrong, not a problem, just something that went quiet, something that used to be alive in you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Energy, curiosity, tenderness, joy, creativity, hope.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Something [00:05:00] that's just been sleeping for a while.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to name it precisely, you don't have to understand it. Just notice there's a sense of something that's been resting underground, out of sight waiting. You don't have to go to the story with it. Just recognize what it is</p>
<p></p>
<p>and whatever comes up, or if nothing comes up, that's fine too. Just be with it the way you'd sit with a garden in early spring. You wouldn't dig up the bulbs and whatever [00:06:00] comes up, or if nothing comes up, that's fine too. Just be with it the way you'd be with a garden early spring, you wouldn't dig up the bulbs to check if they're growing.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You'd just sit nearby and trust that something is happening underneath.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now I want you to imagine something very simply, very gently imagine a patch of dark Earth, winter Earth. It's been cold for a long time. The surface is bare. Nothing seems to be happening,[00:07:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>and then slowly, so slowly you almost missed it. A tiny green chute pushes through just the tip, barely visible, fragile. Unmistakably alive.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It didn't need anyone's permission to appear, it didn't need to be perfect or fully formed. It just rose. 'cause that's what life does. It rises.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now that that image settled in your chest.[00:08:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>In the heart space, that small green determined thing pushing through the dark ground, and consider the possibility that something like that is happening in you right now. Not dramatic, not loud, , just a quiet beginning that you might not have noticed just yet.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to do anything with this. That's the key thing. You don't have to pull the shoot up faster. You don't have understand where it's going or what it's doing. You just have to let it be there. The breath is still moving [00:09:00] in and out, and with each breath you can imagine warmth, reaching down into the soil, not forcing anything, just warmth, just light.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Just the quiet conditions that allow things to grow in their own time.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Their thoughts come let them come. They're just weather passing through the shoot. Doesn't mind the weather. It grows anyway and so does whatever is waking you up now, and so does whatever is waking up in [00:10:00] you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>. Spring is beginner's mind visible. Every blossom is seeing the world for the first time. Every new leaf is a first leaf.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The season doesn't remember last year's spring. It just begins again, completely new, completely itself.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to hold it, just touch it just for a breath or two.[00:11:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>The freshness is being here. Right now with nothing to prove and nowhere to go.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently, I want you to widen your attention one more time beyond your body, beyond this room. Outside, wherever you can see it or not. Spring is happening. Light is lasting longer, the air is shifting. Things that have been dormant all winter are beginning to stir. Birds are returning, flowers are opening somewhere nearby.</p>
<p></p>
<p>A tree that look dead three weeks ago [00:12:00] is putting out his first tiny leaves. None of it is in a hurry. None of it is trying to arrive. It's just arriving quietly. Certainly in its own time,</p>
<p></p>
<p>the daffodil is not trying to compete with another daffodil. It's just blooming anyway. It doesn't complain. It's beside the road. It blooms anyway, and you are part of that, not separate from it, not watching from the outside. You are part of it. Your body knows the same rooms as the trees and the birds.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Your body knows the same rhythms as the trees and the [00:13:00] birds.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently this begin to come back, let the images go, the shoot, the garden, the spring, let them dissolve like fresh air, come back to the body. Your body, the weight of it, the warmth of it, the simple quiet fact of being here, breathing alive.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm going to count back from five down to one, and with each number, let yourself return a little more to the room, to the morning, to the day ahead, but carry something with you, a sense of something arising. Something, returning something you don't have to force. So five, just feeling the body again for notice the [00:14:00] space around you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Three. Gently move your fingers and toes, bringing that little energy back into your hands and feet. Two, taking a slightly deeper breath. Feeling the subtle flurry into the present moment. And one, when you're ready, just gently open your eyes and look at whatever's in front of you, something that you've never seen before, because it's always different every time you see it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Not in this light, not in this moment, not in this version of yourself. Everything always changes. So welcome back and Happy Spring. Thank you for being here. I'm Steven Webb and this meditation is a companion to today's Stillness in the Storms. Episode 1 6 2, water Arises. You can find that wherever you listen to your podcast or at stevenwebb.uk.</p>
<p></p>
<p>These meditations exist because of kind [00:15:00] people who support the work with a small donation. The link is in the show notes. Thank you genuinely to everyone who does that. Thank you genuinely to everyone who does that. And to all you listeners, please leave a review. Please have a peaceful day. Until next time.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Stay open, let things grow, and be kind to yourself. Thank you for your support.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to listen to the podcast to benefit from this meditation. So just find a comfortable place to sit, whether you are lying down or sitting. Whatever your body is asking for. And when you're ready, let your eyes close or just soften your gaze, letting them rest just a few feet in front of you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>No focus. Just rest.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And let's begin where we always start with the body. ~Feel the weight of yourself. ~Feel the weight of yourself wherever you are, resting the chair, the bed or the floor. [00:01:00] Feel the surface holding you. You don't have to adjust anything.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to sit up straighter or relax or your shoulders. You don't have to do anything that you think meditation requires. Just feel yourself be held.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently just let the body begin to soften. Start with the face, the muscles around the eyes, your jaw. Notice if it's clenched at all. Just let it loosen</p>
<p></p>
<p>down through the neck. The shoulders, let the shoulders [00:02:00] drop. ~They've been carrying all things all week.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>They've been carrying things all week. They can put them down for a few minutes down through your chest, the belly, let your belly be soft. Let it rise and fall without you managing it</p>
<p></p>
<p>down through your hips, your legs, and your feet. Just a gentle wave of permission moving through the whole body. You can hold it all again later. For now, just let it all go.[00:03:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>And now just notice your breathing. You don't need to change it. Your body already knows exactly how to breathe. It's been doing it beautifully without your help since the moment you arrived. Just notice the rhythm, the in the out, the tiny pauses between them. The little gap where nothing is happening at all.</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Rest your attention wherever you feel the breath most closely.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Bang, bang, bang.~ Rest your attention wherever you feel the breath most clearly. It could be the nose, the chest, the belly, and just stay there with it, like sitting by a river watching it [00:04:00] flow. ~You're not the river.~</p>
<p></p>
<p>You're not the river. You're not trying to change the river. You're just here watching.</p>
<p></p>
<p>~Now I want you to try something generally, and if you don't have to work at this at all, and ~now I want you to try something gently. You don't have to work at this. Just let the question arrive and see what happens. Is there something in you that's been dormant, not something wrong, not a problem, just something that went quiet, something that used to be alive in you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Energy, curiosity, tenderness, joy, creativity, hope.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Something [00:05:00] that's just been sleeping for a while.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to name it precisely, you don't have to understand it. Just notice there's a sense of something that's been resting underground, out of sight waiting. You don't have to go to the story with it. Just recognize what it is</p>
<p></p>
<p>and whatever comes up, or if nothing comes up, that's fine too. Just be with it the way you'd sit with a garden in early spring. You wouldn't dig up the bulbs and whatever [00:06:00] comes up, or if nothing comes up, that's fine too. Just be with it the way you'd be with a garden early spring, you wouldn't dig up the bulbs to check if they're growing.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You'd just sit nearby and trust that something is happening underneath.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now I want you to imagine something very simply, very gently imagine a patch of dark Earth, winter Earth. It's been cold for a long time. The surface is bare. Nothing seems to be happening,[00:07:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>and then slowly, so slowly you almost missed it. A tiny green chute pushes through just the tip, barely visible, fragile. Unmistakably alive.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It didn't need anyone's permission to appear, it didn't need to be perfect or fully formed. It just rose. 'cause that's what life does. It rises.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now that that image settled in your chest.[00:08:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>In the heart space, that small green determined thing pushing through the dark ground, and consider the possibility that something like that is happening in you right now. Not dramatic, not loud, , just a quiet beginning that you might not have noticed just yet.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to do anything with this. That's the key thing. You don't have to pull the shoot up faster. You don't have understand where it's going or what it's doing. You just have to let it be there. The breath is still moving [00:09:00] in and out, and with each breath you can imagine warmth, reaching down into the soil, not forcing anything, just warmth, just light.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Just the quiet conditions that allow things to grow in their own time.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Their thoughts come let them come. They're just weather passing through the shoot. Doesn't mind the weather. It grows anyway and so does whatever is waking you up now, and so does whatever is waking up in [00:10:00] you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>. Spring is beginner's mind visible. Every blossom is seeing the world for the first time. Every new leaf is a first leaf.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The season doesn't remember last year's spring. It just begins again, completely new, completely itself.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You don't have to hold it, just touch it just for a breath or two.[00:11:00] </p>
<p></p>
<p>The freshness is being here. Right now with nothing to prove and nowhere to go.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently, I want you to widen your attention one more time beyond your body, beyond this room. Outside, wherever you can see it or not. Spring is happening. Light is lasting longer, the air is shifting. Things that have been dormant all winter are beginning to stir. Birds are returning, flowers are opening somewhere nearby.</p>
<p></p>
<p>A tree that look dead three weeks ago [00:12:00] is putting out his first tiny leaves. None of it is in a hurry. None of it is trying to arrive. It's just arriving quietly. Certainly in its own time,</p>
<p></p>
<p>the daffodil is not trying to compete with another daffodil. It's just blooming anyway. It doesn't complain. It's beside the road. It blooms anyway, and you are part of that, not separate from it, not watching from the outside. You are part of it. Your body knows the same rooms as the trees and the birds.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Your body knows the same rhythms as the trees and the [00:13:00] birds.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And now gently this begin to come back, let the images go, the shoot, the garden, the spring, let them dissolve like fresh air, come back to the body. Your body, the weight of it, the warmth of it, the simple quiet fact of being here, breathing alive.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm going to count back from five down to one, and with each number, let yourself return a little more to the room, to the morning, to the day ahead, but carry something with you, a sense of something arising. Something, returning something you don't have to force. So five, just feeling the body again for notice the [00:14:00] space around you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Three. Gently move your fingers and toes, bringing that little energy back into your hands and feet. Two, taking a slightly deeper breath. Feeling the subtle flurry into the present moment. And one, when you're ready, just gently open your eyes and look at whatever's in front of you, something that you've never seen before, because it's always different every time you see it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Not in this light, not in this moment, not in this version of yourself. Everything always changes. So welcome back and Happy Spring. Thank you for being here. I'm Steven Webb and this meditation is a companion to today's Stillness in the Storms. Episode 1 6 2, water Arises. You can find that wherever you listen to your podcast or at stevenwebb.uk.</p>
<p></p>
<p>These meditations exist because of kind [00:15:00] people who support the work with a small donation. The link is in the show notes. Thank you genuinely to everyone who does that. Thank you genuinely to everyone who does that. And to all you listeners, please leave a review. Please have a peaceful day. Until next time.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Stay open, let things grow, and be kind to yourself. Thank you for your support.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>