Hello and welcome to this meditation.
Today we're just going to stop in,
Slow down,
And take a moment to cultivate gratitude and joy in our lives.
We'll keep this meditation short so that it can be done anytime,
Any place,
Anyhow.
All you need is a comfortable place to sit or lie down to begin.
Once you find that comfortable seat,
Whatever that looks like for you,
Posture is okay if you want to relax.
Lean back in your seat.
Let your feet plant to the floor or dangle in the air almost with childlike wonderment.
Allow your arms to rest wherever they naturally want to fall,
Whatever is just the most comfortable for you wherever you are.
If you're at work,
In the comfort of your home,
In your safe space,
On a busy bus,
Wherever you are,
Allow yourself to fully relax,
Feeling supported,
Supported by the seat,
By the floor,
By the ground,
Whatever it is that your body is connected to.
And take a moment if you feel comfortable doing so,
Allow the eyes to flutter closed.
And if that's not comfortable,
It's okay.
Find one point in front of you,
Maybe two to three feet in front of you.
And just soften the gaze into that point,
Focusing,
Focusing softly so that even the eyes,
Though they are still being used,
Can relax too.
And begin noticing,
Not changing,
Noticing how you're breathing.
Always remembering that you can come back to your breath to anchor you to the moment,
To anchor you to your body,
To anchor you out of emotional stimulation,
Out of stress,
Out of anxiety,
And back into what is,
Back into being,
Back into gratitude,
Back into joy,
Back into love.
Still breathing,
Noticing if the breath is getting stuck,
In and out.
And we'll use the breath to guide us through a quick body scan.
And we'll start with the head,
Looking for areas of tension,
Of stagnant energy.
Maybe if you're like me,
You,
Your eyes,
Your forehead,
Your brow is furrowed and your eyes are tense.
And so you relax the cheeks and the forehead and you unfurl the brow,
Inhaling up into the head and exhaling,
Relaxing each and every muscle.
Inhale into the neck and the throat,
Exhale to relax,
Inhale into both of the shoulders,
Maybe even take a moment to lift the shoulders towards the ears so that when you exhale,
The shoulders relax,
Allowing the shoulder blades to move down the spine,
Away from the ears,
Releasing that tension,
Melting into that support underneath you.
Inhaling into both arms,
Relaxing the palms on the exhale,
The forearms,
The biceps and the triceps.
Inhaling into the chest and the back body,
Between the shoulder blades,
And exhaling to relax,
Inhaling into the lower back and the lower abdomen,
Exhaling to relax,
Inhaling,
Taking a moment in the hips,
The emotional centers of the body,
Noticing if there's any tightness or tension in the hips and then exhaling,
Release it,
Inhaling into both legs,
Upper leg,
Lower leg,
Ankles,
Feet,
All the way out to the big toes and exhaling long,
Slow exhale,
Releasing all the tension in the entire body,
Just being.
And now taking a moment to think of maybe a person or maybe an animal or maybe a sentimental item,
Something or person or living creature in your life that brings you joy,
That when you think of this thing,
Maybe it's a life event,
Maybe it's the feeling of swinging on a swing set on a sunny day,
Maybe you like to hike and it's that feeling right as you crest the peak of a mountain and see the astounding view of God's creation.
Maybe it is your spouse or your child or your pet,
Your cat,
Your dog,
Maybe your goldfish,
Whoever or whatever this thing or scenario is in your mind's eye,
Allow it to bring you joy,
To bring you comfort,
Maybe allow the edges of your mouth to draw upwards towards your eyes and just sit with this feeling.
When you're ready,
Let go of the thing,
Let go of the person,
Let go of the animal,
Let go of the scenario and allow the joy to remain.
Breathing into that feeling of bliss,
Maybe the in-breaths magnify that feeling and allow it to expand.
With each in-breath,
The feeling grows more and more expansive.
With each out-breath,
The body may deflate but the feeling remains.
Allow that feeling to spread into each and every part of your body.
Notice that feeling of light,
Lovely joy,
Bliss,
Happiness permeating each and every muscle fiber,
Cell,
Bone,
Each and every organ,
Each and every piece of your body.
Maybe this feeling of joy becomes so powerful that you find yourself not just with the corners of your mouth towards the eyes but smiling wherever you are,
Smiling,
Experiencing that joy,
Magnifying that feeling so that no matter who or what you come in contact with today,
That feeling is so big inside of you that it has no choice but to spread,
That you have no choice but to giggle,
To smile and to laugh in light-hearted love,
Joy and bliss as if you had this childlike wonderment at the life in front of you.
As if you could see each opportunity that you have to share it with other people.
Take a moment and rest in that feeling of joy,
Continuing to breathe in and out this bliss,
Knowing that this feeling of joy,
It is within you,
It is not attached to your external circumstances,
It is only within you and it is always within you.
I promised a short meditation so please I invite you to remain in this feeling of joy as long as you can and as long as you will but whenever you're ready wiggle your fingers and toes,
Maybe take some smaller scale movements like your wrists and your ankles,
Transitioning with your in and out breaths into larger movements before if your eyes were closed,
Fluttering them open,
Coming back ready and willing to share this joy that you have now cultivated,
This moment of bliss with any and everyone you see or meet today.
Thank you for taking the time to practice with me.
Namaste.
