Breathing Joy And Peace: An Evening Meditation

Deciding whether you would like to be seated this evening or lying down.

And making yourself extremely comfortable,

So making sure that that pillow might be just right or your clothing is not interfering or causing any tension.

And as we begin this evening,

We will just start to gently inhale.

And let out our day and our week with an audible sigh.

And we can do that one more time.

Inhale.

Noticing after you had sighed out anything,

If you can make yourself even more comfortable than you just were.

As we first begin this evening,

Let's just start to notice our breath.

Bringing ourselves in inside the body and finding a focal point.

Ways to notice your breath are you can just imagine the breath traveling down through the torso with the inhale.

And then as you exhale,

The breath goes out.

Maybe you notice the physical parts of the body that move with the inhale and they expand.

Then the exhale,

Those parts of the body will gently fall and let go.

So however this evening,

You'd like to notice your breath just beginning to do so.

And we'll add on to this in a moment.

The next time you inhale,

I want you to imagine as if you are pulling in joy.

And you can even say the word joy as you inhale.

And then as you exhale,

Peace.

So that is inhaling joy.

And then exhaling peace.

Noticing as you continue to recite these words,

If you're feeling a little bit different physically inside.

Maybe you can feel a little bit lighter.

Maybe your face feels brighter.

Just noticing what might have shifted by just invoking these two words.

And knowing that the energy associated with these words is powerful and your thoughts can bring them in.

And you can release out peace just by reciting these words.

And from this place,

Now beginning to ground ourselves.

Bringing your awareness to where your root chakra is located.

It is located near the perineum.

It is right below the tailbone,

The base of the spine.

Your root chakra is a wheel,

The word wheel,

Or excuse me,

The word chakra just translates to wheel.

And it is a red color located in this area.

So a red ball.

Beginning to imagine as if there is a rope growing from this area.

And your rope will travel down through each of the layers of the earth.

And once it reaches the center of the earth,

Your rope will wrap around,

Locking you in.

And you can begin to inhale up the properties of the earth,

Which is stability and stableness into your body.

And then you can exhale out anything not serving you through the rope to the earth to be recycled.

And we'll stay with that for a moment,

Inhaling up.

Feeling stable and steady.

And exhaling out any sadness,

Anger,

Fear,

Anxiety.

Now connecting ourselves to something above us.

Going up to the crown chakra,

Which is located at the top of the head,

The very top.

And you can imagine as if this area is opening up and there is a beautiful white light from the top of your head connecting you to something bigger than yourself.

We all have different beliefs.

It could be God for you.

It could be nature.

It could be the sun.

It could be Buddha.

Anything perhaps that maybe you believe in.

And you can imagine as if that beautiful white light is connecting to that source.

And that light shines down from the source,

Filling up your entire body.

Knowing that you are in a state of now feeling grounded yet connected.

And then beginning to place three extra layers of protection around our energy fields.

The first one will be a blue bubble that we will place around our body.

So about two feet away from the actual physical body outside your energy field.

This blue bubble is for protection.

Next,

Placing a pink one right on the outside of this.

This one is for infinite answers and definitive answers.

And the last one is gold.

Unconditional love.

Knowing that you are protected in this space.

Knowing that you are safe and open to be vulnerable.

Now connecting to our heart center,

Which is located in the center of the chest.

It's the very center chakra.

The color green is associated with it.

And when our heart chakra is aligned,

The three chakras above can open as well as the three below can open.

Beginning to sense how your heart space is feeling,

How your heart chakra is feeling.

You can sense either the physical sensations with this area.

Maybe you can see a specific type of a green color.

So just letting yourself explore this area.

And if you don't know what you're even exploring,

Then maybe you just stick with the physical sensations.

Or maybe if it starts to become too complicated,

You just stick to the physical.

And another physical aspect is maybe you just feel your breath moving in with the inhale and then exhale out.

So when you inhale,

Your chest rises,

The air fills this area.

And when you exhale,

The body falls,

You release the breath.

With a vulnerable eye,

With curiosity,

Exploring this area.

And if you are sticking with the physical sensations and you feel like you need to move other parts of the body,

Then go ahead and do so.

So sometimes when I feel the breath in my chest,

All of a sudden I feel the need to maybe open my hands or stretch in another way.

So don't hold back anything else.

Don't feel like you need to be stuck.

And now I want you to bring yourself to your favorite location.

It could be maybe somewhere where you travel.

Maybe it's even your bed.

Maybe it's a tree in your backyard.

Someplace where you feel like you can be yourself.

Someplace where you feel safe or brings you deep joy.

Taking a seat in this place.

Noticing the colors associated with this location.

Are there any specific sounds?

Are there any smells or tastes associated with this area?

When you think of this location,

How does it make your body physically feel?

Without analyzing and over-interpreting,

Just notice if your jaw feels relaxed or your shoulders feel like they released away from your ears.

Does your face feel brighter?

And it's okay if you still have tightness or bracing within the body.

Just noticing the sensations that arise when you think of this place.

And as you are seated in this location,

I want you to call upon a younger version of yourself.

The first age that comes to you.

Bring that person in.

Maybe you can see exactly what you looked like at that age.

Or maybe you just feel the figure next to you.

And whether you mentally knew it or not,

You chose that specific age for a reason.

Begin to have a conversation with that version of yourself.

You can ask a question.

Maybe it's something you need to know now,

Some advice.

You could sit in silence and just notice what might come up.

You can ask if you can help that version of yourself.

Or maybe even just give that version of yourself a hug.

Sitting here and just seeing where this might go.

Is there something that that version of yourself needs right now?

Is there something you might need to do or say?

Or maybe right now you just want to sit in silence,

Both together,

Enjoying your very favorite place.

If at any point you feel as though maybe it's becoming too heavy or you're done speaking to that version of yourself,

You can always just sit there and notice what you see and feel in your very favorite location.

Or you can even call to mind something that happened recently that brings you deep joy.

And you can even titrate between the place that brings you joy and then maybe going back to that version of yourself.

Noticing how you're also physically feeling.

And so the physical sensations are a big tell of whether maybe you need to pause and think of something that brings you joy.

And we'll stay here for about a minute.

And so if there's anything you want to do or say,

You can take your time to do so now.

And knowing that your time is coming to an end shortly.

And so sending deep gratitude to that person,

That version of you.

Gratitude for the journey from that place to now.

Gratitude for the lessons you have learned.

Gratitude for your experiences,

Your memories.

Gratitude for those moments that bring you deep joy.

Gratitude for those moments that make you laugh really hard.

Gratitude for the people who have surrounded you,

Your family,

Your friends,

Even people you might not know that just pass by you on a daily basis.

Gratitude for your shelter,

For your home,

Gratitude for the food and water and the people who help prepare the food for you,

The farmers.

Gratitude for yourself.

Knowing that meditation is always a practice.

And so wherever you are this evening,

Being grateful for that place.

Because even if we feel uncomfortable,

Or if our head is busy,

Just knowing that that's information about where we are in this moment,

And we will always be in this exact moment.

Connecting to your heart space one more time.

Checking in with the state of it,

Physical sensations,

Maybe the color is different,

Maybe it feels different.

Maybe you even feel the need to place your hands on this area.

And however you connect to this heart space,

I want you from this area to send love out to someone else.

Someone you love deeply,

Someone who might need it,

Even a community or people you might not know.

And with your attention on this heart space,

Sending love to yourself one more time.

Inhaling joy,

Exhaling peace.

Feeling the heart center move as the breath builds it with each inhale.

And it releases and let's go with each exhale.

And from my heart center to each of yours,

I am deeply grateful that you have joined me this evening.

Namaste.