Welcome to your meditation practice,
Where finding joy and pleasure in your life is the focus.
Let's begin by just finding a comfortable position for your body,
Whether that's sitting up tall in a chair,
Sitting on the ground,
Or finding a comfortable spot to lie down.
Give yourself a moment to let go of the rest of the world by taking a full body breath in and open the mouth and sigh out your day.
Allow yourself to stay with this deep breath,
Breathing so deep and low that you feel the belly rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
You might even place a hand at the lower belly to encourage this feeling of rise and fall with the breath.
Allow yourself to imagine that as the breath rolls in,
It's like an ocean wave coming into the body,
Cleansing,
Nourishing.
As you exhale out,
You might even hear a gentle roar of the ocean as you let go.
Give yourself a moment here to sit with this deep low belly breath,
To feel it,
To cleanse,
And to feel the joy of being alive.
And as you enjoy this sweet breath flowing in and flowing out,
You might feel the energy of the earth flowing out.
Come back to that sweetness,
That joy of being here on this earth,
In this body,
Surrounded by opportunity,
Surrounded by love,
Surrounded by clean water and air.
Give yourself a moment to call in gratitude for each breath,
For each heartbeat,
For all the systems within the body that take place without you even having to control them.
As you breathe in this gratitude,
Allow yourself to notice how calm and safe and relaxed you feel here in this moment.
Allow yourself to enjoy the sound of your own personal ocean as the breath flows in and flows out.
As you continue to breathe deeply and fully,
Bring to mind a time where you felt joyful,
Playful,
Where pleasure took over the body,
The mind,
And you were able to feel in complete awe and wonder.
Perhaps this is a memory from long ago.
Perhaps this is a recent memory of laughing with a friend or finding pleasure with a partner.
It's not so important what this looks like.
What's most important is how you can bring in that feeling of joy and pleasure.
Notice how real in this moment this pleasure can feel.
If the sweetness brings a little smile to your face,
So be it.
Enjoy it.
If it's difficult to recall a time where you felt this way,
Perhaps you can make a happy place in the mind's eye as if you're sitting at the edge of the ocean noticing the expansion,
How far the ocean reaches back to the horizon,
And still listening to that roll of the ocean waves coming from your breath.
Allow yourself to acknowledge all the small things in life that can bring you pleasure.
Imagine something as simple as feeling clean water rolling down the body in the shower.
Perhaps it's noticing a flower.
Maybe it's sipping your tea in the morning,
Preparing for your day.
Let's bring in the intention to start noticing these little spots of sweet pleasure throughout our day.
Notice meditation as an anchor,
As a reminder that there is always some point of joy to be appreciated.
In our roughest and darkest times,
There are actions,
Thoughts that you can bring to yourself to find little pockets of joy and of wonder.
Again,
Take a full belly breath in and a complete breath out.
Allow a sweet,
Gentle smile to come to the lips.
Maybe this feels like faking it until you make it,
And that's okay too.
Maybe you have to imagine puppies or kittens or a laughing baby.
Whatever it takes to bring the sweet smile to your face and breathe in that energy and breathe out.
Such a simple yet powerful gesture.
Such a quick yet powerful practice to stop,
To slow down,
To remind yourself that you control the flow.
You control your life and emotion,
That you are safe.
You are creative and you can create this smile,
This gratitude,
This pocket of joy anytime you wish throughout any sort of day or situation.
Perhaps the mind has ideas,
Has opinions about this practice.
That's okay too.
Just notice,
Acknowledge,
And come back to feeling the breath in and out.
Let this gentle smile come to you in times of joy,
But also in times of need,
Of heaviness.
Allow yourself to nourish.
Allow yourself to slow down,
To close your eyes,
And to visit the sweet,
Pleasurable ocean that comes to you in this breath.
Take a moment to celebrate,
To celebrate who you are,
To celebrate everything you're able to share with yourself and with loved ones,
To celebrate everything you've accomplished and everything you're actively accomplishing,
Even in the stillness.
We breathe in pleasure,
Joy,
And wonder fully.
And we breathe out to make space for this fresh breath and energy.
Stay with this breath for as long as you would like.
Or if you're ready,
You can gently open the eyes,
Look around,
And find something that perhaps can bring you that little pocket of joy and wonder.
