May You Have A Wonderful Day

Making sure that you're somewhere in a comfortable space,

Making yourself comfortable,

Maybe shifting your seat a little bit and if it's comfortable for you,

Closing your eyes,

Or other ways,

Lowering your gaze,

If that's more comfortable and then maybe giving a bit of an extra sigh,

Welcoming yourself,

Arriving in the meditation and as you sigh like this,

The way we do it in Holland,

I've noticed travelling around the world that there are different gestures or different ways of expressing things around the world,

Which can be very subtle,

But imagine that you have just lifted something heavy for example,

And you've put it down,

You've placed it elsewhere,

And then the sigh that we do in Holland is like this and maybe you have a different sigh where you are,

Where you're from,

Where you're living and I've noticed,

One of my meditation teachers likes to do this before meditations and I've noticed how helpful it is to really help you land and ground and just let go of the daily disturbances,

The daily heavy weight that we're carrying a bit more so maybe inhaling through your nose and then out through the mouth,

Or a couple of times or if you're sitting somewhere where you're a little self-conscious,

Making this sound,

Or making the sound you normally make then just pretending,

Fake it till you make it,

Right?

And then as you're settling in,

Doing a brief scan through the body,

Starting with the top of the head,

Placing your attention at the top of the head,

Or perhaps showering the top of the head with your attention,

And then showering your attention down and noticing as you're scanning through the head,

If there are places that you can soften a little bit more,

Without forcing it practicing to be extra kind to yourself in this meditation,

So with kindness,

With gentleness,

Maybe softening the eyes a little bit the tiny muscles around the eyes,

The jaw,

The lips,

The entire mouth,

Softening that area maybe bringing a smile to the eyes and the mouth,

Curling the lips a little maybe softening the throat area,

Perhaps you're not even noticing there's tension held in that area and the shoulders,

Imagining a melting of the shoulders,

From ice to water,

Softer and the chest and the heart area,

Maybe connecting to the heart,

If you can notice it's beating or perhaps warmth radiating,

Or just the feeling or the image of the heart connecting to that your center for empathy and compassion showering your attention further down,

Scanning through the back,

The lower back,

The belly,

Making the belly soft this belly the center of intuition,

Of gut feelings maybe you have a difficult relationship with your belly,

Or maybe the opposite,

Whatever it is,

It's okay the way it is no need to judge it or wish it to be different connecting your attention to the sit bones,

In connection to whatever you're sitting on or lying on perhaps and seeing if you can maybe let yourself relax into that seat or onto that surface a tiny bit more scanning further down the legs,

The knees,

The calves,

Until finally you arrive at the feet perhaps noticing contact between the feet and the floor,

The weight of the feet and whatever is holding your feet,

Containing your feet,

Maybe socks,

Shoes,

Slippers,

Flip flops maybe your feet are bare,

Directly connected to the surface they're resting on and then seeing if you can widen your attention out from the body,

From the feet,

And bringing your attention to the space around you noticing the space in front of you and behind to your sides,

Above you,

Below you recognizing that the space around you is infinite,

Maybe you're sitting in a room,

There are walls around you,

Maybe multiple walls you're in a building or maybe you're outside,

But wherever you are the space is infinite,

You are but a tiny dot in an enormous universe and yet you,

That tiny dot,

You can make such a difference to yourself,

To your experience to your interactions and therefore also to the people around you,

And to the planet and ultimately that way also to the universe and then gathering your attention again and bringing your attention to the movement of the breath in the body bringing your attention to the place in the body where you notice the breath most clearly most effortlessly as well,

Maybe at the nostrils or the rising and falling of the chest,

Maybe the movement of the belly and if you'd like to support your attention because you're tired or because maybe you're going through something difficult and your attention is pulled in that direction then you can support your attention by placing a hand on the belly and following the hand moving up as you inhale and the hand moving down as you exhale riding the waves of the breath and letting all the other waves,

Sounds and thoughts,

Bodily sensations not letting them all wave in the background as it were,

Be part of your experience but placing the majority of your attention on the waves of the breath and if at some point you notice the mind has wandered and seeing if you can bring some extra gentleness to that wandering,

Maybe smile and then with that same smile and gentleness bringing your attention back to the focus on the breath following each inhalation and each exhalation for its full duration noticing the breath moving in and the breath moving out and then bringing to mind someone that you care for dearly,

Someone or something,

It could be a pet as well,

A cat or a dog or a horse or whatever,

Animal or maybe your loved one,

Your partner,

A child,

Siblings,

Parents,

A friend,

A benefactor and bringing that person to mind and seeing if you can visualize them standing in front of you or if visualization is difficult for you then perhaps just noticing the feeling,

The emotions that come up as you think about this person,

As you remember them and exploring whatever sensations you feel in the body as you do this maybe there's a sense of warmth in the body,

Some tingling,

Maybe a sparkly feeling,

Tenderness and then wishing a simple thing for this person,

May you have a wonderful day repeating that to yourself silently,

Maybe seeing them smile,

May you have a wonderful day,

Simple,

Joyful and if you want to you can place a hand on your heart and say their name and I love you and then slowly letting this person drift into the background and then bringing the focus of your attention on yourself noticing yourself sitting here with whatever is going on for you in this time in your life and connecting to yourself and wishing the same to you,

To yourself,

May you have a beautiful day,

A wonderful day and repeating your own name and saying I love you I love you,

And maybe this is not easy for you,

Maybe you're struggling with this and your version is a bit like I will try to love you as best as I can,

To my best ability and whatever that ability is it's good enough,

Whatever version of love you can allow yourself to receive from yourself that's golden,

It's a gift and then bringing to mind someone you maybe have a neutral feeling for,

Someone that you often run into in the local supermarket someone that works at the cash desk,

Cash register or someone that you see in the street often,

Or whatever other person,

A colleague that you're not very familiar with for example bringing that person to mind in a way that works for you,

Visualizing them,

Bringing them to mind as a sensation,

A feeling and then wishing the same to this person,

Saying their name perhaps and may you have a wonderful day or if you don't know their name,

Simply may you have a wonderful day and even though you don't know this person too well,

Keeping in mind that in a way we're all one so maybe even saying to them I love you moving beyond conditioning,

Loving someone you don't know,

How wonderful is that and then letting this person move into the background and then bringing to mind someone that you've had difficulty with recently or are struggling with in a mild way if it's a difficult argument,

Then maybe seeing if you can find someone else to work with as it were someone that you've had a smaller argument with,

A change in perception,

Disagreement someone that said something that hurt your feelings or upset you in any way maybe someone that you're having trouble understanding for whatever views they have or whatever behaviour they display and bringing this person to mind and this could be difficult as well and if it is then see if you can accept it life is not meant to be all butterflies and chirping birds,

Difficulty is part of it it teaches us lessons,

It's a gift in a way and bringing this person to mind however works for you and remembering that just like you,

This person also yearns to be loved and accepted and heard and seen for who they are even if they trouble you,

Hurt you just like you it's a person of flesh and blood with maybe some physical pains and discomforts mental pains and discomforts going through struggles just like you having moments of joy and happiness just like you and bringing that simple wish to them as well,

May you have a wonderful day and perhaps even,

Maybe you felt it coming,

Saying their name saying I love you or I will try not to hate you I will try to like you or I will try to see that you are just like me and as you are moving this person to the background,

Expanding your attention and bringing to your feel of awareness all living beings all sentient beings on our planet or even beyond perhaps,

Who knows and then repeating the following sentences may all beings be free from harm may all beings be held in loving presence,

Filled with loving presence may all beings touch great and natural peace and may all beings be free