Revisiting A Lived Moment Of Joy

I invite you to take a few deep breaths,

Inhaling and exhaling in such a way that you feel it all the way deep down into your abdomen,

Gently turning that breath and awareness to the natural rhythm.

With each breath letting go of any thoughts or activities that had you and your awareness coming to this practice,

Settling into the body.

Begin to notice where the breath appears the strongest.

This might be the physical entering of air at your nostrils,

The rise and fall of your shoulders,

Perhaps noticing the expansion of your belly.

And bring some curiosity to that experience of breath.

Does it have a particular rhythm,

Texture,

Moisture,

Temperature?

With each breath,

Let go even more deeply into the practice of breathing.

Now,

While rooted in breath,

I invite you to bring a visualization to your mind,

A recent experience or moment that brought you warmth,

Connection,

And joy.

Something that brings a smile to your face,

Perhaps even now as you recollect it.

If you find it hard to think of a memory,

You might consider physically smiling first,

Bringing that turn to your lips and seeing how that shifts your body.

If you have a memory,

I invite you to become close to it.

What was said?

Who were you with?

Expand your experience of that moment to include all of your senses.

Was there a particular sound or taste,

Smell,

Touch?

And have that also enter the visual and the visualization.

With this physical experience clear in your mind,

I'd like you to tap in to the emotional experience,

To the feelings,

Thoughts,

Perceptions.

What is it about that moment or experience that makes it memorable?

And let's take this one layer deeper,

Dropping out of the mind and now into your heart.

The invitation is to drop into the experience deeply in this present moment of all the emotions,

Physical sensations of that experience.

Now letting go of that visualization,

Releasing any images or thoughts,

Emotions.

Just resting in this open awareness,

The experience of the body itself.

As we close this practice,

I'd like you to form an aspiration,

An intention,

Something you're placing out to the universe to create a sense of completion.

Take a moment just to notice that experience again in your body.

When I ring the bell,

Take a few deep breaths before returning.