Let's begin with step one,
Notice.
Take a moment to tune into yourself and feel whatever emotions are rising within you.
Are you holding any tension in your body that you can release as your awareness lands on it?
Bring your attention to your feet.
Are they tense?
Or are they relaxed?
Slowly scan up through the rest of your body,
Softening each area as you go.
Step two,
Bring your attention to your breath.
Keep breathing normally,
But just start to notice the breath coming in and out.
Begin to gently extend your breath with lots of ease,
Relaxing into it.
Imagine your breath arriving into your body through your nose or mouth and flowing deep into your heart.
Keep the visualization of your breath flowing in and out of your heart.
And just stay here for a few moments,
Breathing.
Step three,
Activate.
The human experience is often a painful one.
They're as little as painful as a broken heart.
The pain is so,
So real.
As a society,
We are so unwilling to feel the pain or even some mild discomfort.
A huge part of our culture and economy is built on numbing.
We numb through shopping,
Food,
Technology,
Substances,
Work.
We also numb through obsessive thought patterns as they distract us from something much larger and more difficult to grasp.
You feel a familiar upwelling,
An emotion that may be too much,
And we are immediately reaching for our phone,
Something from the fridge,
Or even a list of reasons why we should not be feeling what we are feeling in that moment.
Rilke speaks of the task of feeling the magnitude of grief as pushing through solid rock.
This is truly suffering.
And if we are not vigilant,
We can become very stuck here,
Unable to reach a place of healing as we continue to pick at the wounds and create new ones with each passing day.
But our challenge has to be to avoid robbing ourselves of the opportunity to collect the wisdom and openness of a heart that has surrendered to its own breaking.
The reality of the pain in the present moment is the path that little by little will lead us to new beginnings,
New wisdom,
And eventually new love.
When we allow ourselves to die to our internal winter,
Only then can we put our faith in the promise of spring.
Step 4 Peace Beam Now is the part of the practice where we intend unlimited goodness for ourselves and for all beings.
Allow your heart to radiate with your innate goodness and beauty.
Now take this into your day and let your internal light shine brightly out to all other beings.
Have a beautiful day.
