Hey there everybody,
This is Kristen from Teaching Balance and I am here with you with this week's mindfulness meditation practice.
We are in the month of July which has the Teaching Balance theme of Joy and Lightness.
And of course,
Summer vacation typically does have the quality of lightness and joy associated with it.
And even though this July is very different than any other July that we've experienced,
At least that I can possibly conceive of,
There is of course still a lot of room for joy and lightness in this time that we have,
Before next year comes around,
Before the next school year and whatever the future holds.
And so for this week,
I thought that I would like to invite you to reflect on the value that lightness has and specifically how embracing lightness can actually give you strength.
So here's what I mean by that.
So when I talk about the term lightness,
Obviously I'm associating it with joy,
There's a quality of not being bogged down by our troubles.
And of course,
We all have troubles,
We all have challenges,
We have challenges from our past,
We have challenges that we're dealing with right now,
And inevitably we're going to have challenges down the road.
That's just kind of how it is.
And there's a part of dealing with all those challenges where some of course just knock you on your butt and that's all you can do until you're able to gather your resources and your strength and recover.
But a lot of them really don't necessarily have to knock you off your feet and don't have to really be as draining as they perhaps potentially could be.
And so when I think about this quality of lightness,
Obviously that includes things like humor,
Pleasure,
Laughter,
Joy,
Community,
Connection,
All of those types of things.
And I can't not also think of the idea of buoyancy.
So the idea of having a lightness,
Being that ball filled with air that pops up to the surface of the water,
That it can get pulled down,
But ultimately there's a buoyancy to it.
And so I'm going to invite you to allow yourself to invite in some buoyancy,
Even when things can be challenging.
And honestly,
Even when they're not,
I think I talked about this last time where sometimes I think people get too much happiness or lightness or buoyancy can actually feel uncomfortable.
They feel like maybe they're not working hard enough and they're not doing enough or that there's a problem there,
Or they're being selfish if they're given the opportunity to feel all of those positive,
Joyful,
Light emotions.
And so whether you feel the emotion and find it disconcerting,
Or actually if it's almost entirely unfamiliar to you,
I'm going to invite you to just let it in.
Not only for all the reasons like it's good for you,
People want to be around you,
It's good for connectivity,
It's good for community,
All those things.
I mean,
Really,
What is the point?
I mean,
Of course,
We want to make a difference in the world and we want to leave the world a better place.
And we also should be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
We should be able to enjoy things with other people and enjoy solitary moments of happiness as well.
And so in my mind,
That really is the point,
To do the good work and then to enjoy what we've done.
And so the invitation for you is to invite in and be willing just to savor some lightness this week.
And even if you start to feel like,
Ah,
That's frivolous or that's silly or I don't have time for that,
Make that shift.
And so here's the final thought that I'll leave you with in this regard.
Having the quality of lightness,
Humor,
Joy,
Pleasure,
All of those things in your life buoys you up so that when things do get hard,
You may not find yourself pulled under quite as deeply to stick with that metaphor.
And so there really is a lot of value to it because it allows you to have a quality of resilience as it allows you to have a quality of agility when it comes to rolling with things.
We all know those people in our lives who just kind of roll with things well.
And in my opinion,
I certainly would like to be one of those people and perhaps you would too.
So just a thought for you to reflect on.
Can you enjoy and savor lightness and joy this week as it naturally occurs?
And also,
Can you maybe carve out some space for it,
Invite it in,
Prioritize it if possible?
So in the spirit of that,
Let's go ahead and try to have a real buoyancy to our practice today.
I'm going to go ahead and set the timer for 10 minutes.
And I might even,
As I'm thinking about it,
I might even bring in some joy types of things as we sit together.
So allow yourself just to settle in,
Finding your seat and sitting in a way that has a posture exemplifying your inherent dignity.
That's the classic wording.
But dare I also invite you to perhaps allow yourself to embody a little bit of joy,
A little bit of lightness.
Thich Nhat Hanh always talks about smiling during meditation.
Breathe in and you breathe out and you breathe in.
And either on the inhale or the exhale or both,
You allow yourself a little smile.
And even if you're not literally bringing up the corners of your mouth,
Can you smile with your body?
What does that feel like for you?
So as we settle into this posture of joyful presence,
If you haven't already,
Let's take a few deep breaths.
Settling in,
Feeling what it feels like to be in your body.
Your body is a refuge.
And even though it may have aches and pains,
Or even if you're dealing with chronic pain,
You can find joy in the physical body.
It might be a little more of a peaceful joy.
But it might also really be a heartful joy,
Like with compassion and kindness meditation where you really radiate out happiness,
Compassion,
And loving kindness.
But I'm going to let you decide for yourself,
What does sitting in joyful presence feel like to you?
As you allow yourself to just be more deeply in your body,
More fully,
You're going to rest your awareness,
Knowing that you can rest your awareness either on sensations associated with the breath,
Like the rising and falling of your chest or your abdomen.
Or even the coolness of the air in and around the nose or mouth.
When it comes to lightness and joy,
They're very closely associated,
I think with gratitude and appreciation.
So if you'd like you can even allow yourself to cultivate a quality of gratitude for the fact that your body does breathe without you having to really do anything.
It's breathing for you.
You're doing the work of oxygenating your blood,
Exhaling carbon dioxide.
And allow yourself just to almost celebrate the beauty of this and how it just works automatically.
You can also rest your attention on the body,
Either in its entirety or just one part.
That's another opportunity to bring a quality of lightness and appreciation.
Allowing yourself to feel good about what your body can do.
The fact that it can sit upright,
That it can relax and lay down,
That it functions rather efficiently,
And that we have the delight of our five senses.
So even now,
Just with a quality of playfulness and lightness,
Noticing what you feel.
Physically,
The contact of the surface supporting you as you sit or lie down,
Feeling the air,
The temperature.
Perhaps noticing your sense of smell.
Are there any smells in this room or have you already grown used to them and therefore they're indistinct?
Noticing what you can hear,
Sounds outside of the room,
Inside the room,
Or even in your body,
Like the ringing in your ears,
You may not have noticed until now.
The fact that we get to hear music,
Bubbling water,
The voices of loved ones.
And even exploring the idea of taste.
While you may not be actively tasting something,
Your tongue is still resting in your mouth.
Perhaps there's a quality of a taste lingering from something you ate or drank earlier.
There might even be a quality of staleness.
But the fact that we have this ability to distinguish so many different flavors and the joy around that.
And then lastly,
If you care to,
You can open your eyes.
And for the last few moments of this meditation,
Allow yourself to feel joy of the gift of sight,
Being able to see outlines,
Colors,
Textures,
Light,
Dark,
And for all of these things that we can experience.
Allowing ourselves just to feel this quality of love.
Just made it.
And there is your lightness.
There is your lightness.
Not taking things too seriously,
Although I certainly have that issue and I'm working on it.
So as always,
Thank you so much for taking this time for yourself.
Thank you so much for allowing me to accompany you on this journey and please for the week ahead allow yourself just to let in that lightness,
That buoyancy,
Humor,
Joy,
Pleasure,
And see how it is when you take a good look at these sensations associated with it.
Not only your five senses,
But also how it feels when you notice those moments of lightness and can you savor them as opposed to perhaps being unnerved or distancing yourself from them.
So thank you.
Have a lovely week.
I look forward to seeing you next time and take care.
Bye.
