For our practice today,
We are going to practice embodying joy.
Joy is not just a thought,
But it is the sensation that we experience in the body.
In order to practice embodying joy,
We can repeat this practice as many times as we like.
It's an excellent practice for calling joy into our sense fields.
Just noticing how your body is breathing,
Noticing this next arising breath,
And each breath that comes just noticing this is how I'm experiencing the breath in my belly,
In my chest,
Through the nostrils.
And with each inhalation,
Imagine that you are inhaling peace and calm.
With each out breath,
Releasing any tension that you notice in the body.
So breathing in that sense of calm and breathing out loosening.
Breathing in a sense of opening.
Breathing out a sense of letting go.
And just feeling how with each breath,
The body begins to settle more and more.
And of course,
It happens in our practice that our mind will wander.
And when that happens,
No need to beat yourself up in any way.
It's totally natural.
But when we notice that the mind has wandered away from our practice,
Just again,
Noticing the sensations of inhalation and exhalation.
And now slowly shifting the attention to the top of your head.
Notice any sensations that are here and imagining a warm,
Soothing light spreading all the way from the top of your head,
Down to your toes.
And you can follow that warm light with your attention.
Gradually moving your focus down the body and noticing each part from your forehead to your eyes,
Your cheeks,
The jaw,
Neck,
Shoulder,
Arms and hands.
Letting that warm,
Soothing light just flow down the chest,
The back,
The abdomen,
The hips,
The buttocks,
The legs,
And finally your feet.
Just letting go of any tightness that you might find in any of these places.
With each exhalation,
Just letting go.
Just resting here for a few breaths.
Just noticing the direct experience of your body breathing from head to toe.
And now that we have found some rest in the experience of the body,
Let's explore our sense fields.
We'll do this by drawing upon our sense memories.
So first,
Bringing to mind three things that you love to hear.
Bringing to the mind and body three things that you love to hear.
Perhaps it could be the sound of waves lapping against rocks,
Or a particular piece of music,
Or the sound of your own breath.
Just whatever three sounds arise from your heart.
When you call to mind three things you love to hear.
And now bringing to mind three things that you love to taste.
Three things that you love to taste.
Experiencing the memory of those tastes in your mouth,
In your body.
It could be something sweet,
Or savory,
Or crunchy,
Or chewy.
Whatever taste sensations and flavors bring the most joy to your heart.
Just bringing to mind three of those.
Savoring them for a few moments.
And now drawing upon your sense memory to remember three things that you love to touch.
So perhaps different textures.
It could also be something that you love to feel on your skin.
Or something that you love the sensation of touching with your hands and fingers.
This could bring to mind anything,
The feeling of velvet,
Sensation of water upon your skin.
Just bringing to mind for you what three things do you just love to touch and experience the texture of.
Letting yourself really feel the joy of bringing that sensory experience of touch to mind.
And now letting your sense memory be filled with three things that you love to see.
Be a beautiful sunrise over a lake.
The sight of a bird in flight,
Child laughing.
Just remembering what sights do you love to see that fills your body with joy and delight.
And now bringing to your sense memory,
Three non food items that you love to smell.
Three scents,
Three smells that really just bring you that feeling of joy in the body.
Be a fresh cut lawn or flowers.
Or even babies or puppies.
Just whatever smells bring you that sense of delight.
And now,
As best you can,
Vividly imagining as many of the things that you love to hear,
That you love to taste,
That you love to touch and see and smell as you can possibly hold in one scene.
Just visualizing any of these elements all together through all of the sense fields.
As we visualize the sense experiences really embodying joy,
Bringing together these elements into one beautiful visualization.
And really allowing yourself to bathe in the light of this joy.
And you can let the scenes continue to shift so that you can include all of the things that you loved.
And as you hold these sense impressions in this space that you've created in your mind,
Just letting this feeling of joy,
Just expand it through the whole body,
Letting it grow larger and larger with each breath.
And as you continue to hold on to this feeling of joy in the body,
I invite you to repeat these affirmations,
Either silently to yourself or out loud.
Letting each phrase really resonate with you.
I am worthy of experiencing joy.
With every breath,
I invite more joy into my life.
Joy flows within me with ease and grace.
I am worthy of experiencing joy.
With every breath,
I invite more joy into my life.
Joy flows within me with ease and grace.
And now just gradually bringing your awareness back to the breath.
We can let go of those sense memories and holding the image and just letting awareness return to that natural process of this breath arising and this exhalation.
Noticing the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe.
And having scanned your body from head to toe at the beginning of this practice.
Just now again,
Giving yourself a quick scan of the body from head to toe and noticing how the experience of the body may have shifted.
You may find that you are feeling more relaxed or at ease.
And if not,
That's also okay.
This practice of mindfulness is simply about letting our mind rest in the present moment,
Knowing what we're experiencing.
So just knowing this is how it is right now,
However that is.
Thank you.
