Hi,
And welcome to your 10-minute daily serotonin boost meditation with a twist.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in our mood,
Happiness,
And sense of well-being.
When our serotonin levels are healthy,
We feel more balanced,
Calm,
And positive.
One of the ways to boost our serotonin level is to expose ourselves to sunlight,
Especially blue light,
Which triggers the hypothalamus to stimulate the release of serotonin in the brain.
Besides direct light exposure,
We know that the brain does not really know how to distinguish between a real experience and an imaginary one,
And so just visualizing strong light can also have a similar effect.
We actually know that we can generate a positive mood just by visualizing an image.
For example,
I want you to remember something very pleasurable that happened,
Something that really made you happy,
And I want you to visualize it very intensely,
As if it's happening now.
What you should be noticing when you visualize something that really made you happy in the past is that it makes you happy right now.
Feel your face.
Are you not smiling?
Do you not feel some kind of happiness and lightness perhaps in your chest?
That is because for the brain,
It's almost the same if something is happening for real as it is imagining it.
The knowledge of this mechanism was known to the ancient people of India,
And there are traditional yogic techniques surrounding visualizing lights,
Such as Taraka Yoga,
Where we are instructed to visualize either a very bright white light or a very bright blue light,
Which shows you that ancient wisdom discovered the exact same thing.
And we're going to utilize this mechanism today to generate a boost of serotonin.
So I invite you to find a comfortable sitting position,
To take a deep breath,
And to relax your body as you exhale.
Relax and let go of all thoughts that might be troubling or disturbing to you.
Just let them go for five minutes.
You can place your hands in your lap,
Or you can use any kind of meditation mudra that you prefer.
Personally,
I choose to do the Jnana mudra.
In this mudra,
I touch the tip of the index finger of each hand to the bottom part of my thumb.
The rest of my fingers I keep straight and together,
And the knuckles of the fingers are aligned.
So the four knuckles,
The first knuckles,
Of the fingers are aligned one to the other.
This creates a kind of round shape,
And the rest of my fingers are straight.
And now I want you to imagine that in front of you,
Perhaps at the level of your forehead,
Just in front of the body,
There is a source of shining white bluish light.
Something that is shimmering,
That is sparkling,
That is flashing light around it.
You can imagine a giant sparkler of light,
Like the ones that you put on cakes for birthdays.
Also,
Try to recall the sound of this sparkle.
It makes a specific sound.
Use that to enhance the experience.
Make it real,
As if it's happening right now.
Another really good image for this meditation is the sparkling when somebody is welding.
If you're in my age,
Then you might remember the movie Flashdance from 1983.
You know the movie where the girl works as a welder during day and she dances during night.
You probably know the song.
What a feeling,
Da-na,
Da-na-na,
Beings believe in,
Da-na,
Da-na-na.
I can have it all,
Now I'm dancing for my life.
And probably this song makes you laugh.
Either you're laughing at me or you're laughing with me,
And that's great.
Either way,
There's a good chance you're laughing.
And when you laugh,
You probably feel pretty well.
And so I want you to combine this feeling of feeling really good in your body,
Of feeling happy,
Of a lightness,
Together with the image of the sparkling and together with the sound of the welding or the sound of the sparkling.
And just hold this visualization and feel how each element is interacting with the other one.
The laughter and happiness is making the sound stronger,
Which is making the visualization stronger,
And it's all scintillating and vibrating and sparkling.
Your eyes may flutter a little bit and your body might shake a little bit as you are very intensely imagining this.
Try to really make the visualization intense,
Like you're putting an effort to make it sparkle more and more and more.
You can do this for a minute,
For two,
Or even five.
Just hold it and it makes you more excited.
This is not the relaxation kind of meditation.
No,
It's a boost.
It's a boost for your serotonin.
Let this light really sparkle into you.
Let it imbibe you.
Let it fill you.
Let it continue.
Let it continue.
You can even use your breath to strengthen it,
Usually by slightly contracting the abdomen and making shallow breaths.
Shallow breaths that come in and out,
And they kind of push this visualization even more.
Keep holding it.
It might feel like an effort,
But keep holding it.
Feel how this strengthens the feeling of joy,
How it creates a vibration in your body.
Allow yourself to enjoy this vibration and really let it imbibe all of you.
Just a little bit more.
And then,
When you feel that you are full,
Relax your effort and allow yourself to just enjoy the feeling of happiness,
The feeling of aliveness,
And allow yourself to calm into this feeling of aliveness.
And then,
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes and,
With a smile and a body full of serotonin,
You can go and enjoy being alive.
Have a wonderful day.
You
