This is a meditation to cultivate and grow happiness.
We really are going to spark joy in this practice.
So if you are ready just take a comfortable position whether you are sitting down or lying down just make sure that you are nice and comfortable.
Let your body nice and loose,
Let your shoulders drop,
Let your muscles soften up and just for a few moments we are going to put all of our attention on the breath without needing to change anything.
We are just paying attention to what our breath feels like,
What breathing in feels like and then what breathing out feels like.
Just paying attention to the physical sensations of breathing.
All of the little movements in the body.
The cool air,
The warm air and the way that the body gently expands when we breathe in and relaxes when we breathe out.
And if you wanted to you could imagine that all of the stress and all of the tension and the tightness in your body and your mind is draining out of your body.
You could picture an hourglass with that fine sand inside,
Sliding down gradually to the bottom smoothly,
Effortlessly.
Just like your body releasing tension,
Releasing stress because right now it's not something you need so just allow yourself to let it go.
Draining down into your seat and just dissipating in the earth.
That's it.
And I'd like you now to bring to mind something which brought you happiness recently.
And it doesn't need to be a big thing,
It could be anything.
It could be that maybe you bumped into a friend or you spoke to a friend on the phone or online.
It could be that maybe you saw a nice sunset or sunrise and you enjoyed the colours,
You enjoyed the fresh air,
You enjoyed the clouds.
Or it could be that you had something nice to eat that you really enjoyed.
Or maybe just getting home after a hard day and being able to relax or go into bed and just enjoying how comfortable your bed was,
How nice and soft and welcoming.
So when you have honed in on something from your recent experience,
We're going to offer ourselves some wishes.
So this step is very similar to the loving kindness meditation.
And please do feel free to adapt the words,
Adapt the phrases to whatever your experience is.
So we're going to tell ourselves something like may my happiness continue and of course if you are feeling something more similar to contentment you can say may my contentment continue or may my comfort continue.
May my happiness grow every day.
May I be aware of my happiness.
May I appreciate each and every joy that I have in my life.
So just stay with that image,
That scene which brought you happiness.
And soak up all of the feelings that come from it.
What does it feel like when you bring it to mind?
Pay attention to what it feels like in your body as well.
Where do you feel the happiness?
Where do you feel this sense of contentment,
Of satisfaction,
Of fulfilment?
And as you stay with these feelings just keep offering yourself these wishes.
May my happiness continue.
May it grow even more with each day.
May I be aware of the joy in my life.
And may I appreciate it.
And now the next step is again quite similar to the loving kindness meditation so we're going to bring to mind someone we know.
It doesn't matter who it is,
It doesn't matter how well you know them but someone you know who has experienced happiness recently.
Again it doesn't need to be anything major,
Any kind of happiness in any form.
So just picture this person in your mind and picture them smiling,
Picture them happy.
And you might be able to feel happy by proxy as well just by looking at them and knowing that they are happy.
So we're going to offer them the same wishes and we're going to tell them.
May your happiness continue.
May your happiness grow even more.
May you be aware of how happy you are.
May you enjoy,
Savour,
Appreciate your happiness.
And just keep enjoying the image of this person smiling,
Feeling the joy.
And be aware of your own feelings as well.
And again let's offer them some wishes.
May your happiness continue.
May your happiness grow every day.
May you be aware of your joy.
May you appreciate joy in your life.
And if this side of this person is making you feel happy then why not tell them as well.
I'm happy for you.
I am so happy for you.
And just give yourself some moments to enjoy the feeling,
Enjoy the happiness.
Bask in this joy.
And when you're ready you can just wiggle your fingers and toes,
Take a nice deep breath and open your eyes.
Welcome back.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
