A Simple Morning Practice

How we meet ourselves in the morning sets the tone for how we hold ourselves throughout our day. We have the chance to catch ourselves in the morning and build the capacity for mindfulness and move with intent, positivity, joy and peace, inviting in a day of inspiration and fulfilment.

Transcript

Welcome to a new day.

How exciting it is to have the opportunity to begin anew.

To set an intention for the day ahead and to begin the day with a moment of stillness to catch ourselves before the day takes us away.

And so firstly just smiling towards yourself to give yourself a bit of gratitude for taking time before the busyness of the day comes by.

And so just smiling for yourself,

Towards yourself.

And maybe we just begin by bringing to mind just one thing that you're grateful for right now this morning.

And we're just going to begin the day in this practice by just coming back to a sense of clarity,

A sense of presence and mindfulness.

So that we set the tone for the day to be able to catch ourselves when we might fall into patterns of chasing,

Patterns that simply don't serve us.

And so just begin by closing down your eyes on your exhale as you settle into a posture that serves you for a few moments.

A posture that is steady and strong and also easeful and gentle.

And just begin by taking a couple of deep breaths to welcome the day.

Inhaling through the nose,

Exhaling through the mouth.

And just taking a couple of deep,

Deep breaths down into the navel just below the belly button.

And as you take a couple of deep breaths,

Start to bring to mind an intention for the day.

An intention in the form of three feeling words.

What are the three feelings you'd like to invite in or welcome to your day,

Knowing what's ahead?

Is it a sense of joy?

A sense of excitement?

A sense of playfulness?

Three feelings you'd like to welcome into the day.

And then taking a couple of breaths on every inhale,

Bringing those feeling words to mind and bringing those feelings to body.

What does it feel like to actually feel those things now in your body?

Taking a couple of deep breaths to breathe them in and letting them find their place somewhere in your body.

Just noticing maybe where you do feel each feeling word the most.

And this might be useful throughout your day to understand where each of these feelings reside in your body.

So if you feel you need to come back to them,

You can always just take your mind there and take your breath to that part of your body also.

Maybe even placing a hand there and just breathing deeply.

So just deepening those feelings.

What does it feel like to feel that way now?

And where do you feel them the most?

Then I just invite you to bring a light smile to the mouth.

Just to notice what it feels like to smile on the inside of the mouth as well.

A bit more space and softness on the inner walls of the mouth.

What about a smile across the chest with an open heart?

And what about a smiling mind?

Imagining the shape of a smile across your awareness.

Receiving everything that comes into your experience with a sense of acceptance and compassion.

So that whatever might show up today you can receive and accept with a sense of lightness.

And then just knowing that you know how to be compassionate towards yourself.

It's in your nature,

It's there.

We just need to remember.

So knowing that you can be compassionate to yourself and this is how to bring this smile,

This softness,

This acceptance.

Now bringing back these three feelings that you intend to feel today.

And again letting them flood your body and your mind.

Feeling them now in this moment.

And again breathing into the part of your body where they reside.

Knowing that they too are always there for you to access when you need.

Just by directing your mind and maybe directing and deepening your breath.

So to close this meditation,

Taking a couple of deep breaths knowing that these feelings are totally possible throughout your day by being aware of them,

By breathing them in and by holding yourself with compassion to accept your experience and whatever may arise within it.

As Lao Tzu said,

When you realize nothing is lacking,

The whole world belongs to you.

So may you move through your day with clarity,

With acceptance,

With compassion for yourself and towards each other.

And may you look back on the day with a sense of warmth knowing that you held yourself in the best way that you could.

Reviews

This was therapeutic. Peace, patience, compassion and love are the words that I will carry today as I care for my dying father and interact with my brother.

Ease, flow and energy are the feelings I'm cultivating within. Thank you for helping me to connect with them somatically.

Flow. Direction. Ease.
Thank you for this grounding meditation ✨

i love how this set me up for a positive day and the imagery created is fun and nourishing!

Great way to start the day! Refreshed and energized with intension. 🙏

Thank you for assisting me create a mantra for today to say in mind as well as associate with the physical body.

This was a wonderful way to start my busy day. I set my 3 intentions to throughout my day with kindness, gratitude and love. If I am struggling I will reach for where I feel those feelings and give myself some of this energy as well. Thank you!

Lovely way to start the day! The three emotions I chose to focus on were competence, compassion, and connection. I’m excited to see how my day as a therapist unfolds after setting these intentions! Thank you!

Calming and inspiring. Thank you for your guidance.

Great start to this grand new day Al, many thanks.
Blessings to you 🙏

Peaceful. Affirming. Promising. Very much enjoyed.

Great meditation to start the day with. Thank you!🙏❤️

Nice gentle way to start. Soft voice and simple background music very soothing 😌

This is a very kind, gentle, and lovely way to welcome a new day. Thank you.🙏

So friendly & gentle! I love the coziness of this meditation. Inviting us to smile and feel that in our body, and reflect on the feelings we want to invite, was such a nice focus. The quote at the end is so apt too, I'll be thinking about that all day. It's good to remember to start on the basis of gratitude & noticing. I appreciate the knowledge Al brought in about tapping into our bodies, breathing, and being welcoming to the tone we want to have, and accepting it with openness. A very life-giving morning thing to listen to!! Thanks Al!!!! This is joining my morning playlist.

Such a wonderful start and reminder to start my day! Namaste 🙏

Simple and spot on. Another lovely meditation for my practice. Thank you Al.

Powerful for me this morning to truly connect to what I was feeling. Made me identify the most accurate feelings to help me understand where I am right now and what I want to feel.

Thank you for connecting the day’s intention to feelings.🙏🏼

This is exactly what I needed to hear this morning! Thank you so much. I’ve only just started my meditation journey and I’m finding the morning meditations are the hardest to be consistent with. I enjoyed this one so much that I bookmarked it and will definitely be listening again tomorrow . Thank you for sharing.
Namaste 🙏🏼