Hey there!
This is Anu,
Author of Breaking Bias,
And I want to invite you today to a short meditation practice for Christmas and to really tune into the deeper meaning of Christmas,
What Christmas really means and has meant to billions of people around the world who celebrate this holiday beyond the gift giving and the decorations and the Christmas markets,
All of which are incredibly beautiful and proper in their own rights when coming from a place of goodwill and friendship and love.
But oftentimes a lot of the busyness of the season can feel tiring and exhausting and we find ourselves in a place where we're just glad that it's over without ever going deeper into what this season means for us.
So whether you're Christian or not,
Whether you believe in Jesus or not,
It's really a reflection on this beloved being,
This human being,
That Jesus has come to represent for so many of us.
And for me what he really stands for is an example of human consciousness and what it can be when it's deeply rooted in interbeing,
In interdependence,
And this ability,
This capacity that we have for love,
For compassion,
And for forgiveness.
So this is what we're going to practice together in honor of Christmas today.
So I'm going to invite you all to come to a comfortable seated position.
You can rest your hands on your lap or on your knees and just bring your eyes to a gentle close.
You can also place your gaze at a stationary point in front of you if that's more comfortable for you.
And for the first few moments just come to rest in your breath,
Noticing your inhales and your exhales,
And finding a sense of relaxation and ease in any part of your body that may feel tense,
Perhaps your jaw,
Your tongue,
Your shoulders,
Your hands.
Just relax and release.
And as you begin to inhabit the fullness of your body,
Just take a moment to reflect on the deeper meaning of Christmas.
What does Christmas mean to you?
What does it represent?
What words come up?
And how do these words feel in your body?
The sense of family,
What's beneath that,
Love,
Compassion,
Joy.
And really come to feel these sensations and these feelings in your heart center.
This feeling of love,
This feeling of compassion.
And just notice this feeling spreading across your body.
This feeling of unconditional acceptance,
Of patience,
This warm and fuzzy feeling of love.
And really see if you can offer this feeling,
This gift of a feeling to yourself.
May I be filled with this feeling of love for myself.
May I be filled with this feeling of love for myself.
Not just as a mental activity,
But as an embodied experience.
This tingling,
This warm fuzziness,
Really feeling that in our body.
And if it's new to you,
That's okay.
We're practicing this together.
And now offering the same feeling,
The circle of love that is inhabited in your body to the space you're currently in,
Whether inside or outside.
Just imagine this feeling as a circle of light expanding from your body to capture the space you're in.
And within it,
All the other beings that accompany you there.
Other humans,
Pets,
Animals,
Plants,
All included in this feeling of love.
And just noticing the circle of love and compassion and unconditional acceptance spread from this space to across your city.
And it expanding from your city to your province or state,
To the entire world.
To the entirety of your country.
Slowly spreading across the oceans,
Across the lands,
To include the entirety of our planet.
Our planet Earth,
Our mother Earth.
With all her climates and all of life that she supports.
From the teeny tiny microbes to the insects,
To the birds and the animals and the fish,
To humans and all beings filled with this feeling of love and compassion.
This meaning of Christmas,
This deeper meaning of Christmas that's celebrated by billions around the world.
This is what Jesus Christ,
What this beloved being Jesus Christ stood for,
For many.
And even if we don't celebrate him,
We can honor these values that he stood for.
And now slowly really feeling the expansion of this love circle,
This compassion circle across this Milky Way,
Other Milky Ways taking over many other planets and universes to as far as the imagination can go.
May all beings everywhere be filled with love and compassion on this sacred and much celebrated day.
And then slowly bringing your consciousness from the outer corners of the universe to our universe,
To our planet mother Earth,
To your country,
To your city,
To your neighborhood,
To the very space you're in.
And then zooming into this beloved being that you are,
Really appreciating the sanctity of life that is here present within you.
And if it's comfortable,
You can bring your hands to your chest around your heart.
And just offer to this being some words of reconciliation and acceptance.
Repeat after me silently.
In all the ways I may have hurt,
Harmed,
Abandoned,
Or neglected myself,
Knowingly or unknowingly,
Out of fear,
Pain,
Confusion,
Or ignorance,
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself.
And if that's too difficult,
Perhaps I had the intention to forgive myself.
I had the intention to forgive myself.
In all the ways I may have hurt,
Harmed,
Abandoned,
Or neglected myself,
Knowingly or unknowingly,
Out of fear,
Pain,
Confusion,
Or ignorance,
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself.
Or I have the intention to forgive myself.
And just letting these words rest in your body.
These words that are vibrations,
Vibrations of intention,
Of feelings.
Just planting these seeds on this body,
This beloved body,
This sacred body,
The sacred life that you are.
And just resting your attention on your breath.
Tuning into these feelings.
What Christ stood for.
Love,
Compassion,
And forgiveness.
It was he who said,
Forgive them,
Father,
For they know not what they do.
And that includes us.
We too,
At some point,
Didn't know what we were doing.
So releasing that hold,
That tension that we often carry in our body.
And using this time of Christmas,
This season,
To start again.
To begin again.
To do better.
And to emulate the example of love,
Compassion,
And forgiveness,
Starting with ourselves.
You know,
There's a lot of strife and polarization and suffering in our world right now.
The simple practice can really help us take away from that.
To offer a healing balm to a hurting world.
And for me,
That is the true intention of Christmas.
And may we begin that with ourselves.
So thank you all so much for practicing with me.
A very,
Very Merry Christmas to you.
And take good care of yourselves.
