Your Prescription For Positivity #1: Feeling Connected

Are you having difficulty with something or someone and feeling stuck? To get the very best out of life, all you need to do is rethink your mindset and tweak your outlook. To help you on your way to resolving whatever difficulty that you believe you are currently facing, here are four practices to help you find your solution.

Transcript

Today we will practice a cultivating positivity exercise.

There is a loneliness pandemic across the world right now that's causing more damage than the virus.

When we face adversity,

Our relationships and community have an important role to play in our resilience.

Positive,

Kind and helpful connection with neighbors is the most underappreciated source of well-being and peace.

A common misconception of urban living is we don't feel authentic connection.

That's because we've forgotten that we are intimately connected with so much around us.

So how do we create a state of mind where we feel more connected?

With your eyes closed,

Feel the sensation in your body.

Feel the core of your body,

That imaginary line that connects the top of the head to the bottom of your feet.

Feel the heart beat,

Feel the heart beat,

Feel the heart beat,

Feel the heart beat,

Feel the heart beat,

Feel the heart beat.

That imaginary line that connects the top of the head to the bottom of your feet.

Now starting at your feet,

Feel the sensation in your toes.

Wiggle them if you need to.

Now feel the bottom of the feet,

The ankle,

The soles of the feet,

The soles of the feet,

The soles of the feet.

Now feel the bottom of the feet,

The ankle.

Coming up through the shins,

Feel your knees.

Feel your thighs.

Feel your back,

The point where it's rested on the seat right now.

Follow your spine upwards,

Feeling the sensation in the abdomen,

The chest,

The shoulders,

Up to the bottom of the neck.

And up the neck to the back of the head,

To the top of the head,

To the front of the head,

And your face.

Now take your attention inside the head.

Notice that space right behind the eyes,

Just below the brain,

Somewhere between the ears.

This is the seat of consciousness.

It is from here that I look through these eyes.

I listen through these ears.

I listen through these ears.

I smell through this nose.

I taste through this tongue.

And experience the sensation of touch through the vast surface of the skin.

Notice the feeling of being.

Notice the connection of being with the body,

This vehicle.

Now with your eyes still closed,

See if you can feel the presence of those around you.

First,

Feel the sense of connection to the person closest to you,

Who may be in the same room,

In the same building,

Or somewhere close by.

Extend that awareness to those in the rest of your building.

Now go beyond the immediate sphere and feel the sense of connection to your parents,

To your siblings.

To close relatives.

To your friends.

Now extend that to people that you work with.

And then include people in your neighborhood.

Expand that further.

Now feel the sense of connection with people in your city,

Many of whom you have never met.

And then extend that to people living in your state or province.

Now feel the sense of connection to your family,

To your friends,

To your family.

And then extend that to all living beings on this planet.

Now feel the sense of connection to your family,

To your friends,

To your family.

With a big heart.

Send a wish to all beings on this planet and to Mother Nature.

May all the suffering be removed.

May all the pain come to an end.

May all the suffering be removed.

Notice if you can feel the separation of what is happening out there and what your mind is trying to make of it.

Remember,

Nothing bad ever happens.

Whatever happens,

Just happens.

And it is our ego that tries to assign the label of good or bad.

There is the actual situation.

And then there is a narrative you are playing inside your head about it.

These are two separate things.

Most people don't know the difference because they never looked at it.

Challenges come to wake us up to this reality.

Most often challenges come to us individually.

But now it has come collectively for all of humanity to wake up.

Suffering is the outcome of the narrative that is played out in the head.

And it is the result of the narrative that is played out in the head.

The ego feels important when you start to complain about the state of things.

The ego feels important when you start to complain about the state of things.

Most people say that they feel purposeless in life.

While the purpose of life is not to make you happy,

It is to wake you up.

You will wake up if you observe.

Pure awareness is being in the moment.

It is a state of is-ness.

Not good or bad,

Just is.

Not good or bad,

Just is.

Notice how you feel right now.

Notice the depth of your breath.

The calmness of the mind.

And the lightness in your entire being.

And if you could summarize the feeling that you are experiencing right now in one word,

What would that be?

What would that be?

What would that be?

Thank you for joining me in this practice today.

I look forward to having you in one of my future sessions.

Until then,

Be well.

Reviews

The word that describes how I felt by the end of this meditation session is peaceful. Thank you

I returned to the meditation after 3 years. The experience one very deep and lively. Thank you again

Masterful advice: Pause the narrative; focus on the reality of “isness” and pause before launching into egos narrative. Aliveness isn’t about running the narratives, but about “waking up” to discern what “is” right now and what value we are assigning. Thank you for the reminder!

This meditation left me feeling relaxed, calm & connected. Namaste

Thank you so much, Jay, a very inspiring meditation, I look forward to the next ones. May u too be well. Namaste 🙏🏻💚

Beautiful session to forgive. Thank you. Namaste.

This was perfectly timed for me to find today. Thank you, I feel like I can move forward with hope.

Thank you, Jay
For me, this was meaningful. My one word feeling at the close was ‘non-resistance’.
I do believe it would be a hard sell for newer practitioners. The esoteric concept that ‘nothing bad ever happens’ might be confusing, or might call forth mental resistance. The subsequent explanation relies upon acceptance of the first assertion. 🙏🏻💞

G’morning Jay! What a beautiful and wonderful meditation! It was perfect for me today. I will come back and listen again this afternoon. It’s full of delicious reminders. Thank you 🙏🏻💖. Happy Holidays 🎄

This is lovely. Just what I needed this morning after the stress of getting my daughter up for school! 😊

Beautiful reminder of our connection to others. Thank you.

Excellent meditation, thank you! I feel responsible for my own loneliness, as I observe that I work against my own interests frequently. Of course, if I can hold myself back then I can move myself forward as well…May it be so 🙏🏻🙏🏻

✨🙏🏼✨
Thank you.

I really appreciate the pauses in your meditations. Very necessary but often lacking with other teachers. Wonderful. Thank you!

Phenomenal Jay. Thank you💕

I love your meditations - but today’s words triggered me badly. I feel more connected with my siblings after a recent revelation but I’m struggling to process the information so I can’t reconcile that “nothing bad happens” and that it is the ego which makes it “bad” But I do thank you for sharing! 😊🙏🏻

I really liked what you said. Life isn't about feeling happy it's about waking up. Wow

Lovely my word - equanimity 🙏🏻💕