This is an Ikigai meditation.
Ikigai means to find your purpose in life.
In preparation,
Make sure you have some blank papers and a pen within reach.
You'll need those later.
For now,
Start by taking up an active but relaxed position in which you are able to write.
Gently close your eyes or look at a point in front of you.
And shortly we'll start with a relaxing body scan.
And after that,
I will walk you through five questions that may help you to identify your Ikigai.
And you'll be replying to those questions by taking notes.
Please try to capture your very first response,
That strong intuition when you hear the first question and only questions after.
Let's just say the response before you start thinking about the question.
Then when the thinking kicks in,
Take note of your thoughts,
Your feelings and responses.
And possibly label them as such,
So you will later remember what was what.
I highly recommend writing in keywords initially during the meditation.
Then later take some time to expand your notes as much as you like.
Breathe in and out.
Take three conscious,
Deeper breaths.
Lengthen the in and the exhale.
As we start with a relaxing body scan in preparation of this Ikigai meditation.
If you can reach for your feet and give the soles of your feet a gentle massage.
Or you just press your thumbs anywhere you like.
Both feet just briefly.
And then connect the feet to the floor or wherever you're sitting or lying down.
Stretch your toes,
Make them as long as you can and release them back onto the floor.
And stretch your legs out in front and relax them.
Take deep breaths into your lower belly.
Observe where your breath is and if you would like to take it down further into the belly for deeper relaxation.
Connect with your heart.
And if you find that your heart is beating a bit fast,
Keep taking longer in and exhales to relax the heart as well.
Gently rotate your shoulders by lifting them up and back,
Down,
To the front and up.
And reverse to the front,
Down,
Back,
Up.
Lift them up as far as you can all the way to your ears and then drop.
Massage the palm of your right hand.
Every finger,
One after the other.
When you're ready,
Change hands.
Start with the palm,
Circular movements,
And then from the binky finger.
Every finger,
One by one.
When you're finished,
Relax your hands into your lap or on your belly.
Bring your attention to your neck,
Your throat,
Up into your jaw.
Try to consciously relax your jaw.
Sometimes it's helped to just open your lips a little bit and consequently the jaw will relax.
Make sure you're not squeezing your eyes.
Make it a very gentle closure of the eyes.
Bring your awareness into your forehead and imagine smoothing out your forehead.
And then letting this warmly relaxation flow down through your cheeks,
Throat,
Shoulders.
Everything's going down.
Relax.
Chest,
Back,
Belly,
Arms and legs,
Hands and feet.
Let gravity pull them down.
Take a conscious breath in and out.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Take hold of your pen and pencil paper.
And if it helps you,
Bring your attention back to the crown of your head where you're connected to the world.
And from that place,
I'll ask you the first question.
And the first question is,
What does the world need?
And choose if this is your world,
Your family,
The people around you or the world in general.
If your answer is short,
You can go back to your breathing.
If your answer is longer,
Record your keywords about what you feel that the world needs in this moment.
It can be something abstract,
Very concrete,
Big,
Small.
Maybe it's a list of things,
Just one thing.
What does the world need?
Slowly wrap up with your writing.
And when two minutes have passed,
Jot down your last keywords.
And then return to a seated position with eyes open,
Eyes closed.
Take three breaths in and out.
Let go of the first question.
Stop thinking about it.
Trust that the question and your answers will return to you later if necessary.
Bring your attention to your heart.
Open your eyes for the second question.
And of course the question of the heart is,
What do you love?
Try to capture that first response.
And in all your thoughts,
Feelings,
Responses,
Possibly barriers and enablers,
Judgments.
Write down your process.
What do you love?
If you've finished with your breathing,
If you're still writing,
You have another 30 seconds.
And then stop writing.
Close your eyes gently.
And take another three conscious breaths in and out.
Closing the section of what you love.
Bring the attention down to your solar plexus in the middle of your chest.
This is a question about self-confidence,
Empowerment.
Gently open your eyes for question number three.
What are you good at?
What do you have to offer?
And be immodest,
Please.
Know what you have to share and what you should share.
What are you good at?
What do you have to offer?
What do you have to offer?
If you feel stuck here,
Remember of the things that other people told you.
What they think that you're good at.
What they'd like to see more of you.
And don't worry if it doesn't come immediately.
Maybe you will dream about it.
Maybe you'll wake up tomorrow and you know.
Maybe it will come to you in a couple of days.
Please finalize your notes on this section.
When you're ready,
Gently close your eyes again.
Breathe in and out three times and consciously close this section again.
For the moment don't linger here.
We're moving on.
We're moving down to our guts for a very down to earth question.
Gently open the eyes again.
Pick up your pen.
The question is,
What can I get paid for?
You've established what you think the world needs.
What you love to do.
And what you are good at.
Can you translate these into something that you can make a living off?
Maybe you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.
Maybe there's more.
Maybe it should be different.
Just appraise what you're doing and what you like to be doing.
Last 15 seconds for this section.
For the last time put down your pen.
Close your eyes.
There's one more question but we will not open our eyes or answer the question on paper.
We'll stay here.
Three conscious breaths in and out.
Letting go of that very practical question.
And all the questions we've answered until now.
Bring your attention to the third eye.
The point between your eyebrows.
May help to look on the inside of your eyes upwards to this point.
Make sure it doesn't feel awkward.
Connect with your intuition.
When you answer the question just in your mind for the moment.
What do I need to do next?
Which big or smaller changes am I going to make?
Possibly already tomorrow.
Today.
For this one don't overthink it.
Your first response is your strongest intuition.
After that the but,
The faults,
The feelings,
Judgments,
Expectations kicking.
They're all useful.
Sometimes they're also a barrier to following our intuition.
Focus on your normal breath.
After I complete this meditation continue writing your notes.
If you're not finished yet.
If you are finished you could mark sections as first responses,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Etc.
If you see any barriers and enablers,
Identify them as such.
When you've finished both writing and labeling your notes,
Put them aside and then look at them in maybe a weeks time.
Breathe in and out.
As you reveal your toes and fingers to bring yourself back.
If you like stay a bit longer where you are or if you're ready to continue or start your day,
Open your eyes.
Namaste.
