Welcome to your reflective meditation on hope.
I invite you to find a comfy place to be for this practice.
Maybe it's seated with your eyes closed.
Or out in nature watching the leaves of a tree blow in the wind.
Wherever you're able to be the most present version of yourself.
It can be hard to have hope when so much is challenging.
But the beautiful thing is that we have the power to build up hope within ourselves.
Hope isn't just something we have to rely on to show up whenever it naturally arises.
It's actually something we have the opportunity to build every single day.
Having hope is a daily discipline.
It's something we tend to and cultivate.
Regardless of the global or personal difficulties we're facing.
When we take time to build our stores of hope.
It helps us to continue to believe.
That we absolutely can positively impact others?
And even help to make a difference in the world.
This kind of belief in good?
The Belief of Hope.
It helps to provide us with the energy required to do the hard work in life.
To better ourselves,
To show up for others,
And to be an active participant for positive change in the world.
Having hope isn't about pretending like everything's perfect.
It's not acting like everything is okay all the time.
Having hope is about seeing evidence that good is still possible.
That good exists in the world.
I once heard a quote from Mr.
Rogers that's really stuck for me over the years.
He shared,
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news.
My mother would say to me.
Look for the helpers.
You will always find people who are helping.
This is where hope lives.
It's when the flower blooms through the crack of cement.
It's letting yourself smile when you hear something funny,
Even when you're having a bad day.
It's in recognizing that there are always people helping one another.
No matter how many people are causing pain.
There are always helpers.
Let hope coexist with whatever else is there.
With any feelings you are facing.
They are allowed to exist at the same time.
You can be scared,
Mad,
Tired,
Frustrated,
And still have hope.
You don't have to abandon one feeling for another.
Today,
We are simply giving ourselves a little bit of time to collect evidence of possibility.
Acknowledging the little things that have gone right.
And allowing ourselves to expect more of those kinds of things in the future.
Take a few moments to breathe deeply.
Notice any feelings that might be there that can be taking you further away from hope.
Any feelings of resignation?
Apathy,
Cynicism,
Or even despair.
Maybe it's just straight up hopelessness.
You don't have to force them away.
But let yourself breathe into what is there,
Recognizing it.
You might even name these feelings to yourself.
I noticed some apathy creeping in.
Or I've been feeling a bit down on the world lately.
What have you felt?
That might hold you back from leaning into hope.
Send yourself some love and compassion.
You are human.
And it's completely normal to have doubts.
Fears,
And to go through times of lost hope.
Maybe even give yourself a hug right now as you say to yourself,
It's normal for me to feel what I have felt on the other side of hope.
Now take a moment to remember a time when you were helped.
Or when you witness someone being a helper.
It might be someone that you know or something that you witnessed on TV.
Do your best to remember how it felt to experience.
What help feels like.
Now begin to name a word that describes what help feels like.
Warm.
Kind.
Say to yourself in your mind.
There are always helpers.
I choose to see the helpers.
Now take a moment to remember a time when something went right.
In your own life or in the world around you.
You Remember the feelings inside your body.
As if something is going right.
Right now.
How do you feel when something is going right?
Name a word that describes what it feels like.
When something goes right.
To light.
Encouraged,
Optimistic.
Hopeful.
Say to yourself,
I choose to remember the things that go right.
I expect more things to go right in the future as well.
Now straighten your spine just a little more.
Reach the top of your head up towards the sky.
And take your awareness to your heart.
Imagine a little space in your heart.
Reserved just for Hope.
No matter how small.
Just let there be a space for it within you.
Start to breathe into that space in your heart for hope.
And gently repeat to yourself in your mind.
I allow hope to build within me.
I allow hope to build within me.
Gently watch the space in your heart grow as you breathe.
I allow hope to build within me.
You absolutely have enough space in your heart for hope to grow.
It doesn't have to be the only thing you carry.
And it never needs to cover up anything that you feel.
But it's allowed to reside next to everything else.
It's allowed to be there.
Hope is powerful.
Please remember that your energy has impact.
How you decide to show up for yourself and the world around you makes a difference.
What you decide to feed helps to shape your view of the world around you.
People can feel your energy.
Hope might not always spontaneously arise out of nowhere.
But it is something you can nourish each day.
Something you can build to sprinkle on top of your energy as you move into the world.
There is such a beautiful lightness in someone's energy when there's even just a little bit of extra hope.
When you feel ready,
I invite you to open your eyes.
And let some light of the day back in.
Keep building up the evidence that there are things going right in your life.
There are things going right in the world.
Your hope matters.
Thank you for sharing this practice with me today.
And I hope you continue to feed the space within your heart with a little more hope each day.
I look forward to practicing with you again soon.
