I'll invite you to settle into a comfortable posture,
Seated,
Standing,
Or laying down,
Whichever is going to provide you the greatest amount of support during this sit.
If you'd like,
You're welcome to begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose.
You can do an audible exhale out through your mouth.
Let's transition from getting here to being here.
No matter where our heads are,
Our bodies are always in the present moment.
And I'll invite you to take a trip downstairs and see what your body feels like right now.
You might notice different temperatures against your chest,
Or feeling your feet or hips in contact with the floor or a chair.
We'll see if we can soften any tightness or tension.
I'll invite you to create space on your forehead.
Make a little more room between your eyebrows.
Ease your eyes.
Unclench your jaw.
Let's soften the sides of your mouth,
The roof of your mouth.
Let your tongue be at rest.
Feel the release of your neck and throat.
Allow your shoulders to dissolve,
Along with your arms,
Elbows,
Hands and fingers.
Bring ease to your belly.
Soften your chest.
And soften your heart.
Take a moment to enter your heart and ask yourself,
How do I feel in this moment?
It's impossible to label your emotion with a single word.
And now reconnect with your motivation for meditation practice.
And there might be more than one reason.
Earth.
In today's practice,
I'll be taking you through appreciative joy.
This is a practice of cultivating positive emotions,
Which is meant to help to be an antidote to jealousy and envy.
It can also just be a beautiful practice to celebrate someone in your life who has experienced something wonderful.
And before we begin,
Know that you have options when you practice.
There's a foundational concentration anchor that you can work with,
Whether it's noticing your breath or sounds or resting your eyes on something.
Note that you always have the option to just tune into something and just let your attention rest there if that's what feels like it would be the most beneficial for you in this moment.
And if at any point during the practice,
It just doesn't feel like there's a benefit or you're feeling triggered,
You can always just come back to a single point of focus,
No problem.
Otherwise we're going to begin by bringing to mind somebody in your life that has experienced something wonderful.
This could be a family member,
A close friend.
I would say start with somebody that you're relatively close to.
It could be your significant other and just take a moment to bring them to mind and what their good news is or was.
And as you hold this person in your mind's eye,
Perhaps you might already notice some sensations occurring inside.
Maybe a warming of the heart,
A tingling in the chest,
A softening of the eyes.
And if you're not feeling any of that,
That's okay.
Just an invitation to get curious.
I'm going to offer a couple of phrases and invite you to silently recite them,
Directing them at this person that you're holding.
May your success continue to grow and grow.
May your good fortune never leave you.
I am happy for you.
May you know the joy of a peaceful heart.
As these phrases go out to this person,
See if you notice anything in terms of a feeling or a body sensation occurring as you send these well wishes out.
And if there's no sensations,
That's okay as well.
With this type of practice,
Sometimes we're just planting seeds,
Never knowing when they might grow.
And then gently let go of this person,
This near and dear one that you've been holding.
And see if you can think of somebody else that's experienced some goodness recently.
Perhaps somebody that you don't know as well.
Could be a colleague,
A friend in an outer circle,
Maybe something you saw on social media.
It could even be somebody you saw on the news.
And with this person in mind,
We're going to offer the same phrases,
Directing them at this person.
May your success continue to grow and grow.
May your good fortune never leave you.
I am happy for you.
May you know the joy of a peaceful heart.
And again,
Tuning in internally and seeing if you notice anything happening.
And if you do notice something happening,
See if you can allow those feelings and sensations to expand and grow inside.
This is the part of cultivating positive emotions and specifically appreciative joy.
And now I'm going to invite you to look at the metaphorical mirror,
Imagining that you're looking at yourself now.
And I invite you to think about a recent success or some good fortune that you've experienced.
It doesn't have to be something humongous.
Part of the practice is finding the little things in life that can be celebrated.
So take a moment.
Retracing your steps.
It doesn't have to be the perfect thing.
Maybe whatever comes to mind first,
I often like to say,
That's your mind's gentle way of saying,
Pick me.
And now holding yourself in your mind's eye,
We're going to send these phrases to ourself.
May my success continue to grow and grow.
May my good fortune never leave me.
I am happy for me.
May I know the joy of a peaceful heart.
And see what you notice.
Maybe an expansion of positive sentiment,
Emotions and sensations.
Maybe you're finding this is actually a little challenging to send this to myself and that's okay.
If the positivity is there,
Let it spread.
And if there's difficulty,
You can bring some compassion to yourself.
Just recognize that,
Ooh,
It's a little hard.
Isn't that interesting?
You can gently put the mirror down now as we bring our practice to a close.
But I invite you to just notice what it feels like inside in your heart.
Notice your feet on the floor.
Then make your way back,
Wiggling your toes and fingers if your eyes were closed,
Allowing them to open.
