Welcome,
Welcome to transforming your anxiety,
Expanding your imagination.
Oftentimes when we get lost in cycles of anxiety or stress or overwhelm,
We keep thinking and thinking about what could go wrong,
What is going wrong.
And then we can only see a small lens of what's actually happening around us.
So a lot of work that needs to be done in working with our anxiety is actually expanding our imagination and really expanding our imagination towards pleasure,
Re-remembering what pleasure,
What joy is.
And we really want to work that so we regrow our neural pathways instead of focusing on what's wrong to really look at,
Oh,
Where do I have pleasure in my life or where have I had pleasure in my life and bringing that into our energy field.
So today we're going to do a little bit of a meditation practice where we focus on a moment of pleasure in our life.
We're going to bring ourself there with all of our five senses and really use that as a gateway into meditation,
As a gateway into tuning into the aliveness that exists in life.
So to start,
I'm going to take you on a little journey with me.
So this is a meditation that I do sometimes,
Maybe when I'm in a hard time,
Because my body re-remembers this experience.
So I invite you to join in with me.
Just listen to my voice and imagine being in this experience with me.
Okay.
So we are on top of a mountain.
I love to snowboard and we are on top of a mountain and there has been fresh snow.
Like so much snow has come down that it's going to be a powder day.
And I'm up there with my dad and my brother and it's a blue sky day.
The sun is coming down and it's just us on top looking down at the mountain.
We're all looking at each other like,
Wow,
This is about to happen.
And I start going and I start riding and it just seems so seamless.
I feel like I'm floating on a cloud.
The snow is moving so easily.
It's coming up in my face.
I feel like I'm flying,
Like I'm free.
I feel the sun.
I feel the wind on my face as I pick up speed.
I'm starting to holler in pure joy.
I'm hearing my brother and my dad holler next to me and just flying and grooving.
And I feel this sense of pure freedom and delight.
Freedom and delight.
So that is an experience that I meditate on when sometimes I forget that pleasure exists.
So we really want to cultivate a toolbox of what are pleasurable moments we can call in on and hopefully as you heard that,
Whether or not you're a snowboarder,
You could connect with my sense of freedom,
My delight,
Feeling like winds coming in your hair and you're moving through snow.
So I'm going to invite you to call in a moment in your life where you felt wonder or awe.
It can be a moment where you looked up at stars in the sky and just had that,
Oh my God,
This is so beautiful.
We're so little.
Or if you've looked at a beautiful sunset,
Those moments where you're just like,
Wow,
Look at what the earth creates.
Or you could be at your favorite concert with your favorite song and dancing and feeling the energy of the crowd and how your body was moving and feeling the energy of the performer.
So it's really up to you.
So we're going to go through this practice together and I really want you to recall this moment and we're going to activate all of the senses in the moment to bring about that moment so that we re-remember,
Our body remembers joy and pleasure.
So I invite you to get comfortable.
You can lower your gaze,
Close your eyes,
Sit,
Stand,
Move,
Lie down,
Whatever feels good to you.
So I'm going to invite you to start thinking of a memory of a moment that brings you awe.
A moment where you just felt great,
Where you felt in delight.
And bringing yourself to that scene now,
Whether it's in nature,
Whether it's in a room,
Bringing yourself imagining that you are in that space.
And first we're going to activate the sense of sight.
What are you seeing around you?
What colors are present?
Are there other people with you?
Is it just you?
What are you looking at?
Noticing the specific details with your sight of what you're seeing,
Taking yourself fully visually as if you're in a movie in that moment.
And then beginning to activate your sense of hearing.
What sounds are present?
Are you hearing nature around you?
Are other people there?
Is there a song playing?
Noticing the sounds that are present,
Activating that auditory energy.
And then we're going to come into both the smell and the taste together.
If you're outside,
Is there a smell in the air?
If you're in a room,
Can you recall any smells or tastes in your mouth?
And then we're going to come into the sense of feeling,
Of touch.
Is the sun on your skin?
Is there wind in your hair?
Are you sweaty?
What are you feeling on your skin?
And then once again,
Bringing in this whole environment,
Activating all of your senses as if you're there.
And then noticing what you're feeling in your body.
Is it freedom?
Is it delight?
Is it joy?
Is it awe?
Is it wonder?
Tuning into that feeling,
Letting that word come forth and just sitting in it,
In the sweet nectar of freedom,
Of joy,
Of delight,
Whatever that word is for you.
And if your mind starts to wander,
Calling back in,
Being in that space,
Grounding yourself once again in that scene,
Activating the senses,
And then coming to the feeling that comes forth and letting your body bask in that feeling.
And then slowly we're going to come out of this practice and I invite you to really tend to the transition space from this moment of pleasure or awe into the room that you're in,
Slowly raising your gaze or opening your eyes and just noticing the quality of the room,
The quality of your body if anything has shifted.
And knowing that these moments of awe,
These moments of pleasure live within us,
We can teach our body to re-remember delight and pleasure.
Because when we have anxiety,
We sometimes think of everything going wrong and then our whole body tenses in that.
That it can be a very powerful practice to remember beautiful moments in life.
Use those as doorways into meditation.
Maybe you have two or three of them and each day see where you want to go.
Do you want to go dancing?
Do you want to go to a concert?
Do you want to go to your favorite place in nature?
Do you want to go to sitting on the couch with your best friends laughing?
Using those to regrow and rewire our brain into moments of pleasure.
Thank you for joining me today and showing up for yourself.
Namaste.
