Good morning.
Buenos dias.
Welcome to this Monday's Meditation on the Lawn,
Offered by the University of Virginia.
My name is Alicia Lopez Opere.
I'm an associate professor,
General faculty in the Department of Spanish,
Italian,
And Portuguese,
Where I teach Spanish.
And I serve as director of undergraduate programs.
Today we're going to do an energy healing meditation.
Using our breath,
We will release stored emotions in our bodies in order to arrive to a state of relaxation.
By getting rid of negative emotions and feelings,
We will be able to make space and recharge with new,
Pure energy,
Improving our physical,
Emotional,
And psychological state.
You can be seated for this meditation,
Or laying down on the floor,
Or on your bed.
If you're sitting,
Make sure your back is upright,
But not rigid.
Your shoulders are relaxed.
Your hands are resting on your lap.
Your feet are planted on the floor.
If you're sitting on a chair,
Or maybe your legs are crossed,
If you're sitting on the floor,
Or in a cushion,
Or on a meditation bench.
If you're laying down on the floor or on your bed,
Relax your arms along your body,
Your palms facing up,
Your legs slightly separated,
And your feet pointing slightly to the sides.
Please join me by maybe closing your eyes or lowering your gaze or looking away from the computer so you're not distracted by the light of the screen.
Let's start with three deep cleansing breaths.
Inhaling through the nose and sighting out through the mouth.
Continue breathing in and out through your nose.
With an inhale,
Feel how your ribs and your whole abdomen expands.
With the exhale,
Feel how your jaw relaxes,
Your shoulders relax.
Inhale,
Expand.
Exhale,
Feel some weight on your elbows,
Your hands resting on your lap.
Inhale,
Expand.
Exhale,
Feel how your seat bones touch the chair or the cushion.
Feel the contact of your legs or your feet with the floor.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
In and out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Now feel or visualize a ball of warm light on top of your head.
This beautiful bright light enters your body through the crown of your head.
And feel how it goes down through your cranium,
Washing your face,
Your neck and throat,
Down into your shoulders.
Take two or three breaths,
Focusing on how this beautiful light pushes down all the tension storage around this area,
Where we usually accumulate a lot of tension,
The neck,
Shoulders,
The upper back.
Breathing in pure light,
Feel how it pushes down to the earth,
All the tension and emotions that do not serve you.
Now feel or visualize how the light goes down on your arms and elbows,
Forearms,
Hands,
The palms of your hands,
And each one of your fingers.
Feel this energy going down through your chest and upper back,
Your middle back and abdomen,
Lower back and belly,
Your hips.
And again,
Take two or three deep breaths,
Focusing on how the light cleanses your lower back and your hips,
As this is also an area where we usually store a lot of emotions.
Breathe in,
Breathe out,
Pushing down,
Down to the earth.
Those store emotions that you don't need.
Keep breathing and visualizing how the light goes down to your thighs,
Your kneecaps,
The back of your knees,
Your shins,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
The top of your feet,
The soles of your feet,
And each one of your toes.
Take three deep breaths here,
Feeling how all the spots in your body that were tense are relaxed now.
And here,
You can visualize how from the soles of your feet,
Or your seat bones,
Or your back,
Whatever part of your body is touching the ground,
You start growing some roots.
With each inhale and exhale,
Those roots grow down deeper and deeper and deeper into the earth.
The earth is always there to hold us,
To receive us,
And to take in that negative energy that we don't need.
Your roots grow long and down to the center of the earth.
And from those roots,
Start feeling or visualizing a bright light,
An energy coming from the center of the earth,
And it goes up with your inhale.
Feel how the light enters your body through your feet,
Your seat bones,
Or your back,
And it grounds you,
Giving you a sense of safety,
Sense of balance,
A sense of belonging.
Continue breathing and visualizing or sensing how the energy is going up your legs,
Your lower back,
Your belly,
Your middle back,
The top of your abdomen.
And feel how all the organs inside of you are breathing,
Expanding,
And relaxing.
Continue directing your breath and feel how the light goes up to your chest.
Visualize your heart and your lungs relaxing and receiving this beautiful energy coming from down the earth.
Inhale and see how the energy goes all the way up to your throat,
Relaxing the back of your neck,
The front of your neck,
Your jaw,
Your tongue,
And it keeps going up to the space in between your eyebrows,
Washing and relaxing all the muscles on your face,
On your head,
And the light comes out from the crown of your head.
With your breath,
Sense how the light washes down all over your body,
From your crown down to your face,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Chest,
And upper back,
Stomach and lower back,
Your hips,
Your thighs,
Your shins,
Your feet.
And once again,
Visualize that energy on top of your head,
Washing down from your crown,
Cleansing,
Energizing you,
And giving you a sense of peace and balance.
Take your final two breaths sensing how your whole body is now energized,
Revitalized,
Full of energy flowing,
Coming up from the earth with your inhale,
And going down from the crown of your head,
Washing your whole body all the way down back to your feet.
If you're ready,
Now open your eyes,
Maybe smile,
And thank yourself for spending this time taking care of yourself.
Thank you all so much for participating in this meditation on the lawn.
I invite you to return next week.
At the same time,
Gracias.
