Welcome to a new day.
How exciting it is to have the opportunity to begin anew.
To set an intention for the day ahead and to begin the day with a moment of stillness to catch ourselves before the day takes us away.
And so firstly just smiling towards yourself to give yourself a bit of gratitude for taking time before the busyness of the day comes by.
And so just smiling for yourself,
Towards yourself.
And maybe we just begin by bringing to mind just one thing that you're grateful for right now this morning.
And we're just going to begin the day in this practice by just coming back to a sense of clarity,
A sense of presence and mindfulness.
So that we set the tone for the day to be able to catch ourselves when we might fall into patterns of chasing,
Patterns that simply don't serve us.
And so just begin by closing down your eyes on your exhale as you settle into a posture that serves you for a few moments.
A posture that is steady and strong and also easeful and gentle.
And just begin by taking a couple of deep breaths to welcome the day.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the mouth.
And just taking a couple of deep,
Deep breaths down into the navel just below the belly button.
And as you take a couple of deep breaths,
Start to bring to mind an intention for the day.
An intention in the form of three feeling words.
What are the three feelings you'd like to invite in or welcome to your day,
Knowing what's ahead?
Is it a sense of joy?
A sense of excitement?
A sense of playfulness?
Three feelings you'd like to welcome into the day.
And then taking a couple of breaths on every inhale,
Bringing those feeling words to mind and bringing those feelings to body.
What does it feel like to actually feel those things now in your body?
Taking a couple of deep breaths to breathe them in and letting them find their place somewhere in your body.
Just noticing maybe where you do feel each feeling word the most.
And this might be useful throughout your day to understand where each of these feelings reside in your body.
So if you feel you need to come back to them,
You can always just take your mind there and take your breath to that part of your body also.
Maybe even placing a hand there and just breathing deeply.
So just deepening those feelings.
What does it feel like to feel that way now?
And where do you feel them the most?
Then I just invite you to bring a light smile to the mouth.
Just to notice what it feels like to smile on the inside of the mouth as well.
A bit more space and softness on the inner walls of the mouth.
What about a smile across the chest with an open heart?
And what about a smiling mind?
Imagining the shape of a smile across your awareness.
Receiving everything that comes into your experience with a sense of acceptance and compassion.
So that whatever might show up today you can receive and accept with a sense of lightness.
And then just knowing that you know how to be compassionate towards yourself.
It's in your nature,
It's there.
We just need to remember.
So knowing that you can be compassionate to yourself and this is how to bring this smile,
This softness,
This acceptance.
Now bringing back these three feelings that you intend to feel today.
And again letting them flood your body and your mind.
Feeling them now in this moment.
And again breathing into the part of your body where they reside.
Knowing that they too are always there for you to access when you need.
Just by directing your mind and maybe directing and deepening your breath.
So to close this meditation,
Taking a couple of deep breaths knowing that these feelings are totally possible throughout your day by being aware of them,
By breathing them in and by holding yourself with compassion to accept your experience and whatever may arise within it.
As Lao Tzu said,
When you realize nothing is lacking,
The whole world belongs to you.
So may you move through your day with clarity,
With acceptance,
With compassion for yourself and towards each other.
And may you look back on the day with a sense of warmth knowing that you held yourself in the best way that you could.
