Welcome.
How are you?
How many times are you asked that during your day?
Okay,
Fine,
Good.
Maybe we say that just to get out of the conversation.
Or maybe we're okay,
Fine,
Good.
Maybe we don't want to get into the ways in which we are not okay,
Are not fine,
Are not good,
With this person or in this place or in this time.
And that is okay.
Sometimes we need to get into the ways in which we're not okay during meditation.
Sometimes that happens whether we want it or not.
But we don't always have to do that.
Other times,
Like maybe now,
We can simply affirm our wellness,
Our well-being.
We can affirm all the ways in which we are well.
I invite you to do that today.
You can follow along all the way through or just hang out at some point in some juicy bit of wellness and ignore me.
To move towards this affirmation,
We might begin with breath,
With this universally shared movement of life.
Let the movement of your breath lead you,
The inhales and exhales,
Slow and gentle but also powerful.
Let it show you the path to connection,
Perhaps first to the life of nature,
To your place in the great web of connectedness,
The web containing all the creatures that breathe.
Claim your creaturehood.
Imagine everything breathing with you right now.
Let your breath flow with the knowledge of this shared existence,
This kinship with the world of breathing things.
You might take a few moments now simply to enjoy the company,
The company of breathing things.
You might imagine your breath synchronized with all of your fellow creatures,
Large and small,
Scattered across the face of planet Earth.
Breathe with them all.
This breathing can be a glorious feeling,
A feeling of immense well-being,
From imagining your breath in harmony with the breath of all breathing things.
Take pleasure in that feeling in shared respiration with all breathing things.
Take pleasure in the knowledge that you are alive,
That your life and the life of nature are one.
You might take a few moments now to consider all the ways in which you know you are alive.
Consider what it means to be alive,
To be able to breathe,
To be enabled to take communion through the gift of breath with all that moves on the Earth.
Consider the layers of information that inform you of your living existence,
Sensory impressions of the world around you,
Large ones,
Small ones,
And those so subtle you hardly notice unless you seek them out,
Seek them out.
The evidence of your internal senses,
Your thoughts,
Your feelings,
Your comfort.
Notice all the ways in which you are alive.
Notice the simple fact of your aliveness for a few breaths.
Now you might start to notice the ways in which you are well.
Notice the ways in which you are healthy.
Notice the ways in which you are at peace.
Notice the ways in which you are at rest.
Notice the full range of your well-being.
What are the clues that lead you to the ways in which you are well?
The way your body feels?
Small or large sensations in your chest or head,
Arms or legs,
Fingers or toes?
The movement of your breath,
The beating of your heart,
The rush of blood reaching all parts of you.
Start to notice the ways in which you are well.
Claim the awareness that there are ways in which you are well.
As you do so,
You might also notice ways in which you feel vulnerable.
You might start to notice ways in which you are not okay.
That's normal,
Natural.
But also notice if it might be a habit.
That you turn your attention to ways you are not well when you start to feel the joys of your own well-being.
Maybe this is a pattern for you.
Not to allow yourself to enjoy your well-being too much.
Just notice for future thought.
For now,
You might bring yourself back wholly to the ways in which you are well.
To the ways you feel healthy.
In body,
In mind,
In spirit.
From the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.
Let yourself revel in your well-being.
You might be very aware of some of the ways in which you are well.
They might be vibrant,
Intense,
Perhaps dynamic.
Allow yourself also to be as aware as you can be of tiny impressions of wellness.
They're there too.
Gather this whole awareness to you.
All the ways in which you are healthy and well right now.
Wrap yourself in this awareness,
This blush of well-being.
You are cloaked in wellness.
Thrive in this awareness.
I am alive.
I am well.
I am alive.
I am well.
I am alive.
I am well.
I am well.
This body is made of earth and gold.
Sky and stars,
Rivers and oceans masquerading as muscle and bone.
Every substance is here.
Diamonds and silver,
Magical elixirs,
Ambrosia that gives visions,
Herbs that nourish and heal.
The foundation of the planet,
Immortal magnetic iron circulating in the blood.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
Every cell is an organ of sense infused with majesty.
You might now say to yourself one of the ways in which you are healthy.
Say it again.
Say it three times.
Fully acknowledge this way in which you are well.
Now say to yourself another way you are well.
Maybe it's another way your body is well.
Maybe it's not physical at all.
Maybe you are well because you have a warm,
Comfortable place to be right now.
You might acknowledge a way in which some need of yours has been met.
Whatever it is,
Say it to yourself three times.
Now choose one more affirmation of wellness from all the ways in which you are well.
Maybe it's the way you feel at home in yourself.
Maybe it's a relationship with another person that provides well-being.
So many options to choose from.
So much richness.
Say this third affirmation of wellness to yourself three times.
Say to yourself again each of these three ways in which you are well.
This incantation.
You can repeat this incantation if you like.
You can repeat it as many times as you like.
Let yourself sit for a bit with this affirmation of your well-being.
This affirmation of all the ways in which you are okay,
Fine,
And good.
Let yourself sit for a bit.
Let yourself sit for a bit.
Let yourself sit for a bit.
Let yourself sit for a bit.
You are well.
Remember these feelings of wellness.
Store them up.
And remember this path to these feelings.
This path you can take any time you need a dose of affirmation.
A gulp of this heady elixir.
It's never more than a breath away.
You might in closing say your incantation one final time.
Recite to yourself just three of the many ways in which you are well.
And then,
With grace and care,
Allow yourself to bring back to our shared world this sense of wellness.
This affirmation.
Your incantation.
Allow your breath to carry you back slowly,
Gently.
With all the time you need for the cargo you carry,
Your well-being is priceless.
Welcome back.
