Welcome to the Growing Joy practice.
Taking a moment just to settle in.
Getting into a position,
Either seated or lying down.
Just some position where your spine is straight.
That helps with an ease of breathing.
And beginning to check in with your body.
Noticing how your body is feeling as you begin this practice.
And if there are any areas that are tense or feel a sense of holding.
See if you can just allow those to soften or adjust your body as we begin.
And as you're sitting or lying here,
Noticing how your body is just naturally breathing.
Breathing in,
Sensing the nourishment of the breath.
Breathing out,
Releasing,
Relaxing into this space a little bit more.
Allowing awareness to just descend completely into the body.
This moment right now,
It's like this.
And now warming up the attitude of attention a bit.
If you'd like,
You can play with placing your hands on your heart or another part of your body.
Just sensing into the gentle touch of the hands.
The temperature of the hands.
Just feeling these sensations.
Bringing this warm awareness to the breath,
The body,
This moment.
And now gently bringing your attention to the heart center,
At the chest.
Maybe even imagining a smile in your heart and mind.
And just allowing awareness to linger there.
And just breathing.
And now bringing to mind a friend or an animal.
Someone who,
When you think of them,
Just makes you smile.
Someone that's a bit easier to love.
Someone when you think of them,
The love just flows naturally.
And whoever comes to mind,
Visualize that person and allow them to just for a moment rest gently in your heart and mind.
And in your mind's eye,
Look into the eyes of this person or animal and see their happiest moments.
Picture them as a child and see their best adventure.
The joy they carry.
The creative force that lives in them.
Their ability to overcome obstacles.
To laugh and even triumph at times.
And imagine how you could join together to console one another in difficulty.
And even bring one another up to bring a sense of joy and happiness.
Seeing the greatest potential for joy in this other being.
And now,
As if looking into this other person or animal's eyes,
Saying one or more of the following phrases to yourself silently.
And if the phrases get in the way,
Just relaying the sentiment of appreciation.
May you deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
May you be filled with joy and gratitude.
May you deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
May you be filled with joy and gratitude.
And as you repeat the phrases,
Lingering in the thoughts and aspirations,
If you notice any judgments arising,
Just soften the body.
Release them with the exhale.
And gently arrive back to the phrases with whatever friendliness and self-compassion you can bring.
Sensing into this appreciative joy.
And now,
Shifting attention to yourself for a moment.
Taking this time to bring to mind your own innate goodness.
Consider a time you did something that was caring,
Generous,
Kind,
Or even loving.
Reflecting on that moment.
And turning towards yourself and saying,
May I deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in my life.
May the joy I experience continue to grow.
May I be filled with joy and gratitude.
May I deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in my life.
May the joy I experience continue to grow.
May I be filled with joy and gratitude.
And as you do this,
Noticing how your body's feeling,
What's here emotionally.
And if there is any positive feelings,
Just allow yourself to linger in them for a few moments.
If there's any resistance there,
Just applying some self-compassion,
Some caring.
That's okay too.
Now beginning to shift attention to a neutral person.
Somebody who you know but don't know too well.
This could be a co-worker or a grocery clerk.
Or just someone you know in your life through other people but haven't spent much time with.
Considering this person.
Picturing them in your mind.
Seeing this person as a person just like me who wants to feel joy.
Who wants to be happy.
And in the same way you did towards the person that was easy to care about,
Turning towards this person and saying,
May you deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
And may you be filled with joy and gratitude.
May you deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
And may you be filled with joy and gratitude.
Sensing into the intentionality,
The heart behind these aspirations and intentions towards this neutral person.
Now bringing to mind a difficult person in your life.
Maybe somebody who's not so difficult.
But on a scale of one to ten,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Someone who you have frustrations with or you're harboring resentment.
Seeing this person in your mind.
A person just like me who wants to feel cared about and understood.
Who wants to be happy.
Softening your body,
Your gaze and your mind towards this person.
And saying,
May you too deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
May you too be filled with joy and gratitude.
May you deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in your life.
May the joy you experience continue to grow.
May you be filled with joy and gratitude.
Sensing into whatever's here.
The intention,
The aspirations.
And if it becomes too hard to send these thoughts to a difficult person,
Just acknowledge this without judgment and return to sending the phrases to a loved one or to yourself.
That could be an act of self-compassion.
And finally,
Expanding this sense of appreciative joy beyond any one person to your friends and family,
People you work with,
Beyond there.
To people in your city,
Your state,
Your country.
And to all people around the world.
Imagine radiating this appreciative joy from your immediate environment out in all directions.
Sending these appreciative,
Joy-filled wishes even to all beings in existence.
May we all deeply appreciate and savor the good moments in our lives.
May the joy we experience continue to grow.
May we all be filled with joy and gratitude.
Sensing into this appreciative joy.
This moment right now,
It's like this.
And now,
Just lingering in this appreciative joy,
The sense of it,
The feel of it,
Throughout the rest of the practice.
And breathing.
And as we bring this practice to a close,
Taking this moment to just acknowledge the active choice of taking this time out of all the things your mind says that you would,
Could,
Should be doing just to cultivate,
Or even just to have the intention of cultivating this strength of appreciative joy.
For your own learning,
Health,
And well-being,
This is an act of self-love.
And so,
Just acknowledging yourself for taking this time.
And also knowing that you can bring this joy into your daily life.
