Just feel all the feels,
Just be into everything,
Good,
Bad,
Pain,
Comfort,
Discomfort,
Joy.
They're all valid.
They're all real.
We may not like every part of experience,
But we can accept and welcome it in.
Settling down,
Going in,
Settling into gravity,
And becoming more still,
Heavier and quiet.
Noticing that bliss won't come from an empty mind,
But it can come from a quiet mind.
You will have thoughts and distractions,
And you just come back,
Return to my voice,
Your body,
Your seat,
Breathing.
Use some of these cues to call you back when you inevitably get distracted.
You're getting distracted because your brain is alive,
And that's what it does.
Thank you,
Brain.
And all of these physical sensations,
Emotional,
Psychic,
Spiritual,
Good and bad,
They're all part of being alive,
And existing is a gift if you choose to see it that way.
Breathe into that,
Extending the inhale and slowing the exhale,
Deeper and longer.
Maybe you could lift up the corners of your mouth in a subtle smile.
You're welcome to close your eyes if you'd like as we continue to breathe a deeper inhale,
Slower exhale,
Drawing down and inward,
Quieter and more still.
Is there a spot within you or one you could imagine that is the seat of your giving,
The seat of your gifts,
The place of your volunteering and voluntarism,
Where you are most open?
Self at its most expansive,
A volunteer's heart.
Call it forward,
Warm it up,
Lift it.
Draw a breath into your volunteer's heart to allow it to expand,
Giving it support.
Imagine looking into a mirror with this volunteering heart,
This most gift-giving part of you.
Imagine seeing yourself through this lens.
How would you treat yourself?
With respect,
Generosity,
Perhaps less criticism,
A kind awareness.
From this voluntary heart,
Would you see yourself more pretty or handsome,
More capable,
Stronger,
More loving?
If you could see yourself through this voluntary heart,
The heart of giving,
Might you be more proud of who you are?
And now take this volunteer's heart outward,
Across the entire breadth of human experience.
Perhaps focusing on a spectrum that you find challenging,
Whether it's political diversity,
Economic or educational attainments,
Differences of talents or interests,
Or any others.
Can you cast this volunteering heart across the entire variety of those human experiences?
What might that mean or cause in you?
Can you see beyond the place in a spectrum where you stand and exist?
But with that voluntary heart,
Understand those who are different,
Who come with different experiences and perspectives.
Even perspectives you don't understand and may not want to understand.
Perhaps you could be sympathetic or compassionate,
Even if you can't stand in their place.
Becoming more voluntary and generous toward those with whom you disagree.
Breathe into that possibility.
Again and again cultivating a volunteer's heart and gazing at yourself and the breadth of people through that heart as you move throughout your day and experience.
Blessings.
