Sympathetic Joy!

Compassion and Joy are two sides of the same coin. Just as we cultivate our heart to feel the suffering of others through the practice of compassion, so too we can cultivate our heart to feel others' joy. Can you allow yourself to deeply feel the goodness and joy that's all around? Imagine the laughter of a child, the enthusiasm of a puppy, a bride on her wedding day?! There are countless joys from all corners of the world~even the non-human corners! That reminds of the beautiful quotation by Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese writer: Forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Transcript

Okay,

Go ahead and get comfortable.

I'm sitting on a cushion,

Which feels really nice because I'm upright,

But also relaxed.

So just find yourself where it makes the most sense for you to be today.

And I always start with three deep breaths,

Breathing in through our nose and out through our mouth.

And as we keep practicing and training,

Hopefully that entry point just sort of reminds your body and your mind and your heart of what we're doing today.

We're going into a state of relaxation,

Cultivating our heart.

And really letting go of all mental formations,

Especially those that don't serve us or others.

Let's go ahead and set our grounding cord.

So that's just a visual,

That just an image that connects your sits bones or your hips all the way deep into mother earth.

A really nice one to use would be tree roots.

You can just imagine you have a large taproot coming off of your body.

And it goes down through your floor,

Through the foundation,

Deep into the soil.

And it's just a conduit,

It's just a channel for you to release and relax.

Anything that's not serving you,

Anything that's not in your highest good.

A lot of times we hold on to programming,

What we should be doing,

What other people think of us.

And this just creates kind of like an energetic blur around our spirit.

So we're just gonna allow the grounding cord to take out and release anything that doesn't serve.

And there's no efforting,

There's no work.

It's simply an intention that we're letting go.

And so with each out breath,

You're just allowing more tension to release,

Body aches and pain.

Just simply flows out of your body and into the earth.

Like to do a simple body scan.

So we're just gonna move through our body.

And if we find any tension,

Aches or pains or any sort of like dark or discolored energy,

We're just gonna continue to use that grounding cord to just send any of that down and out.

And starting at the crown of our head,

Just place your attention at your scalp.

Just notice if your scalp is holding any muscular tension.

There's any discoloration or murkiness in your crown chakra.

Moving down into our face.

There's a lot of tension that we hold behind our eyes and our eyelids.

Temples,

So just kind of like stretch into that spot.

Open and close your jaw.

And you'll notice that I'm yawning a lot,

Which is just me moving energy through my body.

It's kind of how I release and relax.

So happens a lot for me in meditation.

So just open up your like face muscles.

And again,

There's not really a lot of effort here.

It's just placing the awareness in your face.

And just allowing that grounding cord to do its job,

Which is to help you release anything that's not serving you.

While we're here,

Let's place our attention in our sixth chakra,

Which is right in the center of our head.

This is our meditation center and intuitive knowing center.

Since we're in meditation,

It's okay to allow for the expansion and openness of your intuition.

And see if you can experience like 360 degrees,

Like an owl that would look all the way around in all directions.

And if you notice any like areas that are blocked energetically,

Again,

We're not forcing them away.

We're just acknowledging what's present.

Just grounding off what doesn't serve us.

Moving down into our throat and our neck.

Maybe roll your head from side to side,

Upper shoulders.

Just intend that these body parts relax.

The throat chakra is where we express ourselves The throat chakra is where we express ourselves,

Where we can speak our truths,

Where we can speak powerfully,

Fearlessly,

Clearly.

It's really where our heart expresses itself in words.

So just notice in the fifth chakra,

There's any discoloration or a lot of times there's constriction.

Might feel like you're wearing a tall collar or something that's kind of surrounding your throat.

Your throat.

Just acknowledge what's here.

Just allow the energy to move and shift and morph as you bring your awareness to what's happening now.

Moving down into our upper torso,

Like our chest,

Our high back,

Our upper back,

Shoulders.

Just intend for relaxation,

Grounding off any old patterns.

Let's move to our left shoulder.

Just your awareness and attention goes to your left shoulder,

Your left arm,

Your left wrist,

Your left hand,

Thumb,

Index,

Middle,

Ring,

Pinky.

Just ground off any pain.

Your right shoulder,

Right arm,

Right wrist,

Thumb,

Index,

Middle,

Ring,

Pinky.

Again,

Just allow gravity to pull down.

You're just working with the natural gravitational field of the earth.

Pull out any toxicity and anything negative,

Any body pain from your arms.

Moving into the chest and torso,

Into our heart chakra.

This is where we hold compassion for self and others.

There's no one more deserving of our love and compassion than ourselves.

In order to help and serve others,

We must fill our own cup.

Just notice if there's any sensations in your heart.

You're just checking in.

It's just a gentle check-in.

Even asking the simple question,

How are you doing?

Even asking the simple question,

How are you doing?

Then just waiting for a response.

Allowing and holding whatever response you get.

Just allow,

With your out-breath,

For any old story,

Any old trauma or baggage to gently release.

If it wants to,

There's no forcing.

It's just an invitation to use the grounding cord.

We can create a new story,

A fresh story.

We're just resetting in present time.

Moving down into our diaphragm and our solar plexus.

Diaphragm and our solar plexus.

Our organs.

Our mid-back.

Our low-back.

See if we can take a deep breath into our belly.

So kids naturally breathe through their bellies.

Most of us adults breathe in our chest.

Just allow the breath to be deep.

Just giving your body some space to release and relax.

Moving to our hips,

Our left hip.

Our left thigh.

Our left knee.

Our left shin.

Our left foot.

Our left toes.

Our right hip.

Our right thigh.

Our right knee.

Our right shin.

Our right foot.

Our right toes.

Again,

Just feel the weight of gravity.

That familiar tug.

It's pulling us down into the earth.

It's holding us.

Deeply rooted and connected.

We'll finish off with our energetic body.

So the third chakra is right at the solar plexus.

The diaphragm.

This is our willpower,

Our to-do list.

So just intend that the chakra is humming along.

You're getting things done,

But you're not overstressed.

Then our second chakra.

It's our creative womb space.

Our ability to feel pleasure.

Have play and joy in our lives.

Again,

The intention is just that the chakra is healthy.

Active.

And finally,

Coming down into our root chakra.

This is our connection to tribe.

Sense of belonging.

Financial and emotional security.

While we're down here,

Make sure your grounding cord is as wide as your hips.

You can set your grounding cord throughout the day.

It doesn't have to be just in meditation.

We're going to sit in silence together for a bit.

I invite you to.

.

.

It feels really good and grounded here.

Just to stay in this really calm,

And close-to-the-earth sensation.

If you feel like I moved too quickly,

Or you want more attention on an energetic center or body part,

Feel free to revisit your body.

And your energetic body.

And your energetic body.

If you catch yourself having mental formations,

Just use your grounding cord to ground them off.

There's plenty of time later to think.

Staying in meditation,

We're going to gently move into our heart chakra.

So back to the upper chest,

Torso.

We're just going to bring into our heart-mind state that joy you shared in our check-in.

Just imagine that person or that animal.

Imagine the joy that others are feeling.

Just bring that excitement and elation for life into your heart.

You can silently share with that person,

Your joy is my joy.

I feel happy for your happiness.

Let's see if you can call into your heart a neutral person.

So someone just in your community,

In your town,

You see at the grocery store,

It doesn't have to be like a specific person,

It can be kind of a figure in your mind.

Someone that lives in your town,

Walks down the same streets that you walk down.

Just imagine them feeling joy.

You are excited about something in their life.

Something is bringing them great pleasure,

A sense of hope.

Your joy is my joy.

I am happy for your happiness.

See if we can bring into our heart someone who may have harmed us in the past,

Or maybe we feel competition with.

Just kind of some friction in your heart when you think of this person.

See this person feeling joyful,

Something beautiful has unfolded in their life.

I find joy in your joy.

I am happy for your happiness.

Let's expand our awareness,

Our field of love and consciousness out beyond our immediate circle of people we know and see in our community.

Let's bring into our loving embrace the joy of people across the planet from us,

People in distant lands,

People on the other side of the country.

Being human is feeling joy.

There are so many joyful moments in our lives.

Let's bring this joy into our heart.

We can feel the joy of others.

Just as we take on the suffering of others,

And witness that,

Let us bring into the hearts,

Into our heart,

Others' joy.

Maybe a baby's been born,

Maybe someone graduated from high school,

New job,

So many joys.

As you imagine that joy,

Let it seep and permeate into your own heart.

Let it pour into the crevices and cracks.

Knowing that we're all human,

We experience great highs and great lows.

There's no one more deserving of our love and compassion than ourselves.

We'll sit in silence for one more minute,

And I'll ring the bell.