Guided Meditation *Increase Joy*

When we breathe deeply we find a sense of inner calm and peacefulness. Ea h breath allows us to let go of what we thought we were and to embrace what is possible in our lives. Allow this meditation to open your senses and bring inner peace and calm.

Transcript

You you you you you you you take notice of any sounds that may be around you sounds of talking or doors opening or closing footsteps computer buzzing cell phone as you're settling into your body and you hear those sounds acknowledge them and then just let them fade into the distance if you hear a door open and close and some chatter hear that? Oh ok I hear that and then bring your awareness back into the body as you're in your seated position with your eyes closed or lowered take some time to do a little scan of how you're feeling are you feeling energized? Maybe a little slumped over? Are you feeling a slight twist or pain in your back or maybe your shoes are too tight? Whatever it is that's going on with your physical body take note of it just notice what's going on no judgments no questions no concerns just take notice as we are being present with our bodies I want you to think of a time in your mind in your experience where you experienced the joy of learning a moment where you were excited where you had joy had fun it can be any environment anywhere you want it to be and as you think of that moment really get detailed about that experience where were you? What were you wearing? What were you thinking about? How old were you? Who else was there with you? What was the setting? Do you remember the year? Get as detailed as possible as you can about that experience almost like you're reliving it all over again that moment when you experienced the joy of learning when something really clicked for you and as you're thinking through that experience see if you can capture that emotion see if you can feel that feeling all over again as though you were right there back in that situation back in that space back in that environment and once you felt that emotion you may even have a smile creep across your face allow that emotion that feeling to kind of trickle its way through your body with a tingling sensation of enjoyment and elation happiness maybe even joy and just let it settle into your bones imagining what that might feel like and as you continue to feel that emotion allow the memory to kind of fade into the background and allow that emotion that feeling of enjoyment and that joy of learning and how you felt that day to come forward and as you're feeling that emotion hold on to that and let it settle within you as you're sitting in your chair or on the floor take a deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth release do that a few more times at your own pace deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth and maybe you'll do it one more time deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth as you continue to allow that memory to fade into the background and that positive emotion to come forward bring your awareness back into the body and bring your attention to the present moment now and you may have thoughts that are wanting to bombard this experience thoughts about what you're going to eat for lunch or what you ate for lunch or what you're going to do this weekend or papers you need to look over whatever those thoughts are acknowledge them as they come and then let them pass maintaining your focus and your awareness on the positive feeling of the joy of learning that you are embodying right now as you continue to bring your awareness back into the body you can slowly begin to open your eyes take another deep breath and as you exhale bringing your awareness back into the present moment to continue this exercise on your own in a group setting I encourage you to consider sharing amongst your peers what that experience was that you went to in your mind's eye and to use your active listening skills to listen to one another allowing each person who would like to share what memory they went back to and to use this opportunity to learn about your fellow peers and colleagues and friends to build a deeper connection that may apply to your work and also an opportunity just to practice your listening skills and get to know someone a little bit better perhaps even to step outside of your own comfort zone and share something you normally wouldn't in this setting so we'll close this guided meditation with a few deep breaths so you can keep the eyes open or you can close them and begin the bell