It’s Okay To Smile

In a world that offers us stress and anxiety - when we feel overwhelmed and nervous about what's to come - we open our minds and simply breathe. Allow this meditation to remind you that it's okay to smile.

Transcript

Let's begin our meditation experience together now.

Taking just a moment to center the mind,

To calm the body,

And to open the breath.

Finding a comfortable seated position.

Allowing the body to relax.

Nestle into that position.

Remembering that comfort in this moment is paramount.

That way you'll be able to focus on the breathing techniques without any frustrations or worry in the body.

I invite you to close the eyes.

Relax the muscles in the face,

The shoulders and the neck.

Even relaxing the hands as you sit in your posture.

As we continue to breathe,

We will begin taking a nice deep inhale.

And exhale.

Nice deep inhale in through the nose.

And exhaling through the mouth,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Nice deep inhale through the nose.

And exhale through the mouth,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Coming to our center,

We allow the breath to move and open.

As we breathe,

We focus our intention inside.

Each breath opens and expands the lungs,

While each exhale releases and lets go.

Let's breathe together.

Inhaling.

Exhaling.

Inhaling.

And exhaling.

Allowing the deep energy swirling through,

Transforming itself into a deep essence of breath.

Focusing on the here and the now.

As we sit and breathe,

We are given an opportunity to notice.

And in that noticing,

We may see our thoughts come up to the front.

We acknowledge them for what they are,

And we allow them to walk past.

Floating almost up onto a cloud in the corner of the room.

Each thought that may arise,

We instead of judging,

Become the observer,

Become the noticer of that thought.

Watching it,

Listening to it,

Observing it.

Allowing our thought to come up to the front.

And as we exhale,

Letting that thought float up onto a little cloud in the corner of the room.

During a time when we may have a lot of questions about our future,

About the future of those we care about,

And perhaps even about the future of the world we live in,

We recognize that we do not control the outcomes of the world.

Perhaps we connect with the idea that there is a purpose to our lives,

And we are here to explore and experience.

Perhaps we let go and shed,

Shaking off the pressure that we put on ourselves to be perfect.

To be in perfect control of every outcome,

Every decision of every thought.

And perhaps as we let that go,

As we shed and shake it off,

We find ourselves opening the door to inner peace.

Continue to allow the body to relax,

Relaxing the muscles in the face,

The jaw,

The eyebrows,

The cheeks.

Relaxing the muscles in the shoulders,

In the neck,

The hands,

And the feet.

Being sure to remain in a position that is most comfortable for you.

Allowing your inhales and your exhales to be natural,

Normal,

Rhythmic breathing pattern.

As we breathe,

We let go of the idea that we must be in perfect control.

In fact,

We let go of the idea that we must know everything.

We let go of the pressure that we put on ourselves to be perfectly poised and to make no mistakes.

For we know to be human is to be flawed.

And that in fact is what makes us so special,

So profound,

So unique.

Those flaws,

As we say,

Are our special characteristics that make us different,

Yet connected.

Those differences are what give us an opportunity to speak our truth.

And not only can we speak our truth,

We can shine it.

Yes,

We can shine our truth.

Be authentic and open and honest.

But if we choose this path of authenticity and honesty and openness,

We must first practice these ideals with ourselves.

As they say,

You can lie to the world,

But please do not lie to yourself.

Only you know what you really need.

And often only you can really solve your challenges.

And it is when you are open,

Honest,

And authentic with yourself first,

That energy radiates out into the river of the world.

Imagining you with all your gifts and all your particularities and all that makes you special and unique.

Like a pebble dropped into a river,

Rippling out,

Out,

Out,

Creating a wave of positivity that starts from your connection with yourself.

But if we each do this,

Follow the path of honesty,

Openness,

And authenticity,

Each of our pebbles together combined becomes like a boulder.

And when you drop a boulder in a river,

The ripples and the waves of impact become much bigger.

They grow much stronger and they travel much further.

And so each moment we release judgment and open ourselves up to listen closely to our own internal needs.

Each moment we do this,

We allow ourselves to step closer and closer to our truth.

And isn't that what this life is all about?

Being true.

Being real.

Being present.

Allow your breath to overcome you and to open up the airways and the passageways inside of your body's organ systems.

Allow your breath to support you in letting go of self judgment,

Perhaps even self sabotage.

And let us replace that with radical self love,

Radical self appreciation,

Radical self acceptance.

Who are we?

But energy like beams.

And what can we do but share the good news in our hearts?

And what have we become?

But a collective body of positive energy.

Giving,

Sharing,

Connecting.

We are destined to connect with our highest good.

Yes,

We are destined to connect with our highest good.

And every day,

Every moment,

Every breath that we take is an opportunity to expand those possibilities.

Perhaps we can connect with the idea that each one of us.

Yes,

That's you.

Has a special gift.

Perhaps even many to share with humankind.

And inside of that word is the word kindness.

So we give ourselves permission to smile.

Even in this moment with eyes closed sitting still breathing and focused.

It's okay to smile.

When you smile you actually use less muscles in the face.

Than when you make a frown.

Go figure.

And so we smile.

We fill ourselves with joy.

We open up with peace.

We experience love.

We allow ourselves to smile.

We increase our joy.

We allow ourselves to feel at peace.

We open up and experience love.

And so we smile.

Yes,

We allow ourselves to feel joy.

We increase our inner peace.

And we accept radical self love.

Simply by smiling.

And what a contagious energy that smile will bring.

When you smile,

The neurons in your brain fire off energy of possibility and positivity all throughout your entire being.

Through your fingertips and your toes,

Your shoulders,

All the way up and down your spine.

When you smile.

You're training your brain to accept happiness.

You're tricking yourself into feeling the emotion you truly desire.

And you're bringing and attracting exactly what it is that you want.

So let your smile brighten.

Let the edges of those lips curl right on up.

Let your cheeks get tight and your eyes crinkle with little smile wrinkles.

And let the joy and the laughter and the easiness flow over you.

Need we be so serious all the time?

Perhaps not.

Perhaps there is room for joy.

Perhaps there is room for peace.

Perhaps there is room for love.

And isn't it so important that we bring this to ourselves?

Isn't it so important that we allow ourselves to feel the love,

To feel the peace,

To feel the joy?

And we open our hands in acceptance.

Embracing and receiving the love,

The joy and the peace.

And as we work,

And as we share,

As we give,

And as we listen,

We smile.

For no reason at all.

And isn't that okay?

To smile for no reason?

And so in this moment we say thank you.

In the way that only you know how.

Give gratitude and thanks and appreciation for these bodies,

This mind,

These emotions,

And this opportunity to feel really good.

We don't have to hold on to the stress.

We don't have to hold on to the stress.

We don't have to hold on to the stress.

We can let it go.

And breathe.