Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Or good evening.
Thank you for taking this time with me to focus on joy.
Wherever you are,
I invite you to take a comfortable seated posture,
Finding strength and length in the spine,
Releasing any tension in the neck,
Shoulders,
And jaw.
And lowering the sit bones,
Imagining them dropping into the earth.
Noticing the sensation of the ground against your skin,
And you against it.
Finding the comfort of the earth.
Today's practice is focused on finding joy.
Knowing that joy is something that cannot be achieved and cannot be found in solitude.
That requires constant efforts to work in harmony with those surrounding us.
We are interconnected beings,
And our actions or non-actions affect those surrounding us.
So to invite joy into your life,
To choose joy,
Is also a beautiful act to give to others.
No matter where you are,
You have the opportunity to connect with gratitude,
To choose a middle ground,
And to simply be the witness.
Rather than being ruled by the winds of our fluctuating fields,
We can simply observe that I feel best,
And I am listening.
So taking our hand to heart center,
Closing your eyes,
Ask yourself,
What am I feeling in this moment?
Do I feel anger,
Sadness,
Remorse,
Strength,
Gratitude,
Love,
Kindness,
Abundance?
Typically even our feelings do not exist in solitude.
Anger may be paired with disappointment,
Excitement may be paired with unease,
Joy may be paired with suffering.
When we can witness our feelings outside of ourselves,
And know that our feelings are not fully ours,
Not our way of being,
Are not the only thing that defines us,
It gives us the freedom and capacity to be compassionate and present for others.
So with that in mind,
Listening to what our feelings are saying,
The complexities of the feelings within,
And allowing ourselves to return to the breath,
To remind ourselves that we are so much more than the labels that we ascribe ourselves to,
That we are so much more than the feeling of this moment or the next or the previous.
To remind ourselves of the temperance,
The impermanence of fluctuating feelings.
That even in the worst of times,
These moments are not forever.
That we do not live in solitude,
That we are forever interconnected and turbulent.
And even in our loneness moments,
There are an abundant network surrounding our lives.
So with that in mind,
We'll end this practice with an affirmation.
I am that,
And I am love.
I bring love for others,
And I experience love in my life.
I am a precious being.
I invite you to say this to yourself anytime you need a little extra comfort.
I am love and I am love.
Inhaling,
I am love and I am love.
I am feeling our heart center radiating with self-love and compassion.
Think of three things you are grateful for in this moment,
Taking your hands and placing them in lotus.
Cover this up to the world as a gift,
And imagining that this gratitude that you sent into the universe,
That you sent into the world,
Is raining back upon you.
Thank you for sharing this time with me.
The highest in me loves,
Honors,
And respects the highest in you.
Namaste.
