Hello everyone,
Lindsay here.
Did you know that when you smile your brain releases this bath of dopamine and oxytocin and serotonin and endorphins into your system?
And these are the feel good hormones.
So what we're going to do today is we're going to use a meditation that brings in the essence of a smile and move that essence of a smile throughout the whole body so that we can get that benefit of that release of the feel good hormones in our meditation.
So let's go ahead and get started.
Sit up nice and tall,
Whether you're on the floor,
Chair,
Leaning against a wall.
Just make sure the head is over the pelvis and you're as comfortable as possible so that you can remain still throughout the meditation.
Okay so take your hands onto the back of the knees,
Arms relaxed.
Take a deep breath in and then out through the mouth and then softly close the eyes and make any final adjustments you need to.
Get all that fidgeting out of the way so that you can find steadiness in your physical form so the body can be steady so that the awareness can move inward without distraction.
And then bring awareness to your breath.
Just take a couple of deep full breaths.
Allow the deepening of the breath to be like a wave that moves in and out of the body,
Just smoothing out any resistance,
Any tension within the inner realm.
Utilizing these deeper fuller breaths to bring your awareness into focus.
And then relax the breath and bring your awareness to your mouth.
And without moving the muscles of your mouth,
Just imagining that you are smiling.
And if this is difficult for you,
You can always have a slight smile on your lips.
Whether it's a slight smile or you're imagining the smile,
Feel the essence,
The underlying essence of that smile which is lightness,
Joyfulness,
Maybe even a sense of delight.
Taking a few moments here to feel that essence of delight and joy and ease starting to expand.
Feeling the whole face light up,
Becoming more brighter,
More radiant.
And then feel this essence of a smile move down into the throat as if the throat is smiling.
And that sense of joy and delight radiates from the throat.
And feel that essence of a smile move down into the heart.
Sense the heart smiling.
Waves of joy,
Waves of delight resonate from the heart as it smiles.
Radiates brighter,
More luminous.
And feel that smile expand into the lungs.
The lungs are smiling.
Feel the smile move down into the belly.
And the organs of the belly are smiling,
Radiating that essence of a smile.
Bring awareness down into the pelvis as if there is a broad smile from one hip point to the other.
This essence of a smile fills the pelvic bowl.
And feel the whole body smiling at once.
The essence of a smile fills the entire container of the body.
And perhaps feeling that essence of a smile expand outward,
Surrounding the entire body.
That expression of a smile fills the entire body and overflows and surrounds the body.
And this luminosity,
This radiance,
Your whole being smiles bright.
Holding your awareness for a few moments longer,
Just feeling yourself bright and luminous.
And just know that life often gives us reasons to smile.
And to be joyful.
But we're able to bring that joy in simply by smiling.
Shifting our awareness to our own luminosity,
Our inner joy,
Our inner smile.
Take a deeper breath in and out.
Feeling into the body as you deepen the breath.
Sensing the physical space around you.
And then when you're ready,
Slowly opening your eyes and making your way back.
And perhaps take this moment to have a big grin on your face.
No matter what the circumstances are in our lives,
We can take a moment to do this practice to bring in more luminosity,
More joy,
More delight,
Simply by smiling.
Okay,
My friends until next time,
Many blessings.
