Settle yourself somewhere comfortable Let your eyes close softly And soften the body Let the world fall away Until all that remains is the quiet rhythm of your breath The rising The falling The ocean of life moving through you And now,
In this stillness Listen deeply And absorb these words by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy Don't hesitate Give in to it There are plenty of lives And whole towns destroyed or about to be We are not wise And not very often kind And much can never be redeemed Still,
Life has some possibility left Perhaps this is its way of fighting back That sometimes,
Something happens better than all the riches or power in the world It could be anything But very likely,
You notice it in the instant when love begins Anyway Whatever it is Don't be afraid of its plenty Joy is not made to be a crumb Let the poem ripple through you Breathe it in Let it find its own meaning Within your life If If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy Don't hesitate Can you feel how the day itself invites you into that line?
The first light of morning spilling softly over rooftops The quiet hum of life beginning again The tenderness of another chance We know the weight of the world We carry it quietly in our bones Yet even here,
Joy insists on being known Even here,
The soul,
The deepest part of us,
Leans towards the light Take a slow breath in As you exhale,
Release the mind's old habit of postponing joy Breathe again and let this moment be enough The scent of morning air The sound that lifts between silences The pulse of life that has not forgotten you There is pain in this world,
Yes And still,
There is this This beauty This chance This goodness that resides deep in the human heart This soft,
Living breath that supports you and asks you to notice it So for a while,
Simply sit here Breathing,
Listening,
Receiving And let any joy that might arise be as simple as breath Let gratitude come naturally,
Arising without effort And let this day open like a loving hand before you And when you rise from this meditation,
Move through your day gently Aware that joy is not made to be a crumb It is the sunlight breaking through the clouds The kindness you offer The small astonishment of being alive So don't hesitate Step into the day Awake,
Grateful and unafraid of his plenty
