Finding Good In The Small Things

My name is Jane Murray and I'm from Peacebeam and today's practice is about relaxing into the immense power of small acts in our lives.

The invitation is to rest in the ripples of goodness that flow from small acts of love,

Whether they take the form of kindness,

Gentleness,

A radiant smile or a soft word.

These are the weft and weave of the tapestry that becomes our lives.

So we will use the four-step Peacebeam method of notice,

Breathe,

Activate and Peacebeam.

And each step is offered as a doorway into your heart and an invitation to activate the beauty that is in there,

Unique to you and so needed by the world.

So if you haven't already,

Settle into a comfortable position and gently close your eyes.

For the next few minutes,

Just follow my voice and let yourself drop into peace.

Step one,

Notice.

Just start to notice how you feel today.

What is your emotional state?

Are you happy?

Are you calm?

Perhaps a little anxious?

Just take a few seconds and check in.

And hold the question,

How am I today?

And see what comes back.

And remember,

We're simply noticing and acknowledging the answers.

And maybe start to notice your physical body.

How does that feel today at this moment?

And just allow your consciousness to scan your body,

Starting at the crown of your head.

Relax your face.

And if you're frowning,

Smile.

And let the hinge of your jaw soften.

Gently drop your shoulders.

Let your arms,

Chest and tummy soften and smile with you.

Imagine that as your focus rests on each part of your body,

It is inviting it to soften,

To relax and to smile.

And continuing down your back,

Your buttocks and thighs,

Just feel your knees grin and your calves begin to giggle in the soft light of your inner gaze.

And finally,

Let your beautiful feet relax,

Stretch and you will find their spaciousness.

Beautiful.

Now let's move to step two.

Breathe.

That gentle focus now moves from your physical body to your breath.

So just continue breathing normally,

But just start to notice the breath.

Moving in and out.

And just watch it for a few moments.

And now gently extend your in-breath and your out-breath,

Just so that you are breathing a little deeper.

Very easy.

No strain.

Everything here is for ease,

Is to relax.

To let your lungs and your diaphragm smile with you.

Just breathe and be.

And now we're going to connect your breath to your heart,

So as you feel some ease start to arrive in your body.

Just imagine that your breath is moving in through your nose or mouth and it's going deep into your heart.

And as you breathe out,

It's a breath out of your heart.

And the rhythm of your breath and the rhythm of your heart are greeting each other,

Saying hello.

And just be here for a few moments,

Breathing the rhythm of you.

When we take the few moments to connect our breath to our heart,

We can drop into the unique,

Peaceful rhythm of ourselves.

This is a place of gentleness and constant giving.

This simple act can become a wellspring of goodness in your day.

A place where you can receive the radical generosity of your physical being.

The constant service of your breath and your heart.

The soundtrack to your life.

Wonderful.

And now we move to step three.

Activate.

Each one of us has a unique gift for goodness,

A signature that is as distinct as your face or your voice.

And this gift flows spontaneously from you in the small acts.

It's easy for us to miss this part of ourselves,

Especially in the hustle and bustle of our modern lives,

Amid all the pings and tweets and to-do lists.

We can perhaps forget that our real power,

Our ability to create the world that we want to live in,

Is in the small things that we do.

Like a pebble in a lake,

A warm smile when it is needed.

A soft word of comfort.

A mistake kindly overlooked.

A greeting on a street.

A remembered birthday.

A beautiful message just at the right time.

The benefit of the doubt.

Or to hold somebody's tender dreams with them and to let them hold yours.

These small things radiate with love,

With kindness and with gentleness and they have the power to change your day and another person's day.

And who knows what ripples will come from that.

So just for a moment allow yourself to feel the unique goodness in your own heart and feel the power of the small things.

The gentle pressure of love that is carried in small acts weaves a deep mystery through our lives.

Nothing on this planet is quite so powerful as gentleness.

It softens hard hearts,

Warms where the cold and bitterness of disappointment has settled in and it coaxes great beauty from beneath our rage and our fear.

Residing in each of us is this great power for gentle love.

Always here.

Available for its unique expression in the small acts that you do.

You contain the capacity for creating.

Aliveness.

Joy.

Restoration.

Some things we cannot name or describe.

We only know them by their trail.

Just as in that blanket depth of darkness,

Just before tendrils of light return,

Flowers are bent,

Closed,

Resigned to the bleakness of the night.

And then,

As the sun's warmth coaxes them,

Touches the fragile underside of their blooms.

They stir.

And then they burst into life.

They cannot help it.

Love kissed them awake.

And so it is with your small acts of goodness,

Gentleness and love.

They allow you to cast the beauty and the grace that is unique to you into this world.

And this world is so sorely in need of it and of you.

Step four.

Peace beam.

So today,

As you feel this energy in your heart,

Intend unconditionally and from the very deepest part of your being,

Unrestricted goodness for yourself and for every being that crosses your path today.

If an impulse arises to do a small thing that is huge with goodness,

Do it in your own unique way and bless the world with the dazzling beauty of you.

Letting it ripple,

Beaming light into the world.

Your goodness is needed by your life,

By the world.

The small acts that you will do.

These small things matter more than any grand gesture.

They are what makes the tapestry of our lives.

They paint the world beautiful.

Thank you so much for listening and have a beautiful day.