Welcome to this guided meditation for experiencing God's peace and love.
Sit comfortably,
Drop your shoulders away from your ears and rest your hands in your lap.
If you'd like,
Turn your palms upwards in a posture of openness and receiving.
And if it feels comfortable,
You can let your eyes gently close.
Begin to notice your breath.
Notice the rhythm of your inhale and exhale.
Allow your breath to be slow,
Natural and easy.
Begin to scan your body from the crown of your head all the way down to your toes.
See if you notice any areas of tension or discomfort and breathe lovingly into these areas.
As you inhale,
Watch the breath go to that place of tension or discomfort and with a loving focus,
Exhale and allow that area to soften,
Relaxing with each breath out.
Continue to allow your awareness to include your entire body and repeat this scan of the body.
Breathing in,
Sending loving breath to the areas of discomfort in the body.
Breathing out,
Softening and relaxing into the surface beneath you.
If it helps,
Think of the inhale as breathing in God's Spirit.
Hold your breath for a moment at the top of the breath and imagine God's Spirit saturating every cell as the oxygen filters through your body.
And on the exhale,
Think of surrendering and releasing anything that puts distance between you and God.
Now bring your attention to the thoughts and emotions you may be experiencing.
Really notice them without getting caught up in the stories behind them.
Continue to breathe naturally here.
Again,
If you'd like,
You can imagine that you're inhaling God's love and mercy.
And as you exhale,
Let go of everything God already knows about,
Exhaling all of it into God's loving hands and trusting that He cares for you,
Prayerfully leaving these burdens in His hands.
This is a time of renewal and peace.
As we experience this moment of stillness,
Continue to breathe slowly and naturally.
If you find your mind has wandered,
That's okay.
Simply without judgment or condemnation,
Bring your awareness back to the breath,
Noticing if you're on an inhale or an exhale.
With each breath cycle,
Notice the space between breaths where you gently hang between each inhale and exhale,
And again between the exhale and the inhale.
In John chapter 3 verse 16,
We are told,
God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost but have eternal life.
The Messiah came to bring good news and joy to humanity.
He came not to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.
When the stressors of life are upon us,
We can still experience God's love,
Peace and mercy by getting quiet and still.
We'll spend the next few moments mindfully breathing,
Using scripture as our prayer and mantra.
To do this,
Inhale,
Silently saying to yourself,
The Lord gives strength to His people.
And as you exhale,
Silently say to yourself,
The Lord blesses His people with peace.
Again,
Inhaling,
The Lord gives strength to His people,
Exhaling,
The Lord blesses His people with peace.
As we come to the end of this practice,
Bring your awareness back to your body,
Beginning to expand your awareness to include sounds near and far.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Continue your day by bringing this feeling of peace and love you've cultivated with you so that you may be blessed and be a blessing to others.
Bowel
