Hi,
Welcome to Peacebeam and to Session 2 of the Five Elements of Love,
Understanding.
Let's begin.
Step 1.
Notice,
This is where we just take a moment to tune in to you.
Just ask yourself the question,
How am I today?
See what comes back.
And all we're doing here is noticing.
Notice your mood.
Notice your emotions.
Any words or sentences that come into your mind.
And now we'll move to Step 2.
Breathe.
So just bring your attention now to your breath.
Simply place your focus on the rise and fall of your chest.
And when you're ready,
And if you wish,
Just slightly extend your inhale and your exhale till you're just breathing a little more deeply,
But it's not strange.
Everything is easy and relaxed.
And now we're going to connect the rhythm of your heart to the rhythm of your breath and we do this by just imagining that every time you breathe in,
You're breathing in deep into your heart.
And every time you breathe out,
The breath comes from your heart.
And when we do this,
We create an opportunity for the rhythm of our heart and the rhythm of our breath to greet each other and connect and create a place of deep relaxation for you to drop into for the next few brief moments.
As we move to Step 3,
Activate.
Today we're going to contemplate the first element of love,
Which is understanding.
As human beings,
We long to be understood,
To have the sense that some other person has seen the world,
Even for a split second,
Through our eyes.
There is a great feeling of peace that arises when we know that somebody has understood us.
But consider this.
If we accept understanding as an element in the practice of love,
Then it goes beyond mere comprehension.
It has more depth and mystery than that.
It implies both empathy and compassion in order for it to be a true and full expression of love.
And this is not an easy task.
Often we are clouded by our judgements.
Both of ourselves and of others and judgment likes to keep a close eye on love.
It likes to keep it in its place.
But our judgements do not have to dictate our practice of love.
We can aim to understand ourselves and others despite our judgements.
I may not like how somebody behaves,
But if I consider the circumstances of their life,
I may be able to understand them with empathy and compassion,
And the two can coexist.
One doesn't have to cancel the other out.
And if we can practice this holding of these two energies,
Something else can arrive and can grow.
It may be that it's a tall order to apply this to somebody else,
So I suggest that for today you start with yourself.
So just for a moment now,
Call to mind an area of your life where you judge yourself,
Where you do not give yourself the gift of understanding.
And just for today,
Allow this part of yourself to be present in your consciousness and greet it with empathy,
With compassion and with understanding.
And just breathe into that intention now as we move to step four,
Peace beam.
When we peace beam,
We are engaging in an act of love,
And we are intending from the deepest part of our being unrestricted good for ourselves and for all the beings around us.
So today,
Hold the intention that you and everybody that you meet will be graced with the love of deep understanding and imagine that sweet,
Kind energy moving through your being today and into the world.
Have a beautiful day.
