Enquire, Empower, Ground: Morning Practice

The daily practice that has helped me understand my feelings, identify my needs, and empower myself to step into each day with power and creativity. I'll guide you through self-enquiry; gratitude; loving-kindness; affirmations; and a short body scan. This is all about connecting to the key elements of self, and setting yourself up for a day of intention, clarity, and presence.

Transcript

Hi there,

This is Ryan and today I'm going to be taking you through my personal daily practice.

A strong morning routine or ritual is really powerful for setting the tone for the rest of our day,

Getting us off on the right foot with intention,

Presence,

Calm and focus.

I'll be taking you through various layers of meditation,

Starting with self-inquiry to check in with how we're feeling today,

What needs we have that we might like to be met.

Then we'll move to gratitude,

Which is profoundly powerful and so much neuroscience backs this wonderful practice.

Before we then move into loving kindness,

Which again neuroscience tells us has profound healing benefits for the brain itself.

And then we'll be moving into affirmations and a very brief body scan so that we can check in with the body itself.

So,

Make sure you're comfortable and let's make sure we have a relaxed but alert posture with a straight spine.

Just closing your eyes now,

Coming into stillness and just take a few deep breaths here.

Noticing the sensations of sitting,

Gravity pulling you down into the ground.

And we're going to start today's practice with some self-inquiry.

Knowing where we're at,

How we feel is key to understanding our own behavior,

Our own thought patterns and setting us up for a day with intention.

So,

I'd like you to ask yourself,

What is alive in me today?

Ask yourself,

What is alive in me today?

What is alive in me today?

And just keep asking yourself that question.

Answers might flow easily,

Perhaps not and it's okay either way.

Just noticing what comes up.

Another way to ask yourself that question is,

How do I feel right now?

How am I feeling?

What is alive in me today?

And now,

I'd like you to ask yourself,

What needs do I have that I would like to be met?

In our culture,

We can often think of having needs as a weakness.

I disagree with that.

We are human beings.

We have needs,

Existential,

Emotional,

Social.

So,

Ask ourselves,

What needs do I have that I would like to be fulfilled today?

It might be something simple that can be very easily achieved and well,

Now you've identified something that you can do for yourself today.

Perhaps it's something that you need that is out of your grasp,

In which case,

Can you identify that and let it go?

Just be with the fact that you may need something,

But without striving to make it happen.

And moving into gratitude now.

What am I grateful for and who am I grateful for?

What am I grateful for and who am I grateful for?

Gratitude is a powerful way to start our day.

Remind ourselves of that which upholds us and uplifts us,

That which we love and loves us.

And lastly,

Ask yourself,

What is my intention today?

Intention is like our compass to navigate life.

With intention,

We can be truly unstoppable.

Without intention,

It can sometimes feel like we're lost scrambling around in the dark.

What is my intention today?

Okay,

And taking a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in through the nose and then letting it out through the mouth,

Maybe with a sigh.

Settling into stillness for a moment and breathing at your own pace.

Now we're going to engage in loving kindness meditation.

So stage one was all about us kindness meditation.

So stage one was all about us looking within.

Now let's send some of that love outwards.

Neuroscience has proven that a kind mind,

A mind that is focused on compassion for self and other,

Is literally a healthier brain on a physiological level.

So let's tap into that superpower right now.

You may wish to do this on your inhale and exhale,

Exhaling that loving kindness for yourself and for other.

Or you may wish to breathe at your normal pace and simply repeat the mantra.

It's up to you.

There's no right or wrong way to do it.

First,

We're going to bathe ourselves in loving kindness.

So visualize yourself glowing with loving kindness,

Breathing loving kindness onto yourself.

And gently inside,

Say to yourself,

May I be safe?

May I be healthy?

May I be loved?

May I be safe?

May I be healthy?

May I be loved?

May I be safe?

May I be healthy?

May I be loved?

May I be loved?

And next,

I'd like you to visualize your loved ones.

This could be any number of people from your friends,

Your family,

Those closest to you.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

And now we're going to visualize someone neutral in our lives.

This could be anyone with whom you have some interaction with but perhaps don't know them.

This could be the Uber driver who took you home last night,

The person working on the checkout at your grocery store.

It can be anyone you choose.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

And now bring to mind someone with whom you have a complicated relationship with.

This may be because there is a conflict there.

There may be trauma associated with this.

Now this one can be tricky but I encourage you to acknowledge that this person who you have a complicated relationship or perhaps feel animosity towards is also a human being.

They suffer also.

They have feelings.

They are also worthy of love and kindness.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

And lastly,

Bring to your mind's eye the whole of this planet,

All beings and all life that call this beautiful rock suspended in space home.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

And taking a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in now.

And on our exhale,

Release all of that loving-kindness.

Coming now to affirmations.

As you repeat the words that I'm going to give you,

They may change,

Become louder or quieter,

Faster or slower.

You may even choose to say them out loud.

Again,

There's no right or wrong way to do this.

However you do it is perfect.

And if you wish to substitute this with your own affirmation,

And if you wish to substitute this with your own affirmations,

Please do go ahead.

I'll guide you through 10 cycles of these affirmations.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am safe and unafraid to be myself.

I am powerful and creative in all ways.

I am walking my path with heart and I share my gifts along the way.

And now take a long slow deep breath in.

And gently let it go.

Now we're going to drop into the body.

Begin by focusing your awareness on the crown of your head.

Or the scalp area.

Just noticing what you feel there.

You don't need to visualize it or try and make something happen.

Just noticing what sensation is happening at this moment.

And now gradually melt your awareness down the sides,

Back and front of your head.

Feeling into the sides and back of the skull,

Your forehead,

Your eyebrows,

Your eyes,

Your nose,

Your cheeks,

Your lips,

Your chin,

Your ears,

Your temples and your jaw.

All the way down to your Adam's apple and the back of your neck where the spine meets the skull.

Just being with this cloud of sensation here.

And we melt awareness down to our shoulders,

Our collarbones,

Our shoulder blades.

Down the upper arms,

To the elbows,

The forearms,

The wrists,

The hands and the fingers.

And just noticing what you can feel.

Perhaps it's cold.

Perhaps it's warm.

Maybe there's tingling sensations.

And maybe there's nothing at all.

Expanding that cloud of awareness,

That cloud of sensation down our chest and our spine.

Can you feel your heart beating?

What about the lungs expanding and falling with each breath?

And coming down to the belly and the lower back.

Noticing what you feel here.

Coming down to the hips.

Again,

Melting awareness from the hips down through the glutes and thighs to your knees,

Your calves,

Your shins,

Your ankles,

Your feet and your toes.

And noticing what you feel in this part of your body.

And with the next breath,

Expand that cloud of sensation to encompass your entire body.

Loosening awareness now.

You don't need to focus on any particular thing.

And I'm going to leave you here in stillness and silence for just about a minute.

I'll let you know when it's time to move on.

Okay,

And taking a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in through the nose and then letting it out through the mouth,

Maybe with a sigh.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

Maybe you want to bring some movement into the body.

Move the wrists,

The ankles,

The fingers,

The toes.

And thank you so much for letting me guide you today.

I really hope this has been as helpful as it can be.

Wishing you a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.

Reviews

Thank you for sharing your practice with me this morning

Nice...and very helpful for morning centering. 🙏🏽 Many thanks!