Lightness Of Joy (Live Recording)

As part of the four immeasurables, Joy is, in my humble opinion, the "feel good" type of meditation that makes you want it to last forever. The fact that it offers the opportunity to get rid of feelings of guilt, envy, rage, hate, or even expectations of reward for "being a good boy", makes my body weigh tons less. I hope you enjoy it as I do.

Transcript

Okay, So as we always start, We straighten our, We find ourselves in a comfortable position, Either cross-legged or sitting on the floor or sitting on a chair or laying down on the floor, Whatever is comfortable for you. If you know, If you've been to my, Oh yeah, I've been to my sessions and you know that it's all about feeling comfortable. Let's start by taking the deep breaths in and out. Take a deep inhalation, It will help you straighten your spine. It feels like you've been lifted off from the ground or from the chair. It's a good feeling. And you exhale through your mouth as if you are landing or arriving here right here and now it's about being here, Starting your meditation, Being here. A deep inhalation. You know, Enjoy this moment of exhaling, Softening your muscles, Softening your face, The muscles in your face, Your forehead. A deep inhalation again, And a long and soft exhalation. Let's inhale again. Another inhalation. Straighten your spine. Straighten your chest. Let the air in. And exhale through your mouth, Letting go of the tension of your body, Of your face, Shoulders. And now relax through your breathing. Let's go back to our regular breathing. It's a soft and gentle inhalation. Soft and gentle exhalation. Breathe through your nose. If you want to leave your eyes open, You can leave them open. If so, Just don't focus your attention on anything. If you want to keep them closed, You can keep them closed. Hands on knees, Relax, Relaxed. A soft and gentle inhalation. And a soft and gentle exhalation. There might be a little bit of anxiety in the beginning. It's okay, We're just getting here. We're just arriving. When you breathe, Try to keep your inhalation shallow, Just enough inhalation. Don't overdo it. Gauge the amount of air that you need to make it enough. Make it soft and gentle. Slow inhalation and a slow exhalation. Feel the air as you inhale, As it touches your nose. Or even if the air touches, When the air touches your, The back of your throat, You can feel the cold air touching. Every time you inhale, You can feel it. Soft and gentle. Soft and gentle. Just enough breathing. Almost effortless. As you breathe, Let the air in. Easy flow through your nose and outflow. Distractions, Sensations will always pull your attention away. The monkey mind jumps all over. It's up to you to regain control over your mind. You do that by not engaging with the mind. You acknowledge it. Like I tell myself, Well, I'm distracted, And then return to the breathing. Let's do a simple, Very simple exercise. Which is the body scan that we usually do to relax the body. Now we're going to do the body scan to find a place in our body where we feel comfortable with. Sometimes I know that when I sit for long meditations, Like 45 minutes, And so my hips, They start to scream. I try to welcome the pain, But I try to lay my attention on my hips. I try to find someplace else in my body where it doesn't hurt. That's what I'm trying to suggest we do now, Is to find a place in our body that we feel comfortable about. It can be your shoulders, Your arms, Your legs, Anything. It can even be your torso while you're breathing. It feels good about breathing. It feels good about being here. Not feeling anxious or anything. Or even sometimes, As I mentioned, My hips, When I'm doing a meditation where my hips don't hurt, I feel it's an amazing feeling when I say, Oh, I can go the extra mile without discomfort. Acknowledge. It's all about acknowledgement and appreciation. Look inside yourself. Touch it and appreciate. Now, Let's explore something else. Let's explore our memories. I know that we are all settled. We are all laying low after six weeks of staying inside. Sometimes we do not acknowledge our memories. We don't do this memory trip I did today, Which was very good. I would like to share that with you, That experience. Go back. Just go to your memory bank and look for something that makes you feel good about. It can be an accomplishment. It can be the last time you saw your friends or be with them. It can be anything. As I said, Meditation, It's you with yourself. There's no judgment. There's no rules. It's about what you feel. The memory that you bring will bring you a feeling of joy, Of you being you in your best capacity or you acknowledging something. I don't know. It can be you with a friend or a dog, A pet, You know, That sensation, That good sensation of connection. It brings joy. Stay there for a while. Wherever memory, As many as you want, Cultivate, You know, Explore and cultivate that good feeling inside yourself. Many times, As well, I think it's all the time I do that, It brings a smile to my face. You know, It's pure happiness, Pure enjoyment. Bring also your attention to the feeling, Not only the memory itself, But the feeling that it brings to you. The feeling of joy. What is it? What does it do to your body, Your heart, Your mind, Anything? Just be with it and explore it. Be curious about that. That's what I always say is that the practice of meditation is also a practice of exploration and curiosity. Don't forget to breathe gently and slowly. The breath doesn't change. A gentle and slow inhalation. The gentle and a slow exhalation. Just enough. Now let's explore outside, Just like as we do with compassion and loving kindness. Bring somebody you like close to you, To mine, And imagine this person in a moment of happiness, Of accomplishment, And project that feeling of joy that you just felt towards that person. Now being happy for the happiness of others, Feeling joy for the happiness of others. No envy, No second intentions, Just pure joy. It doesn't have to be something real. You can project the image in a fictitious situation where you see this person you have a close relationship with feeling happy and you feel happy for their happiness. This is the sensation of joy that you've had just explored coming out of your body and it's pure, It's natural, It's human. Now let's imagine something, Somebody else, Somebody you don't know, Maybe somebody you see on the TV or across the street or somebody in your workplace or around and you see that person with happiness on their face. You immediately know that person is happy just by looking at their face, Just by looking at their behavior. Maybe that person is celebrating. You don't know that person, There's no emotional relationship between you and them. But you truly feel, You know what, We suffer so much, I'm happy for that person. I feel joy for that person. The balance of life, Suffering and joy, We always have to look for a balance. You don't expect anything in return, You're just purely happy. That's a good feeling. Don't forget to breathe, Slowly and gently, Softly, Just enough. Just enough air, Just enough, Just like we are enough. And now think of someone you really have problems with, Somebody you just don't understand, You don't have a. . . No, Maybe you do, Maybe you don't, Pick somebody on TV. I know a lot of people on TV, I have a lot of problems with just pick one. Somebody when you see, You feel discouraged about, You just don't, Different energy, You know. But think of this person as a human being despite of everything. And whatever this person might have to bring him happiness, To bring him a good life for her, A joyful life, It's good, It feels good. Just feel good about it. Just project your joy towards that person who, Just like us, Goes through suffering, Day in and day out. Wish them well. You know when you let go the rage, The anger, The envy, The guilt, Or everything, And replace them with joy, At least I feel much lighter, Even towards the person that I discuss, You know, I detest, Or people I don't care about. It's so much lighter. I feel much lighter. It's about projecting your energy. Now gently invite your attention back to your breathing, Return to your shallow, Slow, Gentle inhalation, And a gentle exhalation. Stretch your body, Take a good stretch on your back, Your shoulders, Move it back and forth, Your head. Slowly and slowly open your eyes so that you can get used to the light around you, The people, The colors, And stay there. Just enjoy this moment. Thank you so much for the opportunity to meditate with me. I hope you guys have a great day, Rest of your day. This Tuesday, Hopefully, It's going to be a great day too, And I will, And I'm looking very much forward to seeing you guys on Wednesday, 6. 30. Equanimity, That's what we're going to work, Equanimity. All right? Thank you. Namaste. Enjoy. Bye. Thank you. Namaste. Thank you.

Reviews

Wonderful way to start my day!