So,
Let's do a practice of kindness,
Of love,
Moving into that position today,
Your seated position,
Whether you're sitting on a cushion or a chair,
Your feet can be firmly on the ground if you're on a chair,
Your hands can be on your knees or in your lap,
And your chin you can just drop it slightly and if you like you can close your eyes.
So feeling safe and comfortable,
We can feel grateful for giving ourselves the opportunity to really be kind to ourselves and as this kindness expands throughout our being,
It will naturally,
Naturally extend to others.
Our fears,
Our panic,
Our concerns will all be melted in the light of this wonderful,
Beautiful compassion and awareness.
And today we're going to do a practice which comes from a wonderful teacher,
A mindfulness teacher called Chade Mentang.
He started a mindful revolution at Google and affected the whole company so much so that everyone became happier,
Productivity increased and they published a book called Search Inside Yourself which is an absolute best seller about mindfulness and Google.
So before we get into the main body of that practice,
Let's take three immune boosting deep breaths.
Breathing through the nose and out the nose,
Let's breathe in and slowly release.
Breathing in once again through the nose and slowly out the nose,
Release,
Release.
Last one,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Breathing in and now slowly release out the mouth,
Sigh the breath out,
Release what doesn't serve you today.
Breathing out to a normal breath,
Feeling a sense of relaxation,
Calm and ease which is a lovely gift to ourselves.
When our mind moves to other thoughts or emotions or feelings,
We can gently encourage our mind to come back and be with us just like we would if it was a little puppy dog.
We would just train that little dog to come back and sit here where it's safe and warm.
We do this again and again and again and by doing this we strengthen our brain and our ability to keep our mind in one place which is really the key to our mental health.
Free from worry,
Distraction,
Settling the mind on your breath and with every in breath breathing in kindness for yourself and acceptance for who you are today,
Breathing in I am enough.
I am enough.
And now we are going to move into the body of the practice and it's called Just Like Me.
Think about someone today and maybe this is a person that's been on your mind this morning or yesterday.
It may be someone you love very much,
It may be a stranger,
It may be someone maybe that's pushing your buttons,
Whoever it is it might just be that person that's been on your mind and bring them into the lights this morning.
Imagine just where they are and what they're going through right now.
I'm going to recite a few lines that you can repeat to yourself silently.
Speaking of this person today,
This person has a body and mind just like me.
This person has feelings,
Emotions and thoughts just like me.
This person has at some point been sad,
Disappointed,
Angry,
Hurt or confused just like me.
This person has in his or her life experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering just like me.
This person wishes to be free from pain and suffering just like me.
This person wishes to be safe,
Healthy and loved just like me.
This person wishes to be happy just like me.
I wish for this person to have the strength,
Resources and social support to navigate the difficulties in life.
I wish for this person to be free from pain and suffering.
I wish for this person to be happy because this person is a fellow human being just like me.
You can now dissolve the image of that person you have chosen this morning,
That image of the person you have chosen today.
And drop your chin,
Let's take in one beautiful deep breath,
Breathing through the heart,
Breathing in and release.
Take a moment just to acknowledge your feeling right now.
When you're ready you can lift your chin and open your eyes.
I love that practice,
I'm not sure if it came straight from Chade Mantang at Google or if he got it from somewhere else but it really is amazing and you can actually do this practice with someone,
Someone maybe that is in your house and maybe there's sort of a tension or a feeling between you and you can just sit together and listen to this practice or recite it out loud.
It's very,
Very powerful.
