So,
When you're ready to begin,
Find a comfortable position for yourself.
So you may want to sit cross-legged or you may want to sit with your back straight on a chair.
And close your eyes very gently.
Allow your body to become quite still and begin to relax.
Become aware of any tension you're holding anywhere in your body.
Notice and release the tension.
Focus on your neck now and any tension you're holding there.
Allow all the muscles of your neck to become very relaxed.
Feel the tension melting away.
Now notice your face.
Allow all the tiny muscles of your face to relax.
Your cheeks,
Your jaw,
Around your eyes and in your forehead.
Allow them all to relax completely.
And allow this to happen naturally.
Making it to become very easy and quick the more you practice.
Notice and relax your entire scalp.
Allow any tension to float away.
Feel the lightness and relaxation coming over your entire scalp,
Your eyes,
Face,
Jaw,
Neck and entire head area.
Now allow this relaxation to continue down to your body,
Through your shoulders,
Relaxing them and melting away.
Anything that keeps you from total relaxation.
Feel how comfortable your entire body becomes.
Now become aware of all your back and all the muscles of your back.
Allow the muscles to become very relaxed and limp,
Freeing all stress and emotions held there.
Continue to allow the relaxation to flow down your chest,
To your stomach and your hips,
Relaxing everything in its path.
Notice how the relaxation soothes you and comforts you.
Notice any uncertainties or worries that you're holding in any part of your body.
Allow them to come up into your consciousness and one by one release these thoughts and feelings.
Feel how effortless it is to release them without any regret.
Let all the thoughts go as you sink deeper and deeper into this loving warm abyss of relaxation.
Freeing yourself from the weight of the difficulties,
Allowing you to experience true freedom.
You begin to feel light,
Peaceful and calm.
Clearing your mind little by little,
Relaxing your body.
And with practice it becomes very easy to achieve this state of total relaxation.
In this state you'll be completely peaceful and only focusing on the moment of now.
This state also allows profound rest in a short period of time.
So allow yourself to sink deeper and deeper into profound rest and relaxation.
Starting to let go,
Deeper and deeper,
More and more relaxed,
Down into serene relaxation.
Letting go of all concerns,
Focusing only on feeling free.
Deeper and deeper to the deepest level of relaxation you can possibly achieve today.
And with this perfectly relaxed state which you've now achieved,
It will be much easier for you to embark on meditation each and every time.
So we turn our attention inward in our normal way,
As if inside our body is just an empty space with no organs or tissues,
Muscles or bones,
Like a hollow space inside us.
In our mind we conjure up a feeling of the merits in our life,
Or a feeling of empty space within us,
Filled with happiness and joy.
Could we imagine a bright clear object like a shining sun,
A star,
Maybe a diamond,
Or a full moon,
Or a feeling as if such an object is present inside us,
To float slowly downwards until it comes to rest somewhere around about the very center of our body.
If anything distracts our awareness away,
We bring it back to this central point each time.
If the picture or feeling disappears,
We can conjure up a new one.
If thoughts return,
We do our best to ignore them.
And the whole time we feel whole and pure,
As if we truly have a deep inner knowing that acknowledges that each one of us are special and extraordinary,
Wonderful and unique individuals,
With so much to do and experience in life.
And we take the positivity within ourselves in order to magnify and multiply how positive we feel about ourselves,
And to acknowledge how much we have to offer.
If we are able to live up to our full potential and love ourselves completely,
To be the person that you truly are in life,
Almost as if we wanted to start afresh and make our life into something wonderful,
With a new feeling of peace and happiness,
Putting our past behind us,
As if we're ready for something new and exciting,
As we find that each day brings wonderful opportunities and happiness,
As we start to put ourselves in touch with our own potential and beauty,
As we live our lives authentically,
As we are comfortable with ourselves,
As we realize we don't have to try to be someone who we're not,
Because in any case we are special,
We're open to new opportunities and life's blessings,
And as we realize that happiness comes from within and not from outside things.
And we realize that although other people may offer a lot to us,
But none of them can ever force us to feel or be or think anything we don't choose to be.
And with this newfound sense of independence,
We honor our own body and our own emotions,
We find it easier to express our feelings day by day,
Feeling stronger and more confident in ourselves,
Living our own truth,
Feeling good about ourselves.
And as we start to love ourselves and honor ourselves more and more,
We find ourselves more in tune with our own ambitions and personal boundaries,
With this becoming easier each day to respect those boundaries.
If we have things in our past that we're not so proud of,
We can put those things behind us.
We release ourselves from our past,
Our turning towards a new day of excitement,
Opportunities and happiness waiting for us.
We don't let our past hold us prisoner,
But we switch on to a future of happiness,
Joy and abundance,
Generated by this positive energy of merit inside us,
The merit in turn,
Created by all the choices for the best things in our lives.
We allow our heart and mind to be filled with compassion,
Which reaches out to the whole of ourselves,
Reaches out beyond ourselves,
To our families,
To our homes,
To our classmates,
To the whole of our village and municipality,
Reaching out in ever-widening circles around us,
To all sentient beings that we can see or that we are unable to see.
We extend compassion and loving-kindness to them all without exception.
Although the merit is within our own minds,
But if we practice it regularly,
Habitually,
It becomes a part of who we are,
Becomes a part of our character,
It becomes a part of our personality,
And even spills over and brushes off onto the people around us,
Just like our loving-kindness,
Until the whole of our world will become a better place as a result.
But if no single person in the world ever thinks of anything but their own selfish desires,
Then the future of the world will be hard to improve.
But if each one of us cultivates the best in our lives,
Chooses the best of intentions,
Words,
And actions,
Before long the world will be turned around into a place that's more welcoming,
More abundant,
More full of opportunities,
Even for those around us who have less knowledge about the good deeds than ourselves.
So we focus on our meditation in this way,
Making our own wishes for ourselves for the last few moments of our practice in silence,
Until we come to the appropriate time.
