Start Your Day Aligned: Morning Alignment Meditation

Start your day with intention, groundedness, and clarity through this comprehensive guided morning meditation. Designed to nurture deep self-connection, empower clear and compassionate choices, and cultivate a profound sense of alignment, this practice invites you into a space of calm, relaxation, and purposeful visualization.

Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Photo by Arina Krasnikova

Transcript

Welcome to this comprehensive morning meditation.

This meditation is designed to help you start your day with clarity and purpose,

Grounding in your deeper truth,

And empowering you to make choices that feel aligned and deeply nourish you.

We'll create the conditions to bring the best out of ourselves today,

So that we can meet life and choose how we want to respond to what happens.

Take a deep breath in as you connect with where you are in this moment,

Simply noticing how you're feeling,

What thoughts are arising,

Any sensations in the body,

Just allowing your experience to be as it is.

Whether you're seated on a chair,

Sitting cross-legged on a cushion,

Or lying down,

Begin by feeling the contact points between your body and the surface beneath you.

Allow yourself to be firmly rooted and supported.

Envision all the parts of your attention,

Your mental and emotional energy that may have drifted off into different places,

Gathering back and coming into you again.

You can imagine this energy as waves of light coming towards you from all the different directions,

Your energy coming home to you again,

Resting and nourishing you.

Adjust your posture so you're a little bit more comfortable,

Allowing relaxation to come into the whole body now,

Relaxing the eyes and the mouth and the face,

Relaxing the neck,

The whole head,

Neck,

And shoulders relaxing,

The front of the upper body,

The chest,

The stomach,

The upper back,

And the lower back,

Gently allowing the whole torso to relax.

As you take another deep breath,

You feel calm pouring down the waist and the whole right leg,

From thigh,

Knee,

The shin and calf to the foot,

And now the whole left leg,

From thigh to knee to shin and calf,

Down to the foot,

The whole lower body relaxing.

Let the hands turn upward as if you're giving and receiving simultaneously a more effortless flow,

Arising from simply resting in the truth of your being.

We'll begin with a powerful traditional Hawaiian practice for reconciliation,

Peacemaking,

And forgiveness.

This can help us clear away any old judgments,

Resentments,

Or pain towards ourselves or others so we can become more present and compassionate.

It consists of saying four short sentences.

You can say them out loud if you want as well,

Or you can simply listen.

If you'd like,

You can also put your hands on your heart,

Or hold them out,

And if someone comes to mind as you say these words,

Imagine you're offering it as a gift of reconciliation and peace towards them.

We'll repeat these phrases four times,

And I offer it to anyone outside of myself and the parts within me that are longing for peace and healing.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

Notice any feelings that are arising,

Any thoughts.

Welcoming whatever is arising now as an aspect of your truth.

At any time of the day,

Or when things become frustrating,

Or challenges arise,

You can always return to this simple practice to restore a sense of connection to what really matters.

Now we'll deepen our relaxation with a quick body scan.

Rest your arms at your sides again,

And if it feels comfortable,

You can close your eyes and start with gentle breathing,

Inhaling slowly through the nose,

Drawing the breath deep into your belly,

And exhaling through the nose or mouth long and slow.

Inhaling,

And as you exhale,

Let yourself let go,

Releasing what's no longer needed,

And realizing that even the way you exhale can be a blessing to the plants and other beings that need your carbon dioxide.

As you let go of what no longer serves,

It feeds something beyond yourself.

So as you release,

Feel the sense of love and compassion and nourishment even in the release.

And on the inhale,

Feel the miracle of oxygenated air,

The work of millions of years of photosynthesis coming into your body.

And nourishing every cell.

And allow a sense of gratitude to come over you,

As you center yourself in this simple miracle,

Breathing.

And now let the breathing come in through the nose and out through the nose,

Letting the attention simply rest on the sensations of breath by the nostrils and the upper lip.

Now we'll ask some sacred questions to help you connect with the meaning and purpose that is flowing through you at this time.

They don't need specific answers,

But just notice what arises in the body and the mind as you ask them.

What are you trying to create at this time in your life?

Is there some area of your life that you've been focusing on?

A quality of connection?

Self-expression?

Creativity?

Abundance?

Healing?

Peace?

What word or phrase comes closer to touching what you're creating at this time in your life?

What are the core needs that might be animating most of what matters to you?

Is it love?

Partnership?

Connection?

Harmony?

Effectiveness?

Healing?

What needs feel like they've been most alive lately in your life?

What values do you seek to live by in your daily life?

Compassion?

Kindness?

Sharpness of mind?

Creativity?

Fun or play?

What values animate your life lately?

Allowing these questions to simply wash over you and trusting that in time they will become clearer.

Allow yourself to connect with what makes you,

You.

Your unique sensitivities and gifts and talents.

The things you care about improving in and learning.

The areas of growth you're excited to grow in.

The things you tend to notice that others may miss.

What you love to give and what you allow yourself to receive easily.

See all of these energies coming together.

Your values,

Your needs,

And your gifts and your aspirations swirling about you.

Giving you a sense of energy and nourishment from within.

These things are simply aspects of your truth.

You can always go within and connect with them.

Guiding you like an inner compass.

Providing information and wisdom about the next steps that are aligned for you.

Grounded in whatever connection you have right now to your inner truth.

Imagine the day ahead.

What do you want to create today?

Now with whatever clarity you have,

Whether it's a little bit or a lot of clarity,

See yourself carrying out this intention today.

What are you doing?

How are you doing it?

When are you doing it?

Start to visualize yourself creating what you want today,

Living in alignment with your deeper intentions.

As you imagine going about your day,

See yourself doing so from a place of deep self-connection,

From groundedness,

From nourishment and self-care.

What would your day look like if you had healthy boundaries protecting what was most precious to you?

If you spoke from a place of clarity and compassion in your relations?

What would your day look like if you could create what you wanted?

From ease and balance,

Not hurrying or rushing,

Yet still getting all the most important things to you accomplished.

Now send light and love throughout the day,

Starting at the beginning of the day,

From the start of the day,

Infusing it with light and care and connection.

As you move throughout the day,

Expanding your sense of personal power and self-connection and groundedness,

Simply send light throughout the day,

The morning,

Midday and evening,

All filled with light,

So that by the end of the day you feel more self-connected.

You feel a sense of celebration for all you've accomplished.

You feel proud of the way you did the things that you did,

And you feel ready for a restful and profoundly rejuvenating sleep.

Send light and love and care to the day.

And as you're imagining your day,

Let insight and wisdom come to you around where you might want to hold more self-care and self-love today.

What's one way you've been meaning to hold more self-care and self-love that you can start with today?

Perhaps it's eating a more nutritious meal,

Stretching,

Working out,

Or maybe it's getting some nature time and fresh air.

Or maybe it's noticing any judgmental voices in the mind and bringing compassion and love to them.

What's one simple way you can hold more care and love for yourself today?

Today you will remain grounded in yourself,

Saying yes only to those things which truly resonate with you,

And saying no thank you to those things that are not a fit.

When others make requests of you,

They do so because they see a profound ability for you to contribute,

So you can receive requests as a compliment to your capacity to give,

While at the same time checking in and seeing if it's actually aligned to contribute in this way at that time.

You stay grounded in yourself and respond to requests with clarity and self-connection.

As you imagine your day today,

What's one situation that might arise where someone makes a request of you?

See yourself in this situation grounding yourself in your own truth and responding with care.

Today you let other people have their experience,

And you let yourself have yours too.

You accept what is without resistance,

While also using all circumstances as opportunities to move closer to a world that is in integrity,

With values like love,

Care,

Compassion,

And creativity,

Self-expression,

And any other values that might be important to you.

As you imagine your day,

What's one opportunity that might arise to simply allow yourself and others to have their experience,

And to simply allow yourself to experience presence and care in the face of it?

Today you will increasingly nourish yourself with foods that feel good in the body after you eat them.

If you notice yourself feeling tired after a meal,

Or any part of the body hurting,

You make note of that,

And you resolve to eat it less,

Or adjust the meal so that it actually deeply nourishes you and gives you energy.

Today you will eat those foods that deeply nourish you and feel good.

What's one simple thing you can do today to move towards more nourishment in your food habits?

Today,

You will honor your capacity to choose how you respond to what arises,

And you will increasingly connect to the needs underneath your choices so you can make them with awareness and intentionality.

When you notice thoughts arising that you have to or should do something,

You simply pause and recognize that these thoughts are merely invitations,

Requests from within or from outside yourself.

Today you will see each of these moments more clearly as opportunities to choose.

What is an action you've been telling yourself lately that you have to or should do?

When you think about this action,

What needs or values are coming alive around it?

What deeper why is it revealing to you?

Is this a situation where you'd like to choose to do it,

Even if you feel slightly unwilling because you trust the outcome will be a net benefit to you?

Or do you want to reassess your relationship with this so that you can choose to do it in a time and in a way that might work more for you?

What feels aligned in how you want to relate to this action?

Today,

You will also honor your physical body's needs for movement,

For rest,

For exercise.

If you ever notice yourself sitting for long periods of time or feeling an urge to move,

You listen to your body and carve out time to stretch,

To exercise,

To enjoy the physical exertion of movement.

Even if it's as simple as stretching in your chair or going for a walk,

What's one thing you can do today to honor your body's physical needs?

Now let the wisdom within show you a habit or a pattern that may be attempting to meet your needs in a way that no longer feels aligned.

Is it a certain way of speaking,

Thinking,

Eating?

Whatever it is.

It's not your job today to get rid of this habit,

But simply to bring more loving awareness to it,

To understand its true source.

Perhaps it's an old way of being where you did the best you knew how in a difficult circumstance.

Today,

Resolve to see the truth of the old habits that feel like they aren't serving you as much as they once did.

Think of your day today,

And think of a time during the day where you may engage in a choice to indulge in some habit that you feel isn't quite aligned anymore.

What are the underlying needs in this situation?

What's important to you?

Shift your focus from the habit itself to what beautiful thing is underneath the habit that you're trying to bring into your life.

Is it a longing for more personal power or control over a situation that at one time in your life you felt powerless around?

Does it meet needs for ease,

For in-the-moment pleasure or joy?

Or maybe it's a way to bring novelty and creativity into your day.

Connect with the need energy and the values and what's precious to you underneath this habit.

Resolve now to bring more awareness,

To bring a pause,

To notice yourself.

Whenever you feel reactive or in the grips of this habit energy,

See yourself now bringing space into that moment,

Bringing curiosity and love.

What are you really wanting in this situation?

Imagine alternative ways to meet your needs in this situation and in this moment of the day that are more aligned with your values and where you are now.

Make it easier to make this choice instead by simply visualizing yourself doing it and imagining how good it would feel and how aligned it would feel to do so.

Beautiful work.

We'll now let the subconscious mind integrate everything we've done so far with a deep relaxation practice,

And then we'll gradually come back into the day through stretching and movement.

When I name a body part,

Simply allow your attention to rest on any sensations around that area.

We'll start with the whole upper body,

Noticing any sensations on the arms,

Chest,

Back,

And head,

And just allowing them to be.

And now,

The sensations in the whole lower body,

From the hips to the upper legs,

Lower legs,

And feet,

Letting your body sink further into the surface and feeling supported,

Letting go of thinking,

Deepening the breathing,

And letting yourself just relax.

Now let your attention come to the top of the head,

Moving to the forehead and the eyes,

Softening the eyelids.

Now the jaw,

Unclenching the teeth and relaxing the tongue,

Letting the shoulders relax,

And the arms,

Elbows,

Wrists,

And hands,

All relaxing.

Now the whole front of the torso,

The chest,

And the stomach,

Relaxing.

The back of the torso,

The shoulder blades,

The space between the shoulder blades,

The lower back,

All relaxing.

And now the hips and upper legs,

The knees,

The lower legs,

The feet,

And the toes,

The whole lower body from hips to toes,

The whole lower body from toes to hips,

The whole lower body,

The whole upper body from the waist up to the torso and the arms and the head,

The whole upper body from the head down to the torso and the arms and the waist,

The whole upper body,

The whole body from head to toe,

The whole body from toe to head,

The whole body.

Allowing yourself to simply enjoy the feelings of relaxation and deep rest.

Now take a few deep breaths in and out.

Feel a sense of gratitude for giving yourself the time to do this profound practice,

All while feeling more well-rested,

More energized,

More nourished,

And more ready to live a day of alignment,

And to create a nourishing experience for yourself and others today.

And now we'll gradually reawaken the body.

Allow yourself to move in any way that feels comfortable now.

You can either move spontaneously as feels fit,

Or you can follow my guidance.

And now begin to wiggle the toes,

Moving the toes up and down as you awaken the feet,

And pointing the heels away from you,

And stretching the whole lower body at the same time as if your legs were gently pulled to the wall across from you,

And then letting them rest.

Sending gratitude to the feet for all the places they'll bring you today,

All that they'll carry.

And now wiggling the fingers,

Opening and closing the hands repeatedly to wake them up gently,

And sending gratitude to the hands for all the beautiful things they'll create today.

Now if you'd like,

You can give a full body stretch,

Extending the arms to the sides or overhead,

And extending the feet in the other direction,

And just allowing your body to enjoy this stretch.

Feel free to do any stretches now that would feel good for the body.

Stretching the lower back,

By bringing the knees gently to the chest,

Or doing any twists.

Deepening your breathing,

And feeling ready for the day.

Trusting you have all the resources you need to meet the day in greater alignment,

In greater personal power,

With more agency,

With more self-love and care for others,

With more groundedness,

With more focus on what matters most.

Thank you for doing this meditation with me,

And I hope you have a beautiful day.

Reviews

Beautiful and comprehensive alignment meditation to start the day. Thank you!