Welcome to this calm your mind,
Open your heart meditation.
I'm Victoria and today we'll be reading from Thich Nhat Hanh's book,
How to Relax.
This is called In,
Out,
Deep,
Slow.
Here is a poem to practice anytime,
But especially when you're worried,
Angry,
Or sad.
If you know how to practice this poem,
You'll feel much better after just one or two minutes.
In,
Out,
Deep,
Slow,
Calm,
Ease,
Smile,
Release,
Present moment,
Wonderful moment.
In,
Out means that when I breathe in,
I know I'm breathing in.
And when I breathe out,
I know I'm breathing out.
You are 100% with your in-breath and your out-breath.
Don't think of anything else.
That is the secret of success.
After you've practiced in,
Out three,
Four,
Five times,
You'll notice that your in-breath naturally becomes deeper and your out-breath becomes slower.
Your breath is calm and you're more peaceful.
That is deep,
Slow.
We'll take a minute now to just practice that.
In,
Out.
In,
Out.
Deep,
Slow.
Allow your breath to become deeper and slower.
Deep,
Slow.
Calm,
Ease means breathing in,
I feel calm.
Breathing out,
I feel at ease.
This exercise is wonderful to practice,
Especially when you're nervous,
Angry,
Or you don't feel peaceful in yourself.
We'll practice it a few times now.
Calm,
Ease.
Then you come to smile,
Release.
Breathing in,
I smile.
You may feel it's too difficult to smile,
But after practicing three or four times,
You may feel that you're able to smile.
And if you can smile,
You'll feel a lot better.
You may protest,
Why do you want me to smile?
It's not natural.
Many people ask me that and they protest,
I have no joy in me.
I can't force myself to smile.
It wouldn't be true.
I would say that a smile can be a kind of yoga practice,
Yoga of the mouth.
You just smile,
Even if you don't feel joy.
After you smile,
You'll see you feel differently.
Sometimes the mind takes the initiative and sometimes you have to allow the body to take the initiative.
So we'll practice a few times now.
Smile,
Release.
Smile,
Release.
Smile,
Release.
In each moment,
We know we are here.
We say,
Present moment.
And each moment is wonderful.
So we say,
Wonderful moment.
We'll practice a few times now.
Present moment,
Wonderful moment.
Present moment,
Wonderful moment.
Present moment,
Wonderful moment.
As you go throughout your day,
I invite you to remember this poem,
This Gaita,
And bring it with you anytime you want to come back to yourself.
In,
Out,
Deep,
Slow,
Calm,
Ease,
Smile,
Release.
Present moment,
Wonderful moment.
We'll bring this meditation to a close with one sound of the bell.
