Softercize Mondays!
What can you do that is fun today? Although daylight is waning as the summer season comes to an end, what are ways you can keep the sun shining on the inside? An amazing Tibetan monk taught me a simple technique to keep the sun shining inside as darkness happens outside. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORNING SUNRISE MEDITATION Closing your eyes and looking downward to the centre of your chest (the thymus area just behind your breastplate). Take a breath. Imagine the small yellow and gold glow of a sunbeam poking through like a morning sunrise in the centre of your chest. Slowly expand the sunrays so as the sun rises it is illuminating your entire upper body. The sun beams are glowing inward toward your spine, hips and neck and turning them a golden colour like the sun. Take a breath. Like a movie projector, imagine the morning sunlight is shining inward, heating up your heart, spine, ribs, stomach, all the way up to your throat and down to your hips. Take a breath. Imagine this light travelling into the back of your brain and begins to shine outward. Take a breath. Now slowly open your eyes. Allow that bright morning sunlight to project warmth, happiness and loving kindness out to everyone and everything around you as you feel a possible smile. Consider joy for a moment, and how experiencing the morning sun can bring hope, joy and wonder to your day today. Take a breath, Now ask yourself, “What can I do that is fun today?” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hadn’t considered this meditation for a long time, and when I learned of the floods in Nepal and China I immediately thought of my teacher. I could remember his voice in my head encouraging me not to worry but to meditate. He was very fun and playful and as I thought of him, I remembered that PLAY is an essential part of our neural development. Children do it, mammals do it, primates do it and somehow adult humans don’t. What my Vajrayana teacher taught me years ago is to make everyday a PLAY DAY, a day of experiencing some fun, some joy, some hope and wonder so I could build up a FUN FUND in my body. I could then make withdrawals from this fund whenever I was experiencing anxiety and adversity. I can also use this PLAY SURPLUS to help others who are struggling. Sharing your joy with others is one of the fastest ways to help them heal. Magically, WE ALSO HEAL FROM THE JOY WE BRING OTHERS. I thought I’d share this with you on this SOFTER MONDAY TAKEOVER AND MAKEOVER to remember the sun is always shining somewhere outside, and with the Morning Sunrise meditation it can always shine inside you no matter where you are. |
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Consider sharing some of your FUN FUND with others today. Can you have a laugh, share sacred moments with those close to you and consider helping someone today with a smile and a compassionate ear if they are in need?
If you’re so moved to bring a smile to SOME OF THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE I’VE EVER MET ON THE PLANET consider donating to a Nepal relief charity this week. No pressure, just repaying a debt of loving kindness and compassion that both Nepalese and Tibetan cultures have been sharing with the world since the 6th Century CE. Josh |
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