Lessons

Lesson Info

Sunday PM: Candlelit Meditation

Welcome to the Candlelit Meditation. For this practice you'll need anything that helps you create a comfortable seat whether it's a bolster, a blanket, a pillow, or some form of a chair, and a candle for you to gaze into during the meditation. When you have all this ready let's begin. (soothing music) Set your seat up to be roughly two to three feet away from the candle. Light the candle. And then move back to your seat. When you find your seat sit up tall with good posture. Feel length of your spine, your chest slightly lifted. Close your eyes for a moment. Drop your nose down til the tip of the nose points towards the direction of the candle. You can visualize the tip of your nose in line with the wick, with the small flame. And then as you open your eyes your gaze spots the candle. Your gaze is focused on the candle. On the small flame. Begin to notice your breathing pattern. On every inhale you're aware of your chest slightly lifting. (inhales) And every exhale you're aware of your...

chest slightly falling. And even though you're aware of the breath your focus and your gaze will stay on the candle. Don't try to limit your blinking. Or stop your eyes from watering if that happens. And do your best to keep your gaze right on the flame. Not only is your gaze on the flame but you're visualizing the candle in your mind. As this simple image begins to take over your vision and your visualization you're becoming more and more present and more and more relaxed. Every exhale helps you melt away the worries of your day. Your gaze stays focused your mind becomes more and more clear. And you're perfectly aware of your breath. Being in this position helps you feel a sense of comfort and a sense of lightness entering the essence of your being. You're calm and you're at ease. Your breathing pattern is long and slow. You're not in a rush to do anything or be anywhere. You're just watching the flame. It's almost like everything outside of the flame at this moment is not important. Only the flame is important. Your gaze, watching this simple artistic movements of the flame. You're aware of every detail every sweeping, jumping, graceful movement of the flame as it pivots around the wick. You watch the flame and it keeps you comfortable. It keeps you aware. And it keeps you focused. Clearing your mind of anything else but the present moment (exhales) And while you're aware of your breath your breathing just loud enough so that you can hear your breath. The sound of your breath is entertaining to your ears. Every exhale is a peaceful and calm sound. Every exhale is like a gentle gust of wind. (exhales) that you lightly feel throughout your entire body. Your gaze stays perfectly centered on the candle. You watch the flame as it grows and shrinks. You notice how you are like the flame burning brightly burning strongly but constantly pivoting showing your full range and potential in some situations pivoting and shifting. In other situations sometimes you burn brightly and powerfully. And other times, your fire is small. But either way your fire still burns. You are still uniquely you. There's nothing that can take that away from you. You are the flame. You are fully capable to grow and ignite change inside yourself, you're fully capable offering positivity into the lives of others. But you, like the flame must find the places where you burn the brightest. As you watch the flame you see its many different shapes, it's many different movements. You see the patterns. It bounces through. You become more aware of the patterns in your life. You become more aware of how those patterns serve you. Some of these patterns light fire in you. They build passion for activity, compassion for others. Some of your patterns and routines help you live your life with a vigor, and with grace. Highlight those passions as you let your worries melt away. You're still here. You're exhales still the audible sound of wind keeping your body connected to the present moment. And your gaze still watches the flame. And everything else outside of the flame does not natter. You're fully focused on the flame and you're fully present inside the essence of your own being. Thoughts may come up in your mind. And as these thoughts come up you wanna think of them like clouds. Your exhales the subtle breeze that moves these clouds along. So your thoughts are like clouds on a windy day. One or two may catch your attention, but the breeze blows them away. It moves them out of your consciousness. Your exhale moves all thoughts out of your consciousness. You're not tied to any thought. No thought, no idea makes up who you are. There's no specific social identity or thought process that defines you. Every exhale, every breeze clears these clouds away from your mindset. Clears these clouds away from your sense of being. This helps you feel more relaxed and more at peace. You're at peace because you're sitting perfectly in the present moment. You're at peace because your watching the candle dance. The simple moves of the candle of the fire bring you a subtle joy. Your gaze stays on the candle. Your mind sits perfectly in the present moment. You are aware. And you are here. Sometimes negative thoughts may come up in your mind. You visualize these negative thoughts as storm clouds. The candle that your gaze sits on is the sun. So as these storm clouds come from the right or the left side of your consciousness your exhale moves them closer and closer to the sun. As your negative thoughts move closer and closer to the sun, like clouds they begin to evaporate and burn off. You now feel more at ease. You now feel a deeper sense of calm. You now feel more connected to the moment. Take a deep inhale. (inhales) And exhale, release. (exhales) Bring a bit more life back into your breath. Every inhale you feel the ribs lift (inhales) like an elevator lifting your chest up. And every exhale (exhales) you clear your system of any thoughts that rose up during the inhale. Inhale. (inhales) You elevate thoughts into your highest form of consciousness. Exhale, (exhales) You allow the thoughts to move out of your system. Keep breathing just like this. Keep this simple pattern of moving your thoughts through your body, through your system, eliminating any negativity. But not being tied to any positivity. You're just allowing yourself to be neutral. To be content, and find a simple joy in watching the flame. You're finding a simple joy in watching the flame. The flame keeps you perfectly present. You notice the shoulders softening. You notice the hips softening. The arm muscles softening. The legs begin to soften. You're quietly at ease. Your body's completely relaxed. You're maintaining a steady pattern of breath. This pattern of breath is not controlled. But it is helping you clear your mind. You are sitting here in your comfortable seat watching the flame. Watching the beautiful and bouncing flame. Admiring the fire. You feel the warmth of the flame. You feel its gentle heat radiating into your system. Capture the image of the flame. Take a recording of the flame with your eyes right now. Your eyes are a video camera and they're taking, your eyes are a video camera and they're taking a recording of the flame. Close your eyes. And as you close your eyes you bring up that recording of the flame and you play it in your mind. And maybe as you go to watch the video of the flame you notice all the radiant patterns and colors bouncing in front of your eyes. All the patterns. And you still find the opportunity to bring up that recording of the flame and to play it, to watch it flickering. As you do you notice every detail surrounding the candle. Your gaze is on the flame. Your awareness was on the flame you did the recording. But now in this moment you can see the surroundings. You can see the scene. You take the time to observe every detail. Then you open your eyes and bring your gaze back to the flame. Back to the light of your intention. And you watch the flame in silence for the next number of breaths. Now feel free to close your eyes. You can stay in your seated position or lay flat on your back. The candle will keep burning. But it is no longer your focus. You're sitting up tall, comfortably in your seated position. Eyes closed. Or your laying comfortably on your back. From either position you take a moment, to say a simple phrase to yourself that you want to bring into your physical reality. A simple phrase, in a simple language. A short and sweet positive intention. You let it come up naturally. The first phrase that comes up naturally that you enjoy, allow that to radiate in your system. Repeat that phrase to yourself three times. And then repeat to yourself, I am here, I am present, and I am worthy. Your position is comfortable. And we will begin a rotation of consciousness. Every single body part that I say, you will rotate your consciousness to. We'll move from body part to body part awakening your entire physical body without moving. We will begin by bringing awareness to the right thumb. Bring all of your awareness to your right thumb. Move your awareness to your second finger. Third finger, fourth finger, and a fifth finger. Awareness moves into your right palm. Your right wrist, your right forearm, your right elbow, your right upper arm, shoulder, arm pit, down through the right side body, into the hip, the upper leg, the knee, the shin, the ankle, the heel, the bottom of the foot, the top of the foot, the right big toe, the right second toe, third toe, fourth toe, fifth toe. Your awareness moves to your left thumb. Bring all of your awareness to your left thumb. Shift your awareness to your left second finger, third finger, fourth finger, and fifth finger. Awareness moves to the left palm, the left wrist, the left forearm, left elbow, upper arm, shoulder, arm pit, awareness moves down the left side body into the left hip down the top of the leg through the knee, the shin, the ankle, the left heel, the bottom of the left foot, the top of the left foot, the left big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, and fifth toe. Feel all of your awareness in both sets of toes. That awareness moves up through the legs the shins, the knees, the ankles. The awareness moves into the hips, the lower belly, the upper abdomen, the rib cage, the chest, the collar bones, the neck. Your complete awareness moves into your chin, your mouth, your nose, your cheeks, your ears, your eyes, your eyebrows, your forehead, the top of your head, the back of your skull, the back of your neck, the top of your spine, the middle part of your spine, the lower part of your spine, your tailbone, and your butt. Your body is completely aware. Now bring all the awareness to the parts of your body that are touching the ground. The back of the heel, maybe the calf, the butt, the shoulders, some part of the elbows or hands, the back of the head. Feel those parts of the body radiating with warm and comforting energy. Your body is getting light. Feel your body gently floating away from the floor. Nothing is tying you down. You're floating around with ease. You barely feel any part of connection with the ground. Your body is so light. Gently bring your body back to the floor. Feel those points of contact with the ground again. Though your body has found the ground it does not feel heavy. There's no weight. You're just comfortably laying or sitting in a position that serves you. We will now begin a simple visualization. Any image that I say, try and feel it with every sense you can. All five senses will be aware of these visualizations. But we'll from one to the next. When one comes up you'll fully embrace it. And then move to the next visualization. A kite flying in the sky. A kite flying in the sky. A kite flying in the sky. A house on the side of a hill. A house on the side of a hill. A house on the side of a hill. A warm embrace from a close friend. A warm embrace from a close friend. A warm embrace from a close friend. Walking through a large field. Walking through a large field. Walking through a large field. An open desert. An open desert. An open desert. An eagle soaring through the sky. An eagle soaring through the sky. An eagle soaring through the sky. A cool glass of water. A cool glass of water. A cool glass of water. Putting on your favorite shirt. Putting on your favorite shirt. Putting on your favorite shirt. Lunch with a friend. Lunch with a friend. Lunch with a friend. Opening a package. Opening a package. Opening a package. Returning home after a long trip. Returning home after a long trip. Returning home after a long trip. Waves on the ocean. Waves on the ocean. Waves on the ocean. A warm campfire. A warm campfire. A warm campfire. The candle. The burning candle. The burning candle. The room you're in. The room you're in. The room you're in. Your body in the room you're in. Your body in the room you're in. Your body in the room you're in. You're bringing every sense of yourself back into your physical body. Wherever you drifted off to, you're now right back where you began. Laying or sitting perfectly relaxed. Perfectly at ease. Perfectly reconnected to yourself. You've moved away from any stress and tension. You've moved away from any negative thought patterns. You've moved into self confidence, self appreciation, self worth, and self understanding. You now have more trust, more honesty, more integrity and more empathy. You're now ready to take on what's in front of you, when you are ready to embrace those challenges. But you're in no rush. Right now you are perfectly calm. You are perfectly relaxed. And you can feel free to be here for as long as you need. Your body thanks you for taking this time to relax the nervous system. Your mind thanks you for taking time to create new thought patterns. And your spirit thanks you for giving it this chance to recharge, to rejuvenate and to feel enlightened. Take this moment to repeat that simple, positive phrase in your mind three times. And when you finish decide whether you'd like to stay as you are, or re-enter the world of physical activity. Wherever you are, the journey has been a beautiful process. Thank you for being part of it. Namaste.