We all feel uncertainty, but remember that these emotions are often a reaction to a perceived future that has not yet happened.

It may not always feel this way, but joy is a state of being you can choose. Sometimes we simply need to reawaken the infinite joy that exists naturally within us. Today’s meditation will focus on Expanding Joy. 

After today’s live meditation, due to business travel and vacation, I am planning to pause our live meditations until mid-February. In addition, we are working on several technical improvements to the live meditation and podcast for the new year, as well as several new topics, for when we return.  My plan is to be back in no-action on February 20th.

Amanda Gorman is a young American poet and activist, as well as the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. In this meditation, we contemplate a short excerpt of the poem that Gorman read at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, "The Hill We Climb." We will also read a new poem by Gorman called, "New Day's Lyric."

We hear a lot about mindfulness, but what is it exactly? Mindfulness is about expanding our own awareness of our actions, thoughts, and feelings. It is the practice of nonjudgmental observing. Mindfulness is the fertile soil of freedom, because it allows us to liberate ourselves from the two extremes of thinking too much and thinking too little; from persistent busyness and thoughtless habits; from the extreme of anxiety on the one hand and reactivity on the other. Through mindfulness, we can see better the choices we get to make in every single moment. And through this practice, we can learn to be more fully present, or deliberate and  more joyful. 

 

In this practice, we focus on building our skills of mindfulness.

It is a powerful thing to embrace a simple moment of silence, a moment of disconnection. But we can give ourselves permission to feel peace in this given moment and become aware that we are completely deserving of peace, now and always. 

 

In this meditation, we work on allowing ourselves to welcome inner peace.

An intention is a heartfelt, intuitive desire that will increase your happiness at the deepest level. While many of us are probably making New Year's resolutions, resolutions often require a certain amount of effort and willpower. On the other hand, intentions, if set correctly, are effortless and can lead to positive results that are both important and surprising. 

In this meditation, we reflect on our intentions for the new year.

George Bernard Shaw once said, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." So today let's decide to bring more play into our lives, to stay young in mind, body, and spirit.

In this meditation, we work on Welcoming Our Inner Child.

Compassion allows us to understand and accept ourselves and others, even through difficult times and challenges of life, including mistakes. And as compassion for each other grows, so does our ability to share more, and focus on empathy instead of fear, and to replace grievances with gratitude. According to the Buddha, compassion is incomplete unless it includes ourselves. 

In this meditation, we work on expanding our ability to be open with ourselves and others through compassion.