[audio:MM-A-Radical-Act-of-Kindness-Audio.mp3]

Adapted from “The Mindful Child”~ Susan Kaiser Greenland

Before starting this exercise- grab and lay out a folded blanket lengthwise to accommodate the whole of your body lying down. You will also need a pillow to be placed at the head of this blanket.

When you are ready, let’s move to lie on the floor on our backs, relaxed & comfortable, arms stretched out to our sides, legs stretched out, with the feet dropping to their sides, palms facing up, with fingers spread slightly open. Gently close your eyes or bring the gaze slightly downward to the chest (*if you are at all sleepy, it might be best for you to keep the eyes slightly open so that you can remain alert throughout the duration of this exercise)- and let’s take a few deep breaths into the belly and just allowing our mind and body to settle here for a couple of moments. Here you are going to simply begin by paying attention to what’s happening in your body. How do the different parts of your body feel right now?…

Here and now, we’re not going to think about whether or not there’s something about our bodies that we’d like to change. Instead, we’re simply going to notice how it feels to lie on the floor in this room today. Our number one priority is to take good care of ourselves…

Feel your head on the pillow, the crook of your neck, your shoulders on the blanket. If thoughts come to mind as you scan your body, try not to get caught up in them. Instead, return to noticing how your arms feel lying by your sides, how your back feels against the floor, the small of your back, your rear, your legs, the backs of your heels, and your feet. As best you can, try not to analyze anything right now. Just observe your body and mind as if you’re a friendly and impartial spectator. If your little “teaser voice” inside yourself arises with bothersome “words” or “talk”, that’s perfectly natural, just see if you can ignore him or her by gently bringing your attention away from your mind and back to your body. You can even whisper silently to yourself… “Not now”.

Remembering here and now, there’s really no place you have go right now… we are just resting and observing our body. There’s nothing else you need to do. There’s no one for you to please. There’s no one else you have to be. You don’t’ need anything other than what you have right here… nothing more and nothing less.

As you feel your body against the floor, pay attention to the sense that your weight is releasing or yielding to the floor and the earth below it. Imagine that you can see the tension in your body- that your tension is like a cloud of gray smoke… and feel it leaving your body, dropping down into the floor. Then imagine it sinking into the earth below the floor…

Again, remember there’s no place you have to go right now. There’s nothing you need to do. There’s no one for you to please. There’s no one else you have to be. You don’t need anything other than what you have right here. All we’re doing now is resting and observing our body… nothing more and nothing less.

Now that all of the tension in your body has released into the earth below, picture your own “safe” place. Your safe place can be someplace you’ve been, someplace you haven’t been but would like to visit, or an imaginary place that you conjure up yourself. Your safe place is someplace where you are happy, you feel loved, you are strong and relaxed, and you have lots of fun. Picture yourself having fun and relaxing in your safe place.

Remember there’s no place you have to go right now. There’s nothing you need to do. There’s no one for you to please. There’s no one else you have to be. You don’t need anything other than what you have right here. All we’re doing now is resting and observing our body… nothing more and nothing less.

Let’s move our attention now to the space deep inside our chests where our hearts are. Imagine the space is glowing with warmth, and feel the warmth slowly and steadily become sweeter and larger and deeper and wider until it radiates out to warm your torso, your neck, your shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers; it warms your hips and legs all the way to the bottoms of your feet and tips of your toes… up to the top of your head, down to the tips of toes, your front, your back, your middle, all the way around until your body is filled with warm light. The warmth coming from inside is enormous and limitless. Let’s now rest in that warmth for a couple of minutes or so…

Remember again there’s no place you have to go right now. There’s nothing you need to do. There’s no one for you to please. There’s no one else you have to be. You don’t need anything other than what you have right here. All we’re doing now is resting and observing our body… nothing more and nothing less.

A lot of us spend a whole lot of time and energy paying attention to other people. We wonder how other people feel, what they think, what they would like us to do, and how they would like us to be. It’s “ok” that we think about other people sometimes, but we’re not going to think about other people now. Right now we’re going to give ourselves a break from all of the “inner talk” about what other people say, do, think, and feel. We’re going to let go of any thoughts we have about other people right now and do something rather radical for ourselves. We’re going to take good care of ourselves and rest.

As best you can, simply rest in your safe place knowing that you are complete and whole just as you are. If you don’t believe it, just go with me on this one. You don’t need to do anything, you don’t need to change, and you don’t need to be anyone else. You are complete and whole just as you are. Whether you’re happy today or sad, whether there are more bad things in your life right now than there are good things. In the long run, it won’t matter as much as it seems to matter now. Good times & bad times are part of life, and like the tide they come and they go- one thing’s for sure, they’ll always change. Sometimes it’s hard to wait but just hold on…

We’re now going to end this practice by sending friendly wishes to ourselves. Picture yourself in your safe place where you’re happy and having a lot of fun. Maybe your singing, dancing, reading, playing, or just resting. Whatever you love to do, you can do in your safe place. May you be healthy & strong. May you be with people you love & who love you. Everyone in your safe place is relaxed and at ease. Everyone in your safe place is peaceful, free, and having fun…

And when you are ready- slowly opening your eyes or bringing your gaze back up- and moving out of your meditative focus and back into your normal activities… I leave you now in peace with the good energy and feeling of mindfulness.

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