Wednesday Night Meditation Class

Affirmations

Every Wednesday evening I teach a meditation class in St. Helena.  It's one of the favorite parts of my week.  I'll be posting each weeks topic to share the class with my online community since you can't be there in person.  

Today's topic of focus: Affirmations.  Up until today, I've stayed away from meditating on an affirmation during my class.  I think there has been a lot of focus on positive affirmations as being a kind of silver bullet to "fixing" something one might perceive as an unwanted feeling or perspective.  I don't think real change can come from resisting something or trying to force something to change.

I prefer the use of affirmations as a tool to help me align to a particular vibration I want to tune into.  I like to use affirmations as an anchor when my mind feels like rocky water - it helps me tune into the station I want on my own personal radio station of experience and emotions.

My class is 45 minutes long but for you the reader, choose your own length of time but at least 15 minutes.

Before you begin, choose an affirmation you would like to focus on.  Thousands of affirmations are at your fingertips using google if you need help coming up with one.  Bmindful is also a great website where people from around the world post affirmations they have come up with.  See if one resonates with you, or share your own on the website. I like to keep affirmations short and sweet so I can memorize them.  They should always, always be positive and framed in the present tense.  "I am happy" versus "I want to be happy".  If you affirm the latter you will anchor the "wanting" instead of the "being".

Here are some examples:

• I am enough
• All is well
• There is enough for everyone
• I am worthy of being loved
• The door of possibility is always open for me
• Pure love, I am pure love
• Money and resources flow into my life effortlessly and all my material needs are met easily

Now that you've chosen an affirmation find a quiet comfortable place and take a deep breath.  As you begin to settle down, become aware of our body and any tension or sensations that may be present.  Using your breath, breathe into any tension and gently release it.

Silently, in your heart say your affirmation.  Sit quietly for your allotted time, and repeat your affirmation to yourself as often as you would like.  Have the intention to be in your heart as you do this.  Give yourself silent pauses in between saying your affirmation and notice if it begins to shift how your body feels.  Begin to experience your affirmation as an emotion.  What change has it created in how your body feels?  Do you feel more expanded?  More peace?  At ease?  Allow yourself to be aware of what is present, as it is, without judgment.

For the last 5 minutes of the time you have allowed, I would like you to use your imagination.  Begin to imagine how your life would be if your affirmation was realized.  For example, if your affirmations was "Money and resources flow into my life effortlessly and all my material needs are met easily" using your imagination you can picture writing your rent or mortgage bill without any worry.  You can see your sense of ease in your body language and you can imagine yourself smiling, enjoying the company of your family or friends without distraction.  Using your imagination to experience the manifestation of your affirmation helps you move from the just thinking positive and into the being of it.  It will help anchor the vibrational frequency of how you want to relate to the world and how it will relate back to you.  

When you're done exploring with your imagination what your life would be like with your affirmation realized, come out of the meditation gently and slowly.  Write your affirmation down, post it somewhere you can see it or carry it in your wallet - let it be your anchor throughout the week.

If you decide to try the meditation let me know how it went.  Was it easy? Did you have any insights?  What was challenging?  If you choose to use it through the week how did that go?

Love yourself, Love others,

yesenia
 

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