When we study yoga, we learn that the physical form (asana) of yoga is only one branch of yogic tradition. Yoga offers us many other ways to connect with the spiritual world.
To practice yoga is a pathway to joining your individual soul to a universal soul. In recovery language it can be seen as a pathway to further our connection to our higher power.
We can incorporate this knowledge into our meditation practice. We do this by meditating on the feeling of joy and love that comes from connecting to another person (a family member, a friend). We meditate on the love and joy that exists in this special connection you share.
Joy is a spiritual experience of openness, freedom, connection, and love. Joy embodies the sensations of warmth, fulfillment, and elation. Joy radiates from the heart center.
Reflection:
– What do we love about the feeling and sensation of joy? When do we most connect with these sensations?
– How do we experience joy in relationships with others?
(a friend, a pet, a family member, an intimate lover)
– How do we strengthen this bond to others?
Meditation Exercise:
Give yourself the space to arrive in your inner world, eyes rest closed, a few round of deep breaths, scanning and softening your body, maybe even a gentle stretching of the body.
Spend a few moments meditating on the word Joy. Notice the texture,sensations and feelings come up for you as you hold this space.
Begin to focus your attention on the sensations of joy as you think of someone, a friend, pet, or a family member and the special bond that you share.
Meditate on this feeling of joy. Allow it to move through your entire body, expanding through your entire being.
Now imagine sending this joyful sensation radiating from your heart center to shower the others in this room with this energy of joy, and allow it to expand to the people in the building, the neighborhood, sending energy out like the sun, showering the entire world, the entire universe with this warmth and joy.
© Lindy Ariff