This meditation uses the breath and the word Peace in a contemplative way.

As we say the word and breathe, our awareness contemplates its meaning.

And over some time, we may find many meanings arising.

We welcome them all.

And find our way back to the bigger holding space that exists within each of us.

· Take a moment to settle into your body. Finding a way to sit or even lie down.
· And begin to scan through your body, noticing the sensations that are present now,
· Maybe there is some tightness or tension that you notice, or other sensations …warmth, coolness, tingling, maybe areas of pain or areas that are feeling free and light,
· As you continue to scan your body, let this be an invitation to arrive fully into your body
· And take 3 deeper breaths in and out
· What is the pace of your breath? Is it slow or fast? Is it deep or shallow?
· Where do you feel your breath the strongest?
· In your nostrils, or your chest, or in your abdomen? Or all over?
· Wherever you feel the breath the most distinctly, direct your attention there. And simply be with your breath.
· (few moments of just observing your breath)
· Begin to move your attention down to the center of your chest- as you rest your awareness in this center
· Quietly, inwardly say the word Peace, Peace, Peace….
· Breathe in – mentally saying Peace
· And then Breathe out -mentally saying the word Peace
· Continue with this for some time
· Inhale Peace – Exhale Peace
· (spend a few moments here inhaling/peace – exhaling/peace)
· You may find as you say the word Peace – things begin to arise in your awareness about Peace
· Welcome anything that arises
· Emotions may come, thoughts may come, body sensations may come, images may come
· Allow yourself to notice, feel, and recognize and then come back to the breath –
· Inhale Peace – Exhale Peace
· As you continue with this – begin to tune into a stillness at the center of your being that is holding all that arises with love
· A loving observer that is the witness to your experience
· (Pause)
· When you are ready, let go of the word Peace. Let go of the breath.
· Now sense your ears and listen to the sounds in the environment – sounds close in and far away
· (Pause)
· Then feel your body again sitting here – notice the places where your body connects to the ground beneath you, where you contact the seat you are sitting on
· As you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and just look around the room for a moment.

This meditation came to me through a variety of sources. In most recent years, I re-learned it from Kenneth Sorenson, a Psychosynthesis Psychologist practitioner and teacher.

It is very brief. Feel free to add it into you already established meditation practice or use it as a way to strengthen and/or develop particular beneficial qualities.

My suggestion is to use this practice with one quality for a given time period. Until you feel that that quality has strengthen. Then feel free to tune in again and see if another quality emerges.

I have practiced this meditation for years and have found many different qualities that I have needed at different stages of my life.

I hope you find it as supportive as I have.

Let’s begin

• Take a comfortable seat or you can lie down for this meditation.

• Once you get settled, close your eyes and deepen your breath.

• Taking some slower and deeper breaths in and out.

• As you breathe, bring your attention to the middle of your chest. Maybe even placing your hands there one on top of the other to sense this area more strongly.

• Take a moment to just feel the center of the chest area as warm and open. Breathing here for a moment or two.

• Now visualize a sun in this middle chest area. A bright, luminous radiant sun warming and brightening this area.

• As you imagine this sun here radiating, think about a positive quality that you most need right now. It could be integrity, courage, love, inspiration, peace, joy…whatever you feel you could use the most in your life right now.

• Continue to breathe deeply as you imagine this bright luminous healing sun in the center of your chest and tuning into the quality you chose. Realizing that this sun has the ability to transmit this quality to you.

• You may begin to feel chosen quality as a gentle energy inside of you. At first this may be subtle but with daily practice it can become stronger and more available.

• Stay here as long as you like maybe even moving from here into a longer meditation.

• When you are ready, open your eyes.

One of my favorite meditations practices to do in the Winter season is a meditation incorporating the Gayatri Mantra, one of the oldest mantras of the Vedas.

Gayatri means “she who protects”. It is a reference to the Divine Mother, who offers her guidance and protection to all of us as her “children”. The Gayatri Mantra is a chant and an invocation of light and illumination. It is to be a request to align our own intelligence with this luminous, inspired presence . The mantra is said to vitalize our life force in its fullest expression in body and mind. It can support vibrancy, confidence, inner and outer strength, creativity and deep devotion. The Gayatri Mantra can help us transition from darkness to light.

Mantras are used for many reasons. They are used for healing, for protecting, for inspiration and for both calling in a particular energy or for clearing energy. My own experience with the Gayatri Mantra is so positive that I have shared it often with many yoga students throughout the years as an important aspect of their ongoing yoga path.

“Om I meditate on the radiant and most venerable light of the Divine from which issues forth the triple world – the bhu, bhuvah, and svah – earth, ether and Cosmos (heaven). May the Divine light illuminate and guide my intelligence.”

There are many beautiful translations of the above. Here are a couple of my favorite ones:

The eternal, earth, air, heaven
That glory, that resplendence of the sun
May we contemplate the brilliance of that light
May the sun inspire our minds.
-Translated by Douglas Brooks

Everything on the earth
In between, and above
Is arising from one effulgent source.
If my thoughts, words and deeds
Reflected this complete understanding of unity,
I would be the peace I am seeking in this moment.
-Translated by Donna Farhi

Instructions for meditation:

• Chant the Gayatri Mantra 3 times; out loud is preferable.
• As the sound fades…. tune in to your breath….and begin to visualize a golden
  orb…like the sun… way above you….shining its radiant light downward …. feeling that golden light flow into the crown of your head.
•  As you continue to breathe in this light, see it flow down the center and into your third eye ….seeing it’s radiant essence there…. and then allowing this light to travel slowly down to the center of the chest into the Heart region.
• There, feel the golden rays of the sun spreading out through your whole body and mind…as a Blessing of Vitality, Joy and Peace. Breathe that light into every part of your body, your being. Imagine its radiance even spreading outward into your Aura.
• Give a moment of thanks to all of the ancient ones who have given us these
  sacred teachings.
• Then, at the center of this golden orb, which rests at the Anahata chakra (heart
  center), begin to mentally repeat the gayatri mantra. Recite it as if the sound is
  emanating from your heart which has merged with that luminous light. Sense the mantra, the light and your heart center as one. From there, let the sounds of the syllables resound in your entire being.
• You can mentally (inwardly) chant the mantra with this heart center focus a few
  times…then be quiet and just focus on breath and being. Then repeat if you feel
  moved to. Going back and forth from saying the chant and sitting quietly and
  absorbing the effects.
• Then release the chanting and just rest in the awareness of your breath and the
  stillness.

According to yoga science and philosophy, pranayama techniques are one of the best ways to purify our energy body and our minds. They help support focus and clarity. There are many types of pranayamas and, in general, all of them cleanse the body and purify the mind.

This is a short and simple pranayama practice that you can do every day.

• For this practice you will want to do this practice sitting with an upright spine and open chest. Also you will be using your right hand to close off the nostrils. You can use the thumb on your right hand when you are closing your right nostril and the ring finger of your right hand to close off the left nostril.
• The inhalations are easy and smooth while the exhalations have a little more force to them.
• You will be doing 3 rounds on both the right and left sides. And 3 rounds thru both nostrils. Taking a few recover breaths in between.
• This is a short and simple pranayama practice that you can do everyday.

Let’s begin

• Inhale deeply through both nostrils.
• At the top of the inhalation, close your right nostril and exhale strongly through the left nostril. Emptying your lungs. Then inhale smoothly and deeply through the left nostril. And again exhale strongly through the left nostril. Inhale again into the left, and finally exhale strongly back out thru the left.
• Release your right nostril.
• Then bring your attention to the center between the eyebrows and take a few normal breaths through both nostrils.
• Now switch to the other side.
• Take a normal breath through both nostrils and then close the left nostril as you exhale strongly out through the right nostril. Inhale smoothly and deeply into the right nostril. Exhale strongly thru the right nostril. One last time…inhale into the right nostril and exhale completely out the right nostril.
• Release your hands back down onto your lap.
• Then bring your attention to the eyebrow center and take three normal breaths in and out.
• And finally allow both nostrils to remain open and inhale smoothly into both and exhale strongly out both. Inhale again into both nostrils and exhale and forcefully out both nostrils. Repeat this one more time.
• Then just sit quietly for a moment allowing the breath to be and feeling the cleansing action of this practice.

Entering into a Healing Sanctuary is a visualization meditation. Its focus is on connecting with your “spiritual helpers/guides”. It is great to use when you would like to access your own inner wisdom and guidance. The practice supports tuning into your intuition.

• Find a comfortable position again, you can sit or lie down –organizing your posture in a stable and comfortable way.
• Deepen into your breath…slowly beginning to lengthen it. Relaxing across your brow, release your jaw, soften your belly.
• As you sit here in this room with all of the sounds surrounding you, allow yourself to be transported to a beautiful healing sanctuary or temple…visualizing yourself walking into this healing place …it may be outdoors in nature or inside in a sacred temple…see yourself entering this magical place, finding a place to sit …a place where you can be comfortable and safe 

• As you sit ……sense what it feels like to be in this holy place….it is a place of refuge for you ….a place of great healing for you…
• Begin to look around this place and notice what is in the environment…..what is in this space with you….is there nature around you, trees, flowers, water, what does the sky look like, are there animals nearby if you are outdoors, …if you are indoors what are the walls like, are there pictures, is there furniture what are the colors in the room
• Noticing this space in all of its detail….
• Noticing the sounds that are in this space if there are any, you may notice smells if there are any, maybe you smell flowers or incense, beautiful fragrances wafting in the air filling you up, let yourself notice the colors of the place, the light and colors all around you….you may notice that the colors in this magical place are more brilliant ….more healing
• As you feel yourself settle and relax more deeply here …
• Notice what the energy is like here for you….how does your body respond to this healing sanctuary…
• Continue to look around this place and notice that you begin to sense the presence of other wise and loving beings there with you…..these beings are your Spiritual helpers, your highest level spiritual guides and teachers…and if you feel comfortable doing so….call them into this space even more now so that you can feel and possibly see their presence ….knowing that they are there to support you in your awakening and healing
• And as you sense their presence with you, surrounding you, helping you to soften and relax more deeply into this healing space
• You may want to ask these wise beings or being a question right now…asking them is there anything specific you could do to help you to find more healing and balance in your life? If you would like to, go ahead and then listen within to their answer.
• You can also just simply ask them if they have any messages for you?
• Remember that their answer may come in many forms, as words you hear, or pictures, symbols, or it may come in just an inner knowing
• Feel to free to continue a dialogue with them for a few more minutes and if you hear nothing, just continue to kindly ask. Being open to whenever the message will come. Some messages come after the meditation is over…even another day from now.
• As you listen allow yourself to relax even more deeply now, breathing easily and effortlessly. Taking in the healing energy of this place.
• Once the wise beings your high spirit guides and teachers spoken. You may want to thank them for the wisdom they have shared with you. And if you are willing, ask that you continue to feel and sense their presence even after this meditation is over.
• Once you feel complete with this, take another look around this place, breathing it in. Remembering that you can come back here anytime you would like to. It is your healing place.
• And then begin to stand up, walking out of this temple and when you are out of the temple doors or gate. Take a deep breath in, feeling into your body here in this room. And opening your eyes when you are ready.

Find a posture that allows you to be comfortable and at ease. Settling into your seat. Taking a few full breaths in and out.

Scanning thru your body, letting go of whatever tension you can.

Relaxing thru your shoulders, softening your hands, softening your belly. And even relaxing your feet.

It can be helpful to create an experience of loving kindness in the body by imagining an inner smile and the felt sense of a smile spreading throughout your whole being. Warm, bright and open.

You can imagine a smile behind your eyes …turning the corners of the eyes softly upward. Sensing a smile in the chest – the region of the heart. A smile inside the abdomen, inside the pelvis.

Feeling the warmth, the ease, the openness of that smile radiating inside the whole body now. Including your mind so that your thoughts, and your entire mental life floats in this more receptive space.

A space that can hold this life as it is.
Now bring to mind someone who you find easy to feel love with. It can be a friend, a family member, a teacher, or even a pet.

Someone who you trust fully loves and cares for you or someone who arouses your deep love and care for them – maybe a child or someone who you sense is vulnerable.

Whoever you brought to mind – sense that being’s goodness. What makes him or her dear to you. What brings up your sense of care.
Now hold this being in your attention and begin to offer the following phrases of loving kindness to them…

May you be filled with loving kindness. Held in loving kindness. May you realize loving kindness is your essence.

May you be happy.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you feel safe and free from harm.
May you feel peaceful.

As you offer these phrases, you might imagine the person receiving them.

You can repeat the phrases again…
May you be filled with loving kindness. Held in loving kindness. May you realize loving kindness is your essence.

May you be happy.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you feel safe and free from harm.
May you feel peaceful.

Now bringing your attention to your own being. Allowing yourself to remember and open up to your own goodness.

You might do this by bringing to mind times when you have been kind & generous – you might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer. Connecting to your longing to spiritually awaken…to know Truth.

You might recognize how your honor your essential presence, your honestly, your ability to love and be love.

If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult for you, then might try looking at yourself thru the eyes of someone who knows and loves you.
Now with a silent internal whisper..begin offering yourself those same phrases of care you said earlier.

It may be helpful to place a hand on your own heart as a way of deepening your communication to your own being.

As you repeat the each phrase, sense the meaning of the words. Allowing them to become sincere prayers for your own well-being.

Feel free to change the phrases if you would like to.

May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be held in loving kindness. May I realize loving kindness is my essence.

May I be happy.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I feel safe and free from harm.
May I feel peaceful.
Repeat the phrases again.

If you find any resistance arising in your being – maybe just stay with the phrase – May I be filled with Loving Kindness. Over and over.
Now allow your awareness to open out in all directions. In front of you, behind you, above and below you, out to the sides of you —as far as you can feel it — out infinitely.

And in this vast infinite space, feel your loving presence is holding all beings…those that you know well and those that are unknown to you – all species.

Imagine you can hold all life everywhere – the Earth, & all its beings in your infinite heart.
Aware of the Joys & Sorrows that all beings experience & again offering your caring phrases for their well-being.

May all beings be filled with loving kindness. May all beings be held in loving kindness. May all beings realize loving kindness as their essence.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings accept themselves as they are.
May all beings be safe and free from harm.
May all beings be at peaceful.
May all beings be free.

Now draw your awareness back to yourself, breathing deeply. Feeling your body sitting here –
And when you are ready – you can open your eyes.