Ingredients:

* A heart filled with good intention
* A full cup of self-care (combined with some healthy modesty to make it taste even better)
* Two understanding monkeys topping both shoulders (it’s okay if they are a bit cheeky)
* Loads and loads of mindful breathing
* An appreciative smile on your face
* forgiveness, gratitude, compassion to taste

Preparation:

* Create yourself a comfortable environment.
When at home light a candle; maybe burn some incense or scented oil? Make sure the temperature is agreeable.
When outdoors keep yourself comfy and warm; maybe bring what you might need; bottled water, a flask of herbal tea, a nourishing comfort treat.
When in an airplane or crowded space imagine a bubble around you giving it any color spectrum you’d like.
* Sit or lie yourself down.
* Close your eyes for a moment. When it feels better to leave your eyes open, focus your gaze on something calming in front of you (meaning no screens or other otherworldly devises) Focus on a pleasant sound around you or listen to the silence in between sounds

Creation:

* Allow your bodyweight to sink into gravity; Feel which parts of your body are in direct contact with the mothership.
* Feel your mouth curve to a smile and observe the effect this has on your facial features.
* Become aware of the space between your eyebrows and feel the skin loosening around your scalp
* Ask the two positive monkeys to send out compassionate vibes to your shoulder muscles, neck and back.
* Walk along your spine with your awareness.
* Bring warmth to your heart; placing both hands, palms down, over your sternum.
* Feel the palms and the heart connect and meet each other
* Go back to the smile and feel it spread to your inner world. Scan your body with your awareness and see which parts of your body parts youDirect it to any area where you feel could be of use some inner smile. let it rest there for as long as you want
While you are doing so, assemble all forgiveness you can find within you and mix it in with gratitude and self-esteem to taste.
Massage this mixture with as much the love as you like for as long as you like, while holding positive thoughts, rolling them around in your feelings, your fears, your expectations, your grudges and any other human traits that may come to mind.

Remove any grudges or dark thoughts you may find within you.
Be mindful that holding a grudge or being unforgiving, will block the chemistry needed for your recipe to rise.
Place your mixture in a warm place and let it rest for as long as it needs. The further your recipe expands, the more successful your healing.

Then place the mixture in your minds eye while folding both hands over your heart, cupped, your elbows pointing down with the arm and shoulder muscles relaxed.
Soften your facial features, relax the muscles around your jaw, place an inner smile in between your eyebrows and take a nice deep breath in, expanding your belly and chest, inhaling forgiveness, gratitude and self esteem and as you exhale imagine all things you do not want to be part of your life at this point in time, to leave you on the flow of exhalation.

Observe the flavors, scents and changes that come to mind. See where they lead you and most importantly take your time, remembering breath is an automatic response of the body, that does not need to be directed in any way, whether it concerns inhalation or exhalation or the times in between, for breath has four stages:

  • Inhalation (Puraka)
  • The pause between inhalation and exhalation.(Abhyantara Kumbhaka)
  • Exhalation (Rechaka)
  • The pause between exhalation and inhalation (Bahya Kumbhaka)

Then on your next inhalation, also keep in mind the people you want to share this with; the practice of sharing, with your loved ones, or people you know of who could need some extra support right now; including people that may have hurt you or you may have hurt, even when you thought it was for the better.

Sprinkle your mixture of gratitude, forgiveness and self esteem over your intentions,while inhaling. Observe a natural pause and on the flow of exhalation, let go of any grudge or discontent that may have peeked around the corner while you were mixing your loving thoughts.

Now…any time you feel fearful, angry at the world, at yourself, at someone who has hurt you or any other situation in your life you wish to heal, prepare this mixture and repeat the above steps.

With Love

Ingrid Schippers

This blog was recorded as weekly end-note of the Dutchbuzz edition of November 24, the radio program for internationals, every Tuesday on The Hague FM from 10 to 11 pm.
All programs are archived at Dutchbuzz.nl.

To read the Dutch translation scroll up and click ‘ne’ in the right upper corner.