Meditation (post 7)

4 Visualizations:
Your Ideal Day, Inner Peace, Outer Peace, Intuition

YOUR IDEAL DAY
imagine your ideal day, start to finish, "sunrise to bedtime"
then
do a few minutes of meditation, deep breathing
imagine waking up from a deep, refreshing sleep
you yawn and stretch slowly in bed, bringing a feeling of health and life to your body
how do you start: e.g. walk, a favorite food, or exercise?
work: what kind, alone or with others, some of each, for how long?
lunch: when, what, with whom
what's your leisure(s)
how do you spend your evening, and end your day?

INNER PEACE
Creating this for within yourself is an act that is both powerful and comforting
-sit, close
-imagine yourself completely at peace
-think of the feeling as a completely positive state
(not a rxn to stress/disturbance), rather a state completely desirable on it's own merits.
-Visualize maintaining this state in different situations
(start with supportive situations, and gradually move on to situations of stress/distraction)
-imagine those around you noticing your peaceful quality, and responding positively to it.
Enjoy both your ability to maintain this state, and others' response.
-gradually return, and open your eyes.

Gatorade asks, "is it in you?"

OUTER PEACE
The line between internal and external might not be that distinct (!)
The card says, "We influence the world by how we think about it."
Everyone hopes for peace, in their personal lives, and for the world.
This exercise is an experiment in using creative thinking to expand the presence and influence of peace in your life. (the opposite can also be done, as I can attest)

-sit, close
-focus on your idea of peace. imagine it in your home, workplace, community, work.
How would it feel?
-Visualize yourself as a deeply peaceful person. Imagine that everywhere you go, your peaceful quality affects everyone around you, and that your presence brings a sense of calm into every situation- even the stressful and tense.
-imagine others expressing gratitude and appreciation for bringing peace into their lives. Enjoy the feedback.
-gradually return, open

INTUITION
Maybe you should use your intuition on how to do a meditation on it, itself.
Anyway,
-it's beyond the conscious, rational mind, the card says
sit and close
-think about a moment when you've surprised yourself with an insight, or in hindsight, thought to yourself how you knew that would happen.
-remember how this feels
-okay, this one's interesting (for me)...Is it, in any way, how we perceive God?
....Visualize offering advice to yourself, imagine you are sitting next to yourself, sharing insights.
-Imagine yourself alternately giving and receiving advice.
-when you're giving advice, imagine it's coming from a source beyond both your mind and your emotions.
-when receiving advice, imagine setting your emotions aside and considering the advice as objectively as possible.
-enjoy the dialog for as long as you like (you sick, sick person, lol)
gradually return to the present, and open your eyes.