There are many different ways to build on positive experiences, to expand them and make them a bigger and bigger part of your life. This week I'm going to share one here:
When you have a positive experience, start by noticing it; slow down and notice, bearing witness to yourself having that beneficial experience.
Then focus on enriching the experience: Stay with it and be aware of it, the longer the better. This sustained activation of the brain will expand the experience.
Now turn the volume up on it, noticing everything you can about the experience. Try viewing it with ‘beginners mind’, asking ‘how does it feel in my body?’, ‘What emotion does it carry?’, ‘Why is this experience valuable to me?’ and any other questions that add detail to your experience.
Now absorb the experience, giving yourself permission to fully receive the positiveness of it: sense it melting into you through the pores of your skin like a sponge ….. or pouring down on you like rain drenching you. Perhaps you can imagine it like a jewel in the treasure chest of your heart ….. or like the wave of warmth you feel when your pet comes to sit in your lap?
Savour the experience and all of the sensations and feelings it brings. Let it change you
Give yourself over to the experience and let it inhabit you.
When you are ready to end this practise, take a big, deep breath in through your nose, and exhale out to the very bottom of your lungs.
Notice now how your body feels…..THIS IS YOU!