In my last meditation, I focused on letting go of everything, being weightless, feeling my spirit without any attachments.

This meditation can give us the opportunity  to love ourselves completely, feel energized and lifted by our body and the things in our lives. This practice works especially well if we’re going through a bad patch or are in a foul mood.

Take quality time to love and elevate. Love it all. Start by focusing on your breathing and being completely in the present moment.

Stop thoughts. Stop judgments. Stop labels. Be totally relaxed with yourself. Begin by focusing on your body and sending loving feelings to your feet. Do you know how hard your feet work for you? How about those long walks over the summer holiday? And all that jogging on the sidewalk training for the marathon? Remember those high heels you wore last Saturday night? Love your feet, each toe, your sore heels, your high arches, your ankles; they all love you for sure. Your feet work hard for you.

Next, move to your tired calves, your knees, your thighs.

Donʼt you love your legs?

Short or long, heavy or muscular, they support us; they take us where we need to be, and sometimes where we shouldnʼt be. Our legs give us movement in the world, up and down and across town. We can dance, walk, play, put pants on, or slip into a skirt. We can take a stand on our feet and stand our ground with our legs.

Next move to your pelvic area, your hips and buttocks, your sexual organs.

Our hips balance us and sashay us through life, and they give shape to our form. If we sit on our butts all day, they might want to get moving. How does it feel? Our reproductive system is a powerful, miraculous, creative, and motivating force. It gives pleasure, and it gives life. Love all that it does.

Continue through your whole body, your stomach and digestive organs, your back, spinal cord, your brain.

Love them all. Remain a bit longer in a painful area. Ask that area whatʼs wrong, why it hurts, what it wants; ask your sore shoulder, that nagging low back pain, your headache. Give it love and fill that area with light and attention.

Love each organ—lungs, large intestine, stomach, heart, small intestine, bladder, and kidneys.

Our bladder releases, our liver detoxes, our digestion transforms and transports. Our heart moves blood, beats for us constantly, loves us, guides us, falls in love with us, and warns us.

Love and thank your bones, your blood, your cells, your tissues, muscles, and your skin, your beautiful protective and soft skin.

Love your immune system. It fights for you every minute of every day, battles of which you are totally unaware.

Love your senses.

Your eyes allow you to see flowers, mountains, and colors like cobalt blue and forest green, indigo, and canary yellow; your ears allow you to hear the most exquisite music, the sound of silence, the sweetest bird songs, the wind through the trees. Your nose allows you to smell the freshest rose, fresh tart apple pie, how to spot a liar; your mouth allows you to kiss the love of your life, taste their breath, and speak your truth.

Love your nerves.

They allow us to sense pleasure and pain, whatʼs cold and hot, whatʼs too much and whatʼs just right. Love your hands and each finger. One finger might wear a ring, a promise, and a bond. One is so little and cute. One you bite too much when youʼre nervous. You can express yourself, pick up things, create music magic, fix things, break things, caress, comfort, and heal all with your glorious hands. From your hands, lightly explore your character.

Love your insecurities and anxieties.

Love that youʼre human. Love that youʼre jealous and petty at times. Love your silly foibles and imperfections. Love that youʼre a child. Forgive yourself first. After forgiving yourself, send love to people and creatures that surround you. Your family: your funny brother, your generous sister, your ever loving mother, your exhausting niece and nephew, your cantankerous uncle, your whiny aunt; yes, they can be exasperating, but you love them with all their quirks.

Love your quiet neighbors, the barking dog who wags his tail when you go to work, and that early morning jogger.

Love your boss, your secretary, and that coworker who gossips and tells stupid jokes. Why canʼt that skinny guy stop complaining? Who cares, love them all, for they are a part of you and your life.

Love the mail person who delivers your Christmas cards and letter from the IRS. Love the author who wrote the self-help book that actually helped you. Love your grandmother who died and left all her money to her dogs. Love all your teachers. Everyone is your teacher. Especially people you dislike and who create a strong reaction in you; those are the greatest teachers. Love them all.

Love your places and things.

Love your paychecks and feel how happy you are to deposit them. Yes, weʼd like them to be bigger, but at least theyʼre still coming. Love your cozy bed with the new duvet. Love your computer, your red couch, your cute little water fountain, and that old painting you canʼt throw away. Love music and those who created it. Love your black car. Your car is your constant companion. Where would you be without your car? Love your food and water. They sustain you. Where do they come from? Love that friendly hummingbird just outside that has a little nest. Love the cat who sits in your plant at night. It ruins the plant.

Donʼt you just love it?

Love that your water heater works, and that your shower feels like heaven. Love those books you have out that youʼve been meaning to read. Love your house that is your sanctuary. Love your neighborhood, all those cute restaurants, and even that damn traffic—the smog—don’t  get me started, but the trees, old hills, and those glamorous walkways are unmatched. Love your city.

Love your state, it has the highest taxes to be sure, but where else can you find consistently perfect sunsets over a rocky ocean?

Love the moon and the stars, the oceans, the deserts, the mountains, rain, sun, wind, bees, birds, plants, and trees. Love that you can enjoy these miracles with your senses.

The world is alive!

Finally, instead of thinking about all the negative things in the world youʼd like to change, think of what you love and bring energy to that. Love when you see horses running free, love that guy on the beach who picked up plastic bottles and walked awkwardly to the trash can to throw them out. Love beautiful water falls. Love clean water, air, and fresh delicious food. Love that people have a sense of humor. Love that organizations go and plant trees. Love that you have the freedom to be whatever you want. Love that there are miraculous technologies. Love that you can sense change in the air. Love every creature, big and small. And, lastly, love that chocolate exists and you can eat it anytime you like (unless of course youʼre allergic).

You should be feeling pretty high by now and ready to tackle the world you love so much. Embrace it. Itʼs yours. If you do this, youʼre contributing to the clean up mental pollution in our environment and you will broadcast a higher vibration.

Nicole Weinberger has a B.A. and an M.A. in English and in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has written poems, articles, musings, and community news. She is a poet, writer, and occasional make-you-laugher. Most of all, she hopes her writing touches you in all the right corners.

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• Asst. Editor: Edith Lazenby
• Ed: Brianna Bemel