Meditation: Calm, How to Meditate: The Happiness Hit Length: 11 minutes Where: Living Room, Los Angeles How It Felt: Joyful! Like a full heart! Who Joined Me: Tigre, for half
Today’s session was so cool! I’m back to the How to Meditate series, only nine to go after today. This one was about finding a jolt of happiness by imagining people you like or love happy, basically!
We settled in, Tigre in my lap (for the first five minutes) and started breathing. Then, I was instructed to think of someone I like and picture them totally happy. Laughing. Doing something funny. Joyful. The idea being that seeing people we love happy is contagious.
Even seeing strangers super happy is contagious, so it stands to reason. Think of every hilarious “baby laughing” viral video that has made you laugh out loud, or watching someone you’ve never heard of get a big surprise. It makes you happy! It makes you smile! If you’re me, it makes you cry every time.
I’m the biggest baby, I swear.
Unless, of course, you’re super insecure or a bit of a sociopath. I suppose those people probably don’t feel happy just because other people are happy. Probably the opposite. If this is you… maybe try some therapy? The rest below may not speak to you…
For everyone who isn’t drowning in their own misery and hoping it spreads around, this is a pretty good trick.
I first pictured one of my best friends, Huck. He was on my mind from a Facebook post I’d just seen, so he popped into my brain immediately. I pictured him with a group of our friends, laughing until he cried. I pictured him laughing at himself, as he often does, which always gets the whole room laughing. I pictured him onstage, singing, doing what he does best, doing what I know makes him happiest.
By the end of this little exercise, I was beaming! I couldn’t smile hard enough, and my face actually started to hurt. But we weren’t done!
Next we cycled through more people. I decided to just rapid fire choose people I love and picture them happy as can be.
I saw my husband, laughing with his funniest friends, telling stories, happy as he always is to have people together. My heart grew.
I saw each of my sisters and then my brother, each in turn, laughing, smiling, each in the middle of a specific situation I knew would bring them joy and maybe laughter. My heart felt even fuller.
I pictured my Uncle Dan, a guy I love more than words can say. I saw him in the middle of everyone at his annual Christmas party, smiling so big. He nearly glows with joy when everyone is together, just like my Grandpa used to. He’s the hub of our family now, the fulcrum. He deserves everything good, and when I see him happy, my heart expands to twice its size to hold all the love spilling out of it.
I imagined our kids. Anika, the oldest, when she’s almost childlike again, telling stories, talking nonstop, laughing and teasing.
I saw Carson, being silly, cracking up the room, singing at the top of his lungs, dancing on my family’s boat. Happy.
I saw Avery, the baby, the sweetest child there ever was. I pictured her at a party- she comes alive around groups of people! She puts on a show, and teases people, and comes up with funny little sayings and nicknames. She always wants to be in the middle of the action, and is never ready for bed!
I like to think I had the most influence on her. My little talkative night owl. I pictured her glowing, dancing, laughing.
My heart nearly exploded.
By the end, we were told to just let our mind rest for a bit, to wander, and all I could think about was how lucky I am, how much I love so many people. How much happier I’ll feel when I stop and really take in happiness around me.
Beautiful exercise. Beautiful meditation. Beautiful life.
As always, the key to it all is love, love, love. Love all your imperfect people, most of all your imperfect little self. Just love.
My Year of Meditation 