 Hello and welcome to this guided meditation, which is about cultivating joy. This meditation was recorded on December the 24th, 2021, on Christmas Eve. A time with us all to being joy, to have joy, to have happiness, to take time with our friends, our family, our relatives, all of these things. But this meditation can be used for 365 days of the year, allowing us to understand and to try to cultivate joy. Christmas is a wonderful time for so many people, but also on times of difficult time for others. But you are never alone, because you always have yourself and the divine light and spirit. I'd like you to sit comfortably in a quiet place, just get comfortable as we start this guided meditation on cultivating joy. And as you sit in a very comfortable position with your spine up tall, I'd like you to relax your shoulders and just feel yourself to settle in to the chair or to the bed or wherever you're doing this meditation. Relax your belly and your thighs, shift back slightly so that your head and shoulders sit directly over your hips. And as you do, just feel that connection between your hips and your legs and the earth and the ground below you. And be aware gently of the breath just coming through your nose and allow yourself to get further settled in to this seat. Just become comfortable if you're like you're rooting down, grounding yourself. But just notice the energy coming back up through the earth, the energy that you receive back from the earth for you at this time. Feel how your connection to the world is always there. A connection to the world that we just have to check in with. And feel that support, feel that connection underneath your feet and how it helps us to feel tall, to feel live, to feel awake. So remain connected to your body and your breath, but be aware of your body and your breath. And feel how the body seemingly just breathes by itself. And just lean into and notice the wonder of the rise and fall of your chest, the wonder of the continual movement of breath. And just soften into a deep feeling of gratitude for the body itself and for the wonderful gift of your breath. And just sense that your heart is opening to the miracle that is your body and recognise all the wonderful ways in which it functions. And all the amazing ways in which it allows you to connect with the world you live in. And feel your heart, feel it open to the miracle that is your breath. And just conjure up your own heartfelt gratitude as you delve into this present moment of awareness. As we get older, our body slows down, maybe has a few problems or issues, but it is always there for us. We have to treat it with the respect by nourishing it with good food and good water. Exercise and allowing ourselves to connect with the world around us. Treat your body right. It will heal and look after you. But recognise how precious and how extraordinary your breath and your body are. Feel your body softening and opening into the awareness. And when you do that, you feel all of the tension released from your forehead, your shoulders, your belly and your thighs. And then intentionally ever so slightly, I just want you just to turn up the corners of your mouth. Just breaking to a little bit of a subtle smile. Even if everything's not going right or you've had a difficult day, now is the time for you to be present in the moment, to be grateful for the breath and everything that we have. Create that subtle smile on your face and see how the body reacts. How does it feel? And turn into that as a sensation. Label that sensation as happiness, as joy or as bliss. And just sit with it. And just hold this very subtle inner smile and explore and notice what arises. And just notice too that this sensation of joy is available to you right here, right now. Just doing something as simple as sitting still, watching and noticing your breath. Right here, right now. And the more you can be present, the more you can free yourself from thinking about what comes next. The more you can free yourself from ruminating on what was already happened. The more you are available to notice this joy. And notice that joy doesn't so much arise, but joy is revealed. Joy is most available to you when you are available to be nowhere other than right here, right now. And I just want you to rest your whole body in this state of joy and identify with the bliss as who you really are. This happiness, this joy, this bliss is what remains when you drop all your superficial thinking and doing it's what remains. Just be here, be present right now. This joy is you. It's your natural state. You can recall this sensation. Remember that this joy, as you, is available to you at any time. Any time you'd like to come back to this feeling, all you need to do is stop what you're doing and notice. So right here, acknowledge the ease, the spaciousness. Acknowledge the gratitude and all. And acknowledge your inner smile and the sensation of joy. Get to know joy in this moment and make a promise to remember joy, to turn to wards joy and to notice who it is that you truly are, even as you return to your day. Feel and sit with that moment of joy with that inner, subtle smile. Take a deep breath in with your fingers and back into the room. Thank you for listening to this meditation.