Remember a Time

Take a moment and close your eyes when you are able. Remember a time when you felt physically and emotionally wonderful. It could be from this week or from a long time ago. It doesn’t have to be a big, significant moment in your life - although it might be - just one that felt really good. It could be a place or activity you love. Go ahead and remember this moment now.

When you have found that memory, stay with it for awhile and notice the qualities within it.
Where are you?
Who is with you or are you alone?
What do you smell?
What is the light like in that memory?
Describe it.

Now - while still remembering this - notice the sensation in your chest. How are you holding your shoulders? How does that feel?
Notice the sensation between your eyebrows. Notice your mouth and jaw.
What happens to your hands? Where do you shift the weight of your body in your hips and feet?

This is both a reminder and an invitation.
Even though this is a memory, it is also a posture and a shape to inhabit -
a thing you can move into and bring back into your body whenever you need it -
for as long as you like.

I love doing this as a guided exercise with coaching clients. And when I see each of those people again, I can often remember the memory they connected to. Where they were, what they were doing, what the light was like, and what their heart felt like. This is where I hold space for each person, even now - months and years after working together. I see them feeling calm, by the shore, face towards the sun. I see them deep in imaginative play, as a child, in a garden. I see them moving in the flow of a performance they have trained for and prepared for months, ready and under the lights. I see them exploring a place they have never been before, filled with wonder and curiosity. I see them with their loved ones, filled with presence and joy.

What is this place and time in your memory? Visit often and use it as a template for making new memories.