Mindful Happiness – Happiness – Guided Imagery of Your Life
This experience will include guided imagery and multi-sensory memory of happy experiences in your life. At time, shadow experience may pop up, in which a happy memory has an unhappy 
component. Your mindful concentration will be needed to remain on track with only the happy aspects of the memories you select. If you experience a shadow, place it in a soft box (in your mind) so you can visit it later. Some people have suffered a great deal and may have some challenges keeping pleasant memories separate from unpleasant memories.
Do your best! Let’s begin!
- Place yourself in a comfortable posture sitting in meditation or lying on your back with arms by your sides.
- Take a few calm, deep, slow meaningful breaths until you feel your body relaxing. It may help to complete a quick body scan, releasing into the universe any tension your discover in your body here and now.
- Now focus on relaxing your mind. Just keep returning attention to your breath and relaxed body.
- Begin with the first happy memory you can remember – most likely from early childhood. Focus cognitively first. Then add each of your sense doors to the memory back there then: see it, hear it, feel it (sensation, emotions), smell it, and taste it. Using your mind’s eye place yourself in the original physical context of the memory – be with it back there then. The most important things are to see/hear things as they were back there then, and to FEEL your sensations and emotions associated with the memory (people, places, things, experiences). Start with the feelings. Get the most out of this experience.
- Now repeat the above procedure with a positive memory during your elementary school years.
- Now do the same in your middle school years.
- Yes,. repeat the same procedures for your high school years.
- One more time – in your college years or the years immediately after high school.
- Pick your most meaningful happy memory of all and do the same procedure with it.
- Simply be with the feeling of this work – and notice the powerful impact of positive emotions associated with happy memories. Allow it! Let it be! Benefit from it!
- For ongoing happiness practice, practice the process noted here as a meditation
For more information refer to Quintiliani, A. R. (2014). Mindful Happiness… Shelburne, VT: Voices of Vermont Publications.
By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC
From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont
Author of Mindful Happiness
CLICK HERE or any image below to Order
