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Announcer: This is a Getty
podcast.

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Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re
exploring the power of

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the color blue in Edvard
Munch’s Starry Night.

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[Theme music begins]

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Welcome to Our Museum
Mindfulness Meditation

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podcast, or OMMM.

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Part art history and part
meditation, we use works of

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art from the Getty collection
as inspiration for mindfulness

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and deep reflection.

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Hi—I’m Lilit Sadoyan.

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I’m a long-time meditation
practitioner and museum

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educator at Getty.

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Thanks for joining me
as we bring mindfulness

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out of the gallery and
into our daily lives.

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[Music ends]

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Today we’re exploring memory
landscapes and the color

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blue with Edvard Munch’s
1893 painting Starry Night.

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This episode begins with a
breathing exercise to help

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you relax your body and mind.

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We’ll then give a bit
of history and context

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for Munch’s painting.

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And we’ll close with
a meditation and blue

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light visualization.

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This series is also available
as an audio podcast.

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If you’d like to step away
from a screen for a few

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minutes, listen on your
favorite podcast app.

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Now, if you’re ready, 
let’s jump in.

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[gong chimes]

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[Slow, meditative music begins]

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Go ahead and find a comfortable
meditation posture, whatever

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that means for you today–maybe
you’re sitting, lying down, or

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standing, something that allows
you to feel relaxed yet alert.

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And if you’re comfortable,
you can close your eyes.

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Let’s start by taking a
few deep breaths together.

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In through the nose.
[inhales] 

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Out through the mouth.
[exhales]

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Deep breath in.

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Deep breath out.

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One more deep inhale.

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Deep exhale.

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Now let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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[chimes ring]

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[Music ends]

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We’re talking today
about memory landscapes.

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What does that mean?

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Artist Edvard Munch believed
that the artist’s feelings

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were crucial when producing
a painting and that a

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landscape alters according
to the person who sees it.

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Munch was not interested
in rendering landscapes in

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a photorealistic manner.

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They were abstracted
to convey a mood.

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Munch believed that “art is
the antithesis of nature.”

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The unnaturalness of this
landscape lifts the scene

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into the realms of the
imagination and subconscious.

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[Slow music begins]

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Starry Night is a night
landscape painting of a

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coastline at Asgardstrand,
which is a small beach

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resort south of Oslo, Norway.

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Asgardstrand was a place
full of memories for Munch;

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he spent many summers there.

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Munch painted this view
of the coastline from his

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room at the Grand Hotel.

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But he’s also painting his
memories of the place and the

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people he associates with it.

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This is where he
recalled falling in love.

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Try to picture the
painting in your mind.

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Imagine a large canvas
that’s almost a perfect

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square–about four and a
half feet on each side.

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It’s so big you might feel like
you could just step inside it.

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The canvas is more or less
divided into two parts along

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the diagonal: the top left
half is a sky scattered with

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white, light blue, light green,
and red stars and planets, as

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well as some placid water with
a few stars reflected there.

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The bottom right half holds
an outcropping of land,

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including, most noticeably,
a large, dark mound-like

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shape at right representing
a clump of linden trees.

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These rise above the horizon
line and into the night

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sky, covering a big part of
the sky on the right side.

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A fence, represented by a
pale blue diagonal plane,

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cuts across the painting
from the bottom right corner

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into the lower middle.

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It encloses a shadowy orchard
with a small red-roofed

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building and tall flagpole.

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This fence has an unusual
rounded silhouette on it

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that echoes the shape of
the linden tree behind.

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This silhouette may be a
shadow of two lovers embracing.

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But we don’t actually see
the lovers themselves in

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the painting—almost like
they’re a memory, too.

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The application of paint
is thick in some areas and

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quite transparent in others.

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The brushstrokes themselves
vary too, from splotchy and

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vague to linear and sketchy.

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Some smaller passages of
paint even drip downward,

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their watery consistency
susceptible to gravity.

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Upon first glance, the
painting seems monochromatic.

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The canvas is
predominantly blue.

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But the more time you spend
with it, the more it reveals

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nuance in the tones, from cool
to warm, dark to light, and

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even shades of red and green.

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The artist Edvard Munch
used color as a powerful

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tool to express emotions
and psychological states.

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When I see this painting, I
think about all the ways this

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blue color palette is emotional.

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To me, it’s melancholy
but also calm.

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It’s mystical and mysterious.

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The painting is magical.

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This painting also reminds
me of being underneath the

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vast expanse of the night
sky, which always elicits

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awe, wonder, and mystery.

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It makes us pause and reflect.

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And it reminds us that
we are infinitesimally

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small, living within an
ever-expanding universe.

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Gazing at the stars can
foster a feeling of being

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part of something much
bigger—an interconnectedness.

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Munch saw lessons in the
stars for his understanding

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of humanity, too.

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He said “People’s souls are
like planets. Like a star that

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appears out of the gloom and
meets another star—they shine

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brightly and then disappear
completely into the darkness.”

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[Music ends]

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I invite you to awaken in
yourself this experience of

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being under a night sky, a vast
expanse dotted with countless

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stars and planets, embracing
the mystery of the unknown.

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Does it bring up memories
of a time or place when

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you felt like that before?

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Now turning from what’s “out
there” to what’s inside.

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Take a moment to notice
where you feel that

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memory in your body.

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[Meditative music begins]

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Keeping this image of the
stars and coastline in our

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minds, let’s close with a
mindfulness meditation and

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blue light visualization.

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If you feel comfortable,
you can close your eyes.

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If you would prefer to keep
your eyes open, that’s ok, too.

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Try to lower your gaze
and lower your lids to

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minimize visual distraction.

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Use this time to go inward.

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And again, adopt a posture
that feels good for you today.

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Something that feels relaxed
yet alert in your body.

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We’ll come back to
those deep breaths.

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In through the nose.
[inhales] 

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Out through the mouth.
[exhales]

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Deep breath in.
[inhales] 

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Deep breath out.
[exhales]

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One more inhale.

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Let it go.

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And now let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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So there’s no need to force
or extend anything here.

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Let your body do what
it does very naturally.

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[Silence]

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And it’s something we
don’t often think about.

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We take around 22,000 breaths
per day, so notice for

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yourself, without judgement,
how many of those breaths

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do I pay attention to?

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You can do that now: give your
full and undivided attention

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to one full breath cycle.

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[Silence]

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And the next one.

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[Silence]

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And the next one.

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[Silence]

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And if your mind wanders, know
that that’s absolutely natural.

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There’s no need to
clear or empty the mind.

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That’s actually a misconception.

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Come back to your breath, using
your breath as your anchor.

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I invite you to envision
a shade of blue.

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Any shade that comes to mind.

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It can be a deep ocean blue.

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It can be a light sky blue.

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Whatever resonates with
you today in this moment.

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[Meditative music begins]

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And imagine that this blue is in
the form of a light that enters

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through the crown of your head.

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And as this blue light travels
over and across your body, it

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relaxes any unnecessary points
of tension or clenching, just

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releases whatever that’s there.

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So imagine that the blue light
enters through the crown of your

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head, and it travels across your
scalp, around your eyebrows,

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your eyes, cheeks, your jaw.

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Imagine that the blue
light travels down your

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neck and your shoulders.

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See if you can drop your
shoulders a little bit here.

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Now imagine that the blue light
travels down both arms all

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the way down to your hands,
and this light wiggles around

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each and every finger: pinky
fingers, ring fingers, middle

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fingers, index fingers, thumbs.

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The light swirls around your
palms, and it travels back up

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your wrists and forearms and
elbows, upper arms, armpits,

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and it moves into your chest.

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And imagine that this blue
light swirls around your heart,

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and it moves down your
torso—that’s the front and

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the sides and the back of
your body, inside and out.

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And this blue light travels
down into your hips.

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See what you can let go of here.

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And imagine yourself
supported by the surface

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upon which you’re seated.

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This floor or this chair,
this ground, this room,

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this piece of land,

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this city,

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this state, this country,

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this continent,

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this earth.

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And suddenly, you’re
floating in the universe.

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And coming back to your seat
here and now, picking up on

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that blue light that then
travels down both legs all

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the way down to your feet,
wiggles around your toes,

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and having washed all the way
through your body, it leaves

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through the soles of your feet.

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Notice how you feel right now.

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Notice what, if anything, has
shifted in you since we began.

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And consider what emotions
the color blue evoked in you.

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Were there any
memories tied to that?

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And turning inward like the vast
expanse of the sky is contained

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within you, look with awe and
wonder to discover yourself.

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Let’s close our practice
with one deep breath

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in through your nose.
[inhales] 

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Sigh it out.
[exhales]

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If your eyes are closed,
you can gently open them.

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Come back to the
space that you’re in.

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Slowly bring your awareness
to your environment.

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And now I invite you to carry
the following reflection

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with you into your day:

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as we return to the world,
let’s carry this sense of

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presence and connection with us.

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And I want you to see if you
can find different opportunities

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throughout your day to notice
the color blue around you

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and how it makes you feel.

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Each time you see the color
blue today, or this week,

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take it as a reminder to be
in the present moment, to

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check back in with yourself.

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We can notice the sensations
or emotions it evokes.

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Are they tied to any memories?

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Let’s return to our breath and
close by taking a full deep

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breath together, the biggest
breath you’ve taken today.

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Inhale.

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Let it go.

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Thank you so much
for joining me.

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[Music slowly fades out]