After a minute of silence, Serena spoke. "We give thanks for our good fortune in this world, and we thank the universe for the miraculous powers that each of us holds."
Thank you. Constance really was grateful for her life. Sure, her only sexual fulfillment happened in dreams. And nobody had ever offered her the kind of love that turns ordinary people into poets. But everything else about her life was good and always had been. She couldn't complain.
Serena broke the circle of hands, and they all sat back. "First, the Now Plus meditation. As we all know, there are hundreds of ways to meditate. Tonight we aren't going to use any concentration techniques, where we focus on something to get in the zone. No mantras. No following our breath. We start by focusing on the beauty of the present moment." She paused. "Clear your mind and be here, now." She waited a few minutes while everyone got settled.
Serena resumed calmly. "Focus on the joy of being human. . . the gift of our marvelous bodies." She waited so that everyone had enough time to appreciate her suggestion, then went on. "Our bodies are temples; we are truly grateful for them. Every part of us-from our feet to our head-is a precious wonder, more amazing than any machine humans can build. The search for miracles in life starts and ends right here in our bodies. . . nothing else can compare."
She paused again to let these ideas percolate, then she took a long breath. "We give thanks for our wonderful bodies, which let us experience life, laughter, love, and all our senses. The entire Earth is ours to explore, and we thank the universe for it. We give thanks. . ."
Serena fell into silence and they all sat in loving-kindness and gratitude. After a few minutes, Serena moved to step two. "Now, visualize your goal. . . the thing you want is real. You are living it. See it. Believe it."
He will lose the bet and give me the money. Constance thought about her friend's massive wager. What would she do with all that money? Everyone would want some of it. The joy of being able to help so many people was suddenly drowned in a sea of worry about those who would want to take the money away from her. Suddenly, she was no longer certain that she wanted her friend to lose the bet. The joy was gone-instead, she was surrounded by the pressures of wealth. Trapped.
Constance exhaled and cleared her mind. She needed to start over. After a few seconds of no thought, she reached out again to find her goal. This time a different image entered her head. A blue-eyed dragon breathed a jet of fire over her heart, and she was swaddled in joyous warmth. She let her thoughts linger on the stunningly alive man who existed only in her dreams. Part of her knew that this wasn't an attainable goal, but another part of her couldn't resist trying. She visualized her future self, living happily with her dream man.