Welcome to the Daily Meditation Podcast. I'm Mary Mechley, and I welcome you. As we are midweek through the series, we're exploring.

The theme is Inner Joy, and you have landed on day four.

You are on a special quest this week to do one thing each day to focus on something that lifts you.

And this is part of putting closure on this year. And as you put closure on the share, I invite you to usher in a brand new year.

By thinking of ways you can increase joy in the coming year. And in yesterday's episode, you explored the difference between happiness and joy.

And you discovered how happiness is often fleeting. Maybe someone smiles at you and makes your day.

Or maybe you're thinking of something that makes you happy. Joy, on the other hand, is a deep, seated feeling of true contentment, feeling grounded.

And at peace with your life, regardless of weather, that person that you pass on the street smiles or scales at you.

So in today's episode, you're going to be guided as you do a peace meditation.

I invite you to pause for a moment and think about something that you could do to enhance your meditation space, to help you to feel more joy.

Take a look around your space and consider how you could enhance it. Pause for just a moment.

I invite you to do today's meditation technique, which is always a mudra on day four of a series. A mudra is a way you position your hands that's considered to stimulate a corresponding region of your brain.

This mudra, for this week, is a heart mudra. It helps to calm your heart. So as you settle yourself down and sit up straight, making sure you're nice and comfortable,

I invite you to do the heart mudra. If you feel like you'd like to make your meditation a little more dynamic today,

do this with both hands, with your palms upward on your lap or by your sides. Go ahead and touch your thumb to your middle finger.

And then curl your index finger into the base of your thumb. Extend your ring and little fingers outward in a way that feels natural.

So again, you'll simply touch your thumb to your middle finger and then curl your index finger downward into the base of your thumb.

This is considered to help support your heart health.

You can hold this mudra for however long you feel comfortable doing so. You can head over to Sip and Om.

That's where you can find me on Instagram and you'll see a little video of me positioning my hand in this heart mudra so you can do it too.

Mudra is simply an option for you as you meditate today. Many of you let me know they are your favorite go to meditation technique.

So as you gently elevate your eyes upwards, keeping them closed. Begin to tune into how you're feeling right now.

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