Good morning,
Good evening,
Good afternoon,
Wherever you may be,
Whatever you may be doing,
Hello,
And thank you for being here,
For taking this moment to show up and arrive for yourself,
You know,
Whether your day or your week has been quiet,
Full,
Messy,
Light,
Anxious,
Just allow yourself to anchor in to the feeling of welcome for self.
And before we drop into the container,
What I want us to do is to find a point in front of us,
Whatever it is,
It could be,
If you're lying down,
It could be the light on the ceiling,
Could be,
Like for me,
It's the corner of a picture on the other side of the desk.
Be a door handle,
Whatever it is,
Just bring your focus,
Your full attention to that right now.
And as you do that,
I want you to say internally to self,
Identify what it is and where you are.
So for me,
It's the corner of a picture frame,
And I'm in Cape Town,
South Africa.
Let that be what brings you in to this,
The now.
What we're going to do is we're going to take a deliberate two inhales to the nose,
Exhale through the mouth.
And on the second exhale,
We're going to close our eyes and drop into this container of gratitude.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale through the mouth,
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale through the mouth,
And gently close our eyes.
And let's begin.
And we begin with silence.
Just allow yourself this moment to simply be quiet.
And I'd like to begin this practice with a quote from Melody Beattie.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough and more.
Gratitude doesn't ignore what is difficult,
Doesn't ask us to pretend that life is perfect,
It simply invites us to notice the warmth that exists.
Even when there is cold,
The light that is still there,
Even when storm clouds pass up above.
Today,
We're not here to change the world,
But to soften the way our hearts meet it.
Let's allow our breath to help us go deep.
So let's inhale through the nose,
Feel the air,
Feel your belly,
Your ribs,
Your chest,
Hold it gently and exhale through the mouth with a soft sigh.
Again,
Inhale deeply and release with a soft sigh and let your shoulders drop.
One more deep breath and hold it at the top.
And now take a small gasp and sigh it out.
And whisper these affirmations of anchoring.
I am here,
I am now,
I am present.
Gratitude often arrives quietly.
Like that familiar friend,
Doesn't shout,
Doesn't demand,
Doesn't require.
It arrives softly beneath the noise of life.
Sometimes we have to pause,
Sometimes we have to stop to truly hear it.
Today,
We listen.
Let's take ourselves on a journey.
I want you to allow your mind,
Your imagination to take yourself wherever that may be.
Maybe one that you do all the time,
One you've seen in a movie,
Film,
TV.
The one you drove by,
Looked out the window and said,
Hmm.
See yourself walking there in the gentle morning light.
The air is fresh,
Cool against your skin and ahead of you is an open field.
And in its center,
A small fire glows.
It's not wild,
It's not loud.
It's just steady,
Safe,
Warm,
Consistent and reliable.
And each step that you take towards it,
The warmth emanating grows.
The fire is where your gratitude lives.
It's always been here,
Just quietly waiting,
Waiting for you.
As you approach the fire,
You feel its warmth and you get a safe distance beside the fire and you feel its glow wrap around you like a soft blanket.
That soft favorite blanket you had as a child.
And here,
Meet that part of you that remembers all that is good,
All that is positive,
All that is positive.
Even in times of challenge,
Meet that part of you that knows love even after hurt,
That part that knows joy even after grief.
And I'm going to ask you a series of questions now and allow them to set and settle.
Allow the answers to flow naturally.
What are you ready to give thanks for today?
What are you ready to give thanks for today?
What are you ready to give thanks for today?
Allow that to settle.
Allow the answer to be in your heart,
In your gut.
The next question,
What beauty have I overlooked?
What beauty have I overlooked?
Whatever that sentence means to you,
Allow the answer to flow.
And lastly,
What gifts have quietly shaped me?
What gifts have quietly shaped me?
Allow that part of you to speak to you.
Place one hand on your heart,
One on your stomach.
Just allow that connection to flow.
Let these answers arrive in their own time,
Could be straight away,
Could be after this practice,
Could be in the morning,
In the afternoon,
Could be at the end of the weekend.
Just allow them to arrive like slow,
Gentle waves.
And now,
As you stand in the warmth of the fire,
I will share a few affirmations.
You can repeat them silently,
Aloud,
Or simply.
Let them wrap around you.
I'll repeat them once.
I am grateful for the gifts I receive from others.
My heart holds gratitude toward others,
Myself,
And the greater good.
I am open to receive and give love.
I release hurts through compassion,
Kindness,
Positivity,
And thankfulness.
I am grateful for my health.
I am grateful for my life.
I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for my friends.
I am grateful for self.
I rejoice in the way things are.
And as we take a deep breath in,
Feel the warmth of the fire grow brighter.
Just allow yourself to sit for a moment and bask in the glow of this gratitude.
And as you do so,
Just bring a gentle smile to the corners of your mouth.
And allow those endorphins to fill you with love,
With gratitude,
With joy.
And place both your hands on your heart and lean into that connection.
And with that,
Feel the warmth and the glow from the fire move from outside of you to inside of you.
Feel that warmth of gratitude now sitting in your heart.
It will travel with you today.
It will travel with you always.
And allow yourself now to walk away from the ash of the fire that now sits within you.
Feel the field fade into the distance behind you.
Feel the ground beneath you here now.
Feel your body supported,
Your breath steady.
Find yourself back on the path that brought you to the fire.
And as you do that,
We'll close with three slow breaths together.
Inhale through the nose and exhale slowly.
Inhale deeply.
Final one,
Inhale deeply.
And as we close,
Whisper softly,
I am here.
I am now.
With that,
Take one final deep breath and hold it at the top.
On your shoulders,
Feel the temperature of the room again,
Feel the sounds.
Rub your thighs,
Rub your legs to bring warmth back into them.
Roll your shoulders and gently bring yourself back into the room,
Out of the practice.
Open your eyes.
And return.
Deep bows.
Deep bows to you all.
Thank you for being here.
I hope you enjoyed the practice.
For those who are continuing their day,
Enjoy it.
Allow that fire of warmth and gratitude to walk with you for the rest of your day.
For those who are slipping into sleep,
Sleep with gratitude.
Thank you and all the best and I will see you next time.
Thank you.
