Gratitude In Breath, Mind, And Outer Sensations

Welcome to this meditation on gratitude.

Thank you for joining me.

And today we'll be looking at gratitude.

And gratitude is such an important practice to open up and bring in experiences of joy and wonder into our lives.

Often our brain defaults to looking and seeking for negative in what could be fixed,

Rather than looking at what's right in your life and what doesn't need to be fixed,

What is not broken.

Begin by taking a comfortable seat of your choice or lying down on your back comfortably as long as you can remain alert with a long straight back.

Begin by focusing on the breath,

The inhale and the exhale.

With our attention,

Drawing the breath into the belly and exhale through the nose.

We'll do five mindful breaths together,

Breathing in deep.

Exhale slow,

Five.

Four.

Letting go of the breath,

Four,

Letting tension melt away,

Three,

Letting go of any stress,

Two,

One,

Feeling more calm.

Connecting with what's going on in your mind.

Is your mind becoming calm or is it still racing with thoughts and if it is,

Just let those thoughts come and go without attaching to them.

Letting them be leaves in a stream gently flowing and letting them be in a stream that is just letting them be leaves in a stream gently flowing down the river and away from your sight.

We'll begin with gratitude for our breath.

You can say to yourself,

I am grateful for this breath because it is this breath that is keeping us alive,

That is keeping us present and helping to regulate and calm the nervous system.

I am grateful for the breath.

You can go as far as grateful for the inhale and for the exhale.

Now coming to think of something in your body that you're grateful for.

Some part or area of your body that just feels perfectly fine at this moment that helps you,

Maybe feeling grateful for the legs that move you or the strength in your arms or the pleasant warm sensation in your hands.

I am grateful for this body sensation or feeling.

And if your mind starts to pull you to an uncomfortable sensation in your body,

Just acknowledge that you're not feeling quite as you would like in that area and come back to gratitude for what does feel good right now.

Beautiful.

And now we'll move to gratitude of the sound around us.

So whether you're in an environment that has lots of sounds,

See if you can pinpoint one sound that you're grateful for.

And if that's really challenging,

Just come back to the sound of your inhale and exhale and be grateful for that.

Maybe you're grateful for the silence around you.

Bring joy and gratitude into these sounds.

And next we'll come into gratitude of the mind.

This can be the most challenging because we can't control our thinking,

But we can guide it in the direction we would like.

So as we keep our eyes closed,

Breathing slow,

And just mindful of everything else around us,

Become grateful for something that you've experienced recently,

Maybe within the last hour or two or the last couple days.

Whether it was something you saw in nature,

Any wildlife,

The beauty of a sunrise or sunset,

Bring up any experience from your recent past.

And the mind is so powerful that just by thinking of that experience,

We can create some of the same sensations of joy,

Gratitude,

Of happiness,

Just by thinking of it.

Take in one more breath of that gratitude.

And now come to a past memory of a safe place,

Something that made you feel completely relaxed,

Maybe on a vacation,

Maybe at your childhood home,

A place you spent with your children or family,

Some place that gives you a sense of gratitude,

Maybe a memory of snuggling up with your favorite book,

Whatever it may be,

Bring that to your mind,

Bring in the gratitude for that moment.

Think of the sounds and tastes,

The smells,

Any sensations around you in that experience and what made it so comfortable for you.

And finally,

We'll come to gratitude for someone in our life that brings us joy and happiness.

It can be a family member,

A parent,

A sibling,

A pet,

Maybe a cat or dog,

Or somebody that helps to soothe you,

Bring that person to mind.

And if that's challenging for you,

Think of somebody in your past or maybe somebody that's not real,

But that has a powerful effect,

A guardian,

A hero of yours that brings you gratitude and breathe into the sensations of being with that person.

And finally,

If you feel comfortable,

Bring your hands to rest in your heart center,

Just on your chest and feel the warmth from your heart and spirit and bring compassion and gratitude for yourself,

Your mind,

Your body and spirit,

Knowing that it's imperfectly perfect in just the way you are.

Remind yourself you're grateful that you are not broken and in this moment,

You are safe and your body and mind are filled with gratitude for the simplest things in your life.

Breathe deep into those sensations bring the corners of your mouth slightly up to form a small smile or smile to yourself inwards.

And remember as you go through your day,

Anytime you start to feel uncomfortable emotions or sensations,

Feel those emotions and then come into gratitude that you are alive,

That just like everybody else,

You're human and you feel those emotions and when you want to and feel you need to come to a place of gratitude,

Something that you love about yourself,

Your past,

Those around you and breathe in all that goodness.

Gently open your eyes,

Thank you for joining me and cultivating a sense of gratitude together until next time.