Cultivating Gratitude

Sit comfortably,

Your back upright,

As if you were being pulled up by a string from the top of your head.

Close your eyes and relax.

Take a deep breath and watch your breath as it moves in and out.

Notice where it goes.

Now let yourself smile and relax some more.

Let a feeling of gratitude arise in you for the breath for your being alive.

Bring to mind something you are grateful for – a person,

A pet – and enjoy it and the feelings it triggers in you.

Rest with that awareness for a few breaths.

Now bring to mind something else that you are grateful for – a person,

A pet,

An event,

Something that happened.

Think about it in all its details and with all its ramifications.

Just rest in the awareness of what you are grateful for.

Bring to mind a third thing that you are grateful for.

Think about it in all its detail and all its ramifications,

The influence that it has in your life.

Stay with that feeling of gratitude and expand it to everything else that makes your life what it is.

And now,

Slowly,

Once you're ready,

Come back and open your eyes,

But keep the smile.