Hello everybody,
My name is Fern and I'm here to guide you on a beautiful meditation as we cultivate a sense of gratitude.
I would ask you to find a comfortable place to sit or lie down,
A space where you can be present and quiet and turn inward.
We'll begin by just taking a deep breath together.
Allow your lungs to fill on the inhalation and a long exhale letting the air out.
Notice how you feel on that one breath.
If it feels comfortable for you,
You can close your eyes.
And I will be bringing your awareness to things in your life that you are thankful for.
Please just give gratitude the chance to come up naturally and when it does,
Let yourself sink into the feeling and surrender to it.
And if it doesn't come up,
That's okay.
You don't need to try to make yourself feel it.
Just surrender to your heart and not your head.
So let's flash through all the aspects of your life that you might be grateful for.
Please let's take a deep breath in and sigh it out.
And as we breathe,
I ask you to bring your awareness to your breath.
As you inhale and as you exhale and the fact that each of these breaths gives you life,
Then be aware of your heart beating and pulsing,
Filling with love and compassion and peace and then flowing that back out.
For gratitude is feeling thankful.
Gratitude is an emotion of connectedness which reminds us we are part of a larger universe with all living things.
The habit of gratitude can greatly help with feelings of inner peace.
It increases mindfulness and attracts more good into our lives.
Gratitude connects us to the present moment.
Gratitude uplifts our spirits and feeds our hearts.
Gratitude opens the heart and activates positive emotion centers in the brain.
The habits and rituals of giving thanks have been passed down through cultures all over the world.
Gratitude can help during times of stress or panic.
Thinking of all the good can be very reassuring.
Please take a deep breath in and sigh it out.
And now I ask you to bring your awareness to your eyes.
The eyes that let you see color and faces and smiles.
The eyes that allow you to see nature,
The sunrise and the sunset,
The rainbow,
The moon and the stars and yourself in the mirror.
Bring your awareness to your ears that beam in sound and music and laughter.
The voices of those you love and the silence,
The beautiful sounds of life.
Take a deep breath and let it go.
And bring your awareness to your nose that smells the ocean breeze,
The aroma of sweet perfume,
The flowers in the trees,
Newly cut grass and the wafting smells that come from the kitchen,
Cupcakes in the oven.
And bring your awareness to your lips and mouth that tastes and savors and nourishes,
That speaks and whispers and sings.
And I invite you to bring your awareness to your hands that hold and touch and caress and open and close and applaud and squeeze.
The arms and shoulders that carry and hug and lift and stretch.
And now our awareness to our feet,
Our toes,
The gift to wiggle them,
To run and dance and kick.
And please take a deep breath in and sigh it out.
What about your tears,
Your sorrows,
And the strength that you seem to be able to muster to make it through each day?
Bring your awareness to your abundance,
Your expansion,
Your evolution,
Your perspective shifts,
The affluence and growth and potential in every moment.
Now just sit and breathe and feel more grace and ease and experience the warmth,
The love and compassion that gratitude brings to your heart.
And drift your awareness to nurturing relationships in your life,
The new ones,
The old ones,
And even material things that came to you unexpectedly,
Things that came to you with great effort and commitment and hard work.
And now think of love in your life and your connection to those things that are sweet and loving,
Honorable,
And just feel right.
When we no longer take life for granted,
We become grateful for everything we have.
Take a deep breath in and exhale it out and sit in the flow of gratitude.
