Welcome to Between Breath and Sea.
I'm Kimberly Escamillo and I'm glad you're here.
Generating Gratitude.
We are going to begin this meditation with a few deep breaths and a poem.
So get yourself settled and when you are ready,
Inhale and audibly exhale.
Okay let's inhale together and exhale.
One more time.
Inhale and exhale.
Now let your eyes fall closed and drop into a sense of stillness.
A poem by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Red Brocade.
The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
Feed him for three days before asking who he is,
Where he's from,
Where he's headed.
That way he'll have strength enough to answer.
Or by then you'll be such good friends you don't care.
Let's go back to that.
Rice,
Pine nuts.
Here take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water to your horse.
No I was not busy when you came.
I was not preparing to be busy.
That's the armor everyone put on to pretend they had a purpose in the world.
I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint into your tea.
I love this poem for it evokes a conversation that we not only need to have with the stranger in our lives,
But also with ourselves.
How are we greeting ourselves each morning?
Do we treat ourselves like a cherished guest?
When we wake and notice the situations,
News,
Or tensions from the day before that start to flood in,
It's a perfect time to pause and make a shift towards gratitude.
As we begin to evoke gratitude through the people,
Places,
Even your pets,
Smells,
Sounds that you are grateful for,
You increase the momentum of that feeling and set the trajectory for your day.
Just as an airplane can make a slight adjustment in direction and end in a dramatically different location,
We too can improve our outlook,
Our mood,
And sense of calm by shifting even slightly towards gratitude.
Let's begin this practice by giving thanks for our bodies.
Place the fingertips of one hand into the palm of the other and lightly touch your palm in a circle.
And repeat silently to yourself,
I'm thankful for my hands that can be used for countless things,
Opening doors,
Preparing food,
Writing notes,
Washing a child's body or my own,
Caressing a loved one.
I am grateful for their strength and tenderness.
I am thankful for my hands.
Now place your fingertips ever so gently on the lids of your closed eyes and repeat silently to yourself,
I am thankful for my sight to see the ripe papaya bursting with golden orange or the steel blue of a mountain range,
The length of a foggy beach,
The dew on a blade of grass,
The face of my beloved sleeping.
I am thankful for my sight.
Now place your fingertips gently on your lips.
Let's give thanks for your ability to speak.
I give thanks for my ability to speak truth,
To explain,
To tell my history.
These lips take in nourishing food,
Delicious meals,
Cool drinks,
Warm coffee or tea.
I give gratitude for my lips that can sing and kiss and deliver a whisper into the ear of another.
I give thanks for my lips.
Place your hands gently on your heart center.
Notice your inhale and exhale.
Reconnect with your breath and say to yourself,
I am so grateful to be alive,
Thinking and breathing today.
My heart is beating and my blood is flowing.
I'm aware of the beauty in my body and life.
I relish in gratitude.
I practice loving myself by allowing myself to be happy.
And I am at peace with myself.
My self-worth comes from within me,
Not outside of me.
As your eyes are still closed and you connect with these affirmations,
Let them marinate and allow a smile to open up in you.
Enjoy the momentum of your day that begins with finding pleasure inside.
And later today,
Remember this meditation,
The time you gave to yourself where you relaxed your body,
Slowed your thoughts only with gratitude.
