Gratitude Meditation | The Power of Being Grateful

Do not listen to this recording while driving or if you are operating machinery.

Only listen when you can safely relax and are able to get as comfortable as possible.

Hi,

My name is Robert Haceves.

Welcome to this gratitude meditation.

I'm going to ask you to please go to a place where you can be comfortable.

Lay down or sit on a chair however you feel more comfortable.

And close your eyes.

And with your eyes closed,

I'm going to ask you to just check yourself.

How are you doing today?

Notice if you're stressing right now,

If you feel relaxed,

Nervous,

You have a lot of problems in your mind.

Whatever it is that's going on,

I just want you to observe it and notice it.

Notice if you're worried about something,

If there's any thoughts in your mind that are not allowing you to feel relaxed right now and just pay attention.

And notice if you have any emotional tension or physical tension from stress.

And as you continue to breathe,

You can start scanning your body from your head down to your toes and notice how's everything.

How's your head,

Your eyes,

Your nose,

Your mouth,

Your neck.

Sometimes in our neck,

We have carry a lot of stress and burdens from the day.

Just notice that.

Notice how your shoulders are feeling today.

Your arms,

Your back.

Your hips and your legs.

How are you feeling there?

And simply by observing and becoming more mindful of how we're feeling,

We can start to feel a little bit more relaxed.

And by just being aware of the feeling that we're feeling,

We can start to feel more relaxed.

And by just being aware of the feeling that we're feeling,

We can start to feel a little bit more relaxed.

You can also notice your breath.

Feel your breath as you inhale and exhale.

And as you continue to breathe,

You can feel with every second,

How your body becomes more comfortable wherever you're at and your mind starts to calm down.

And you start to feel more relaxed.

And we always start this meditations with relaxation because once we can relax our minds and our bodies,

Then we can begin to work.

To work with our self-consciousness because our minds are calm and now it's a good time to start thinking about the things that we are thankful for.

And we're going to start with our breath,

Which is the simplest thing that we do as beings.

So I want you to feel your breath going into your body,

Inhaling and exhaling as you think your body for breathing.

We normally don't think,

Oh,

I'm going to take a breath now and breathe.

No,

We simply breathe because our bodies are used to it and they're programmed for that.

And so let's thank our lungs for taking in the air and turning that air or that oxygen into energy for our lungs to transfer it to our blood.

And then our hearts to pump it every single part of our bodies.

So let's thank our lungs and let's thank our heart for doing their job.

We can also be thankful for all the connections in our body that allow this process to take place without us having to think about it.

We can also thank every other organ in our body that is working 24-7 to keep this body alive.

Your body is a very powerful machine and you don't have to think about it.

It just does it.

It pumps the blood,

Takes in the oxygen,

Transfer the oxygen to the blood,

And then the blood transfers the oxygen to every single cell of your body to keep everything alive.

We can thank your kidneys for filtering the water and your system,

Your liver for taking all the toxins out of your system.

We can thank our intestines for taking all that nutrient food that we eat on a regular basis and digesting it,

Converting it into energy.

And this energy allows us to move around and do the things that we love to do.

So let's be thankful for that.

We can also be thankful for our brains that allow all this process to work together in synchronicity.

We can also thank our senses,

Our ears,

Our nose,

Our mouth,

Our eyes,

Because all of them allow us to experience this world,

Even our touch,

Our energy,

Our energy,

Our energy,

Our energy.

We can also thank our senses,

Our ears,

Our eyes,

Our nose,

Our nose,

Our nose,

Our eyes,

Our ears,

Our eyes,

Our eyes,

Our eyes.

When we touch something,

We can experience the feeling of the temperature and the roughness of that texture,

Or whether it's smooth or whatever it is that we feel.

We can be thankful for being able to see,

Or being able to hear,

Or being able to taste things and smell them.

There's so many things to be thankful for.

We can also be thankful for having two arms,

10 fingers,

10 toes,

Two legs,

And for being able to move around and do the things that we love,

Whether it's listening to music,

Watching a movie,

Enjoying our favorite ice cream,

Dessert,

Or eating our favorite food and smelling it.

It feels so good.

We can also be thankful for having clothes.

Clothes are wearing right now,

Whether they're expensive or cheap,

It doesn't really matter.

We can be thankful that they exist,

That allow us to cover our bodies.

We can be thankful for having a place to live,

If we have a place to live.

For having a bed or that chair that you're sitting on,

We can thank them for being there.

I remember years ago when I was in Japan in a monastery,

We practiced thanking the floor for being there so we could meditate.

And then we would thank the cushion for existing,

For being there,

For allowing us to sit in meditation.

And then we thank the walls for allowing us to sit there and stare at them.

There are so many things to be thankful for.

You can think of many things in your life that you're thankful for,

Things that you appreciate that make you happy,

That make you feel happy,

That make you feel happy.

Things that you appreciate that make you happy on a regular basis.

Think about that.

What are you thankful for?

Then take your time and think of different things that you love in your life.

That you're grateful that they exist,

That you still have them.

Or if you've had them in the past,

You can also be grateful for that,

That you at least had them in the past at some point.

So as you continue to breathe,

You can feel your body now and notice if there are any changes simply by thinking about the things that you're thankful for.

Chances are you'll notice that there are some changes by now.

I remember years ago we had to do this exercise in school where we had to write a letter thanking someone in our classroom for existing or for things that we were grateful for.

At first it was really hard.

I couldn't think of anything,

But then when I started to simplify things,

I was just thankful that they exist,

That they were there.

Then I started thanking them for smiling every morning when I would come to class or for being available every time I had a question.

So sometimes if we get into that state of mind of gratitude,

We can find things to be grateful for.

So I'm going to suggest that throughout your day,

You're going to think of three things in the morning,

Three things in the middle of the day,

And three things at night that you're grateful for.

Things that make you happy.

It could be very simple as having two arms or two legs.

The idea is just to be thankful,

To feel that gratitude for the things in your life that you love,

The things that make you happy.

And some things that maybe we could be taking for granted.

But for now,

Just breathe and get as comfortable as possible and relax.

Allow your body to relax a little bit more.

And we're going to take the next few minutes to just feel thankful for being in this moment,

For allowing yourself to be in this state of mind,

Relaxation,

And for giving yourself this gift to relax for a few minutes.

Just let yourself go.

Breathe comfortably.

And relax.

So so so so And now you can notice your body much,

Much better,

More relaxed.

Feeling grateful for all those good things in your life right now,

Knowing that your life is going to be better because you feel this way.

And I suggest that you listen to this recording two or three times a week to help you remember those things,

To be grateful constantly for the things that you have.

Not the things you don't have,

The things you do have already in your life that make you happy on a regular basis,

Starting with your body,

Which is the closest thing we have to ourselves.

And remember,

As long as you're still breathing,

You can do anything.

So feel your breath coming in and exhaling.

And little by little,

You're going to start to come back to the present,

Feeling your toes,

Feet and your legs,

Feeling your fingers,

Your hands,

And your whole body just waking up little by little,

Feeling so much better,

More relaxed.

And just feeling your breath coming in and out.

And your whole body just waking up little by little,

Feeling so much better,

More relaxed,

Happier,

Smiling a little bit,

And opening your eyes and coming back to the present.

And this is going to be the end of today's meditation.

Thank you so much for taking the time,

And please let me know what you thought,

And hope to see you next time.