Hi,
My name is Stephen Hick,
And welcome to my guided meditation on cultivating joy and gratitude.
If you're following along in my book entitled Mindful Transformation,
Then this would be the meditation for weeks 23 and 24.
So this meditation is not about chasing joy or grasping at positive feelings.
Instead,
It's a gentle invitation,
An opening to savor the beauty of life as it's happening right now in this moment.
We ground into gratitudes and feelings of well-being,
Not to deny suffering,
But to remember that joy and sorrow can coexist,
And both are part of this human experience.
So let's begin the meditation.
Finding a posture that feels comfortable and alert for you.
You can be seated or lying down or even standing.
Choose a posture that supports your presence today,
Whatever that may be,
And finding that erect spine,
That dignified posture.
You may close your eyes or keep them softly open with your gaze lowered.
Just taking a few breaths and noticing that you're breathing,
Inhaling and exhaling.
Just settling into this moment,
Letting the body settle,
Letting the heart soften,
Letting your mind arrive to the present moment,
This mind that's often churning around in the future or the past.
There's no right way to feel,
Or simply being with what is and noticing the joy and being grateful for the joy in life.
We'll begin with a slow body scan,
And starting at the top of the head,
Just noticing the sensations at the top of the head,
The scalp,
The eyebrows,
And softening around your eyes,
Allowing the jaw to unhinge and release,
Feeling the ears and the cheeks,
The mouth.
Just noticing the sensations that are present in the entire head area,
Just gently relaxing each area with a sense of appreciation,
Allowing your shoulders to fall away from the ears,
Allowing your arms to rest,
Noticing your hands and fingers,
Noticing if there's any tingling,
Any temperature,
Bringing attention to the chest and the belly,
And sensing into the rise and the fall of this area with the breath,
Noticing if there's any tightness or holding,
And feeling gratitude for the lungs and the heart,
Each breath and each beat,
A quiet miracle,
And continuing down through the hips,
The thighs,
The knees,
And the calves,
Feeling what's present,
Noticing the feet and the connection with the ground,
Noticing the entire body,
Just feeling what's there right now,
Resting in the awareness of being alive,
Bringing attention to the breath again,
Allowing it to breathe and flow naturally without any interference or control,
Feeling into the breath wherever it's most vivid for you,
Whether that's at the chest,
The belly,
Or the nostrils,
Breathing in and breathing out,
This anchor to the present moment,
And gently dropping your attention into the heart space.
You don't need to force anything,
Simply sensing into what's present in the area around the heart,
And placing your hand over the heart,
Breathing into the heart space and breathing out of the heart space,
Recognizing that gratitude lives here.
It doesn't need to be dramatic,
Just a quiet acknowledgement,
And continuing to allow your attention to settle on the breath,
And breathing into the heart space,
And breathing out,
And bringing to mind something simple that you're grateful for.
It might be sunlight,
A meal,
A kind word that somebody said to you,
A pet,
Even your breath itself,
Bringing to mind something that you feel a deep gratitude for.
Let this feeling of gratitude fill you,
And noticing where you feel this gratitude in your body.
It could be anywhere in the body.
It could be the heart space,
Your hands,
Somewhere in the head area,
And simply noticing where you feel gratitude in the body,
Bringing to mind another moment of gratitude.
Maybe it's from today,
Or maybe from last week,
Or even a long time ago.
Just bringing this into the mind's eye,
This moment of gratitude.
Let it become vivid.
Just holding this moment of gratitude in your mind's eye,
Letting it expand,
Noticing where in the body this gratitude shows up.
There's no rush here,
Simply savoring what gratitude feels like.
Now bringing to mind a moment of joy,
A time that you felt light,
Alive,
Or simply okay.
It might be laughter with a friend,
Time in nature,
Or a moment of awe,
Such as holding a child or grandchild,
Taking in a beautiful sunrise or sunset.
Whatever it might be,
Letting it come into focus,
Holding it in your mind's eye,
Letting it become vivid and alive,
Allowing the joy to spread through the body,
And noticing where you feel joy in the body.
Again,
Perhaps you feel the joy in the heart space,
And perhaps it's in the belly or the top of the head.
Seeing if you can sense into the felt experience of joy as it appears in the body,
And bringing to mind another moment of joy that you've experienced.
It could be today,
Or yesterday,
Or a long time ago.
Just allowing this moment of joy to come into your being in this moment,
And holding it in your mind's eye,
Recalling the aspects of it,
Getting a real sense of the joy that you felt in that moment,
And seeing where it shows up in the body,
What body sensations are associated with it.
Our moments of joy and gratitude often go unnoticed as human beings were wired to focus on the negative.
It's kind of our survival instinct.
So it's a practice where we can cultivate our attention to become more aware of the joy and gratitude in our lives,
Bringing more peace and calm,
Happiness into our lives.
So letting go of whatever memory or image you're reproducing in your mind's eye,
Simply resting in the feeling that remains.
Letting yourself just be.
Noticing how you feel after dwelling in joy and gratitude.
Just breathing into this space of joy and gratitude,
And breathing out.
You might silently say to yourself,
Let me become aware of the joy and gratitude in my life.
As Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us,
The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.
If you are intentive,
You will see it.
You don't have to chase it.
It's a matter of just pausing,
Noticing,
And seeing.
As we close,
Taking a few breaths and coming back into this moment wherever you are,
Opening your eyes,
Noticing how you feel.
How does it feel to dwell in the joy and gratitude that is part of this human existence?
May the joy that you've touched in this meditation ripple outward.
May it nourish your life and those around you.
