Hi and welcome.
My name is Vanda and thank you for joining me today for this short meditation for gratitude.
So elongate your spine in a way that feels really good to you without strain.
If you are sitting,
You can sit either in a chair or closer to the floor on a bench or a cushion that allows your hips to be higher than your knees.
Softly close your eyes.
Let your breath be easy.
Begin noticing the breath as it moves in and out through the tips of your nostrils.
Notice the temperature of the breath.
Cooler on the inhale and warmer on the exhale.
Now follow the thread of your breath through your body,
Noticing what sensations are present without any judgment.
Notice any areas of strain or pockets of freedom.
Can you be at ease with the sensations you are feeling?
Can you observe without judgment or reacting?
Let your breath be easy.
With each in-breath,
You let the breath come in a little bit deeper and on the exhale let it go out a little longer.
Each exhale,
An occasion to release tension that you discover through your body.
And as well,
You can exhale the energy of thinking itself.
Observe the thoughts as they come in and label them as past or future thought.
And as they come in,
Give them a label and then release them,
Exhale them,
Deal with them as energy rather than engaging in their content.
Make it so that you are exhaling the energy.
Feel like you are letting air out of an overfull bicycle tire so it can better grip the road.
Each exhale,
An occasion to release any tension,
An occasion to release your thoughts.
Now come back to the sensations of breathing.
The sensation at the tip of your nose,
Across the back of your throat.
The sensation as your lungs expand and contract.
Feel the texture of these sensations,
The sensations of breathing as the breath caresses the interior of your respiratory system.
Tip of the nose,
Back of the throat and the accordion-like expansion and release of the entire ribcage.
Let your attention gather at the edge of the sensations of breathing.
A slow breath,
Flowing like water,
Coming in deep and going out long.
Bring your attention to your heart center,
In the center of your chest.
Notice that your breath could be moving in and out this space in the center of your chest.
Each breath releasing tension,
Each breath an occasion to let go.
With your attention in your heart center and the gravity-like feeling that is pulling you in,
Pulling you inward.
Attention at your breath in your heart center.
Remember a time when you did an act of kindness for someone and you were immensely thanked.
You were on the receiving end of the gratitude,
Call to mind the story where you were,
What you did.
Bring the gratitude of the other person towards you.
In your heart,
The softness of your heart,
Receiving this gratitude.
Feel how it is to be thanked in your whole body.
Relieve the experience in your mind,
In your heart and in your body.
Can you feel any sensations in your body?
Remembering this time,
Remembering the story,
Remembering the feelings and let it all wash over you.
With your attention in your heart center,
Relive the feelings,
Relive the whole experience of this someone being immensely thankful for you,
Your actions,
Your kindness or generosity.
Noticing what sensations are present in your body now,
Without any judgment,
Just cultivating the witness of your own experience.
And when you are ready to return,
Imagine that you are looking down on your physical body from above.
Look with compassion at this body and with gratitude for yourself.
Gratitude that another can have for you,
You can have for yourself as well.
So look with compassion at this body of yours that has carried you through all the years of this lifetime,
Through sadness and joy,
Through abundance and emptiness,
Through achievement,
Through loss.
Begin to breathe more deeply until you are comfortable opening your eyes.
Welcome back.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
This meditation comes out of the latest research from Stanford Neuroscience Institute,
The Huberman Lab,
Where it has been uncovered that a gratitude practice where you are on the receiving end of gratitude is the one that is most potent.
Meaning that this gratitude practice,
If practiced only for two or three minutes,
Three times a week,
Can change the way your brain is wired.
It changes the relationship between your prefrontal cortex and amygdala,
And you're able to more easily respond instead of react.
You're able to be less triggered and able to pause and be a witness of yourself just by practicing,
Remembering how someone was grateful for you.
I hope this meditation helps you guys.
Thanks again.
