Gratitude is an emotion that arises when we express appreciation.
It's important to pause,
Take a breath,
And create some space for this wonderful emotion.
Go ahead and sit or lie down and make any adjustments necessary to make sure that you're as comfortable as possible.
As you settle in,
Give your body permission to relax.
If it feels good,
Close your eyes,
Allowing your limbs to just rest limply.
Allow your shoulders to drop,
Your mouth to part slightly,
Your hips to settle.
Now begin to connect with your breath,
Simply noticing the rhythm of your breathing as you inhale and exhale.
As you observe,
You may feel that you need to change your breathing.
Don't worry about that for now.
Simply keep your awareness on the natural rising and falling of the breath.
Now let's bring a little more air into the lungs,
Breathing a little more deeply,
Pulling the air to the very bottom of your lungs and exhale slowly,
Completely,
But gently emptying the lungs.
And again,
Inhale deeply and exhale slowly.
And as you continue to gently deepen and lengthen your breaths,
Begin to bring gratitude into your awareness.
How does it feel to be grateful?
What is it like to express your appreciation?
With your next inhalation,
Breathe in gratitude.
Imagine it flowing throughout your entire body.
And as you exhale,
Breathe appreciation out into your surroundings,
Letting it touch everything around you.
Gratitude in and gratitude out.
Bring it deep into your body and let it flow effortlessly from your heart.
If your thoughts wander,
Bring them back to the breath.
Once again,
Visualizing gratitude coming into the body with your inhalations and flowing out of the body with your exhalations,
Expressing gratitude for each breath as well.
Now let's deepen this experience by adding some pauses to the breath.
Let's find a little stillness between your inhalations and exhalations.
First,
Simply notice the small pause at the top of your next inhalation.
And then notice the pause at the bottom of the next exhalation.
After your next deep inhalation,
Hold the breath for a few moments,
Staying with the stillness.
And then slowly release the breath all the way out,
Pausing for a few moments at the bottom of your exhalation,
And then keep it going.
Taking a deep breath in,
Breathing in gratitude.
Pause.
And breathing out appreciation.
And pause.
Inhale,
Feeling the fullness of the lungs.
Float for a moment in the peace of gratitude.
And release the breath all the way out,
Appreciating the stillness at the end of the exhale.
Continue to practice this breathing method,
Finding gratitude for each breath and the stillness in between them.
Breathing in gratitude.
Breathing out appreciation.
Enjoying the stillness between each breath.
Throughout our busy lives,
We don't often get the chance to find stillness.
With a relaxed body and a calm mind,
It's easier to let gratitude in.
Simply breathe and experience this wonderful sensation of appreciation.
Letting gratitude wrap around you like a warm blanket.
Comfortable,
Relaxed,
And grateful.
Now allow your breathing to return to a more natural state with easy inhales and easy exhales.
With your next inhalation,
Slowly open your eyes and return to your surroundings feeling wide awake,
Energized,
And grateful for this gratitude practice.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
