Good morning.
Still lying in your bed.
If you've avoided checking text messages,
Emails,
And social media,
This will aid you in your practice.
Not interacting with anyone.
Being in a space of greater stillness and quiet.
Staying slow.
And if you're still in your bed and haven't gotten up yet,
That's the best.
But if you have,
See that you do as little as possible before coming back to meditation.
This morning meditation.
So where you are now,
Become aware of your breath.
Where it's most apparent through sensation in your body.
That can be the rise and fall of your chest or belly.
Or the sensation of air passing through your nostrils into your windpipe.
Just paying attention at this moment not trying to change the pace of your breath.
Feeling the sensation of your body being soft.
Being maybe more flexible than at the end of the day.
Just being easy.
Being grateful for the ability to breathe.
Being grateful for the naturalness of breath.
A breath flowing in and out in abundance.
Being here as long as you are here.
Giving you life.
Supporting the state of your consciousness is your breath.
And now,
Deepening your breath.
Breathing into a soft belly.
See if you can breathe in slowly and deeply.
And without pause after your breath is full,
Exhale slowly and deeply.
You might do so at a count of five or six.
Breathing in five or six.
And then breathing out at five or six.
Also not pausing at the top of the breath.
Not pausing at the bottom of the breath or at the top of the breath.
Matching the amount of time you slowly inhale deeply and slowly exhale deeply.
Now,
Allowing your breath to slowly return to a natural pace.
Breathing your body again.
Being grateful for your body.
It carries you through your experiences and will take you through the experiences of the day.
G grateful for your heart that never stops working to support the life that is here.
To move the air from every breath to every cell in your body.
It works while you sleep and awake.
As long as you're here.
Thinking your eyes for allowing you to see right now your eyelids covering them but appreciating all the sights that we get to experience through the eyes and the nose.
Understanding the sense that we get to smell the fragrances of flowers and foods.
And the sense of taste,
Your morning coffee or tea or breakfast.
The meals that you love.
And your ability to hear,
To hear beautiful music or your loved ones speaking to you.
To learn through listening.
To sense what is around you.
To hear birds,
Happy birds,
Not angry birds.
And the sensations of the body.
To be able to sense through touch,
Feelings of softness and feelings that aren't soft.
The great variations of senses that are so rich.
Moving gratitude to being grateful to have running water,
Drinkable water and water to drink supporting this life that is here.
Cold water and warm water on tap.
And perhaps a refrigerator that keeps the abundance of food that you have fresh.
And that abundance of food of course that also supports this life that is here.
And if you have healthy,
Nourishing food even better.
And a stove,
Stove top allowing you to cook that beautiful food.
And a home where you've safely slept housing all of these blessings.
Clothing that you get to wear to adorn your body and be comfortable,
Even fashionable.
All the blessings.
Being able to wake up as you.
Being able to experience these blessings but also be grateful for them and feel that sensation.
Too often we focus on what we don't have when it blesses us to focus on what we do have now.
It's very efficient to focus on what we think is missing because that is minimal.
But to focus on the good that is infinite.
So being grateful now that soon you will be able to make choices.
Is about what to do today.
Whether or not you have a steaming hot shower.
Oof that sounds nice.
Or a warm shower.
How you decide to style your hair.
What you'll eat for breakfast.
What you'll drink.
Where you'll go.
Who you'd like to speak with and see.
How you'd like to interact with people.
What you'd like to say.
What kind of energy would you like to share.
Would you like to share kind energy,
Calm energy,
The kind that blesses the people that interact with you.
Where would you like to go.
What feelings would you like to experience along the way.
Even if today might seem mundane.
You may have tasks that might seem humdrum.
See if you can look at them differently.
See if you can find good in them.
The tasks might be an opportunity to bring in money.
And that's a blessing.
And no tasks,
No conditions,
No experiences remain forever.
But it blesses our future to be grateful for what is in this moment.
And it blesses our future to look for what we are looking forward to.
So if there is anything that isn't right away exciting or that you might be dreading,
See if you can reframe.
See if you can look at what's coming as an opportunity to experience at minimum to define what you don't want so that you automatically know what you do want.
But while doing,
See if you can stay in a state of gratitude.
In any given moment,
What can you be grateful for?
What can you notice that makes you happy?
In a room that you might find not a really nice room to be in.
A room with dirty walls might smell a little bit and have a just not much light.
Maybe not even a window.
But you might notice a light bulb.
You might say,
I appreciate that this light bulb exists.
I appreciate that this light is here.
I appreciate that there's air in this room so I can breathe.
It helps us always to find the easiest place to feel good,
To focus on what we like in any given moment.
So in this moment,
What feels good?
In this moment,
What are you grateful for?
And what are you looking forward to today?
And today,
Carry this seeking to find what you like in your now experiences,
In your present experiences.
Hold on to that attitude of gratitude,
Looking for what you can be grateful for in any given moment.
And know that it's all a gift,
Every experience,
Every moment,
Every breath,
Every heartbeat.
Please receive this.
Please keep this with you.
Have a beautiful day.
