Good morning.
It's really lovely to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining me.
I'm Mark.
And hopefully you've managed to find yourself a comfortable little spot to sit for a while and If you've got a nice cup of tea or coffee beside you,
Even better!
I thought we could just spend the next few minutes together.
Easing into the morning and taking a little time for ourselves before Getting on with whatever the day has in store for us.
There's nothing complicated what we're going to do,
We're simply going to.
.
.
Enjoy being here for a few minutes and appreciate some of the good things in our lives and give ourselves a positive place to begin.
So make yourself nice and comfortable.
You can close your eyes if you'd like or simply rest your gaze somewhere nearby.
And notice that you are here.
You've woken up into another brand new morning.
There is a whole day ahead of you and you don't need to know exactly how it is going to unfold.
Because for now.
You can just.
.
.
Be here.
Take a nice easy breath in,
And as you breathe out.
Allow yourself to settle.
A little more into your seat.
Letting the morning arrive at its own pace.
This part of the day can be.
Really.
A magical little part of the day that time before,
We've become completely caught up with everything the morning light beaming through the window.
The familiar sounds of home and maybe the warmth of a mug.
Of your morning drink held between your hands.
These are such ordinary experiences,
Aren't they?
When we take a moment to notice them.
They can be surprisingly comforting.
So,
I'd like you to bring your attention.
To something pleasant.
That is already here this morning.
It might be the warmth of your drink,
The feeling of just being comfortably seated where you are.
Maybe you're lucky enough to hear the sound of birds outside.
Anything at all that you can really appreciate.
Right now.
And see what happens when you give that small experience your full attention.
There's no need to turn it into anything special.
Just enjoy it.
It's sometimes really easy to overlook the ordinary parts of life or when our minds are Busy looking ahead.
We just.
.
.
Don't really notice.
But our days are made up of.
These little moments.
And that's something that's really worth remembering.
We don't always need something exciting to happen for.
This moment to be an enjoyable one.
Sometimes it really is enough to notice what is already here.
You Now I'd just like us to spend a little bit of time with gratitude.
And when I say that,
I don't mean you have to feel grateful for absolutely everything in your life.
Of course,
We all have difficult things to deal with,
But even when life is complicated,
There can still be things we.
.
.
Genuinely appreciate.
So just see if you can think of one thing in your life.
That you are glad to have.
It could be a person you love.
An animal companion who brings you loads of joy each day.
Maybe a special place that you enjoy visiting or just some small part of your everyday life that makes it a little nicer.
Just take a moment to bring that to life.
Into your mind.
Notice what you appreciate about it and give yourself a few moments to really enjoy the thought.
It's all too easy to become so familiar with the good things in our lives that we just stop noticing them.
And this is one of the reasons I love a little morning gratitude practice.
It helps us come back.
Remember and it gives us an opportunity to pay attention to the parts of life that do matter to us.
And it's so lovely.
With the warmth that comes with that when we do remember and we do notice.
Now let's bring that same appreciation.
A little closer to home.
See if you can think about something you appreciate about yourself.
I know that can feel a bit strange sometimes.
We all tend to notice our shortcomings rather quickly.
But there's plenty about you that's worth appreciating too.
Think of some way that you maybe have shown kindness recently.
Or a difficulty you've managed to get through or some small effort that you've made to look after yourself.
You know,
Even being here this morning,
Taking a little time to care for your well-being is something you can really acknowledge and give gratitude to yourself for.
You really do deserve some of that kindness you so readily give to others.
And now as we begin to look towards the rest of the day.
I'd like to invite you to think about how you'd like to approach it.
We can't always choose what happens during the day.
Of course,
Plans change and things take longer than expected.
And people.
Sometimes we'll test our patience.
Some mornings we simply haven't got as much energy as we'd maybe have liked to have but we can have a little influence over how we meet these experiences.
So ask yourself a simple question.
How would I like to move through today?
You might like to approach things with a little more patience,
You might want to enjoy yourself a bit more.
You might decide to stop rushing through everything and give yourself permission to do just one thing at a time.
Whatever comes to mind for you.
Let it be something that feels useful and realistic.
Something you can carry with you today.
And remember,
An intention isn't another expectation you have to live up to.
It's simply something to return to.
And you'll probably forget about it at some point you'll get distracted or caught up in a problem and that's perfectly normal but each time you do remember you then have another opportunity to begin again.
That's one of the wonderful things about mindfulness,
We can keep coming back to the way we want to live as often as we need to.
I'd like you to imagine yourself moving into the day ahead.
Nothing too elaborate,
Just picture yourself getting on with some of the things you do normally.
Maybe preparing breakfast,
Getting dressed,
Heading outside and beginning your work day.
See yourself taking those first few steps into the world today.
And imagined.
Bringing.
Just a little bit of this calm with you if you can.
Think about the possibility that something good might happen today.
A lovely conversation,
Maybe a moment that makes you smile or even laugh.
A little piece of good news.
There are things waiting in the day ahead that.
.
.
You know absolutely nothing about yet.
People you might speak to,
Experiences you haven't had.
And I think that's quite a nice thought.
Of course we don't know what the day is going to bring truly,
But there's so much room for good things to happen.
And there's something else I'd like you to remember today.
You have the ability to contribute something good to the day yourself.
You can be the smile to somebody else.
You can be the one giving encouragement and show someone that they are truly appreciated.
Or simply take good care of yourself.
These things do matter.
And they do give us opportunities to make ordinary days.
A little bit more enjoyable.
So as you imagine yourself moving through the coming hours,
See if you can bring a sense of openness to them.
A little bit of curiosity about what you might do today or what today might hold.
And some confidence in your ability to meet it.
You really don't need to have everything worked out this morning.
You can discover the day as it opens up as you go along.
Now gently,
Bring your attention back to where you're sitting.
Noticing the room around you.
The sounds of the morning.
The feeling of the air against your skin.
And if you've still got some tea or coffee left,
You might like to enjoy another sip.
Before we finish,
Just take a moment to appreciate the time that you've given yourself this morning.
I hope you can carry a little of this feeling into the rest of your day.
And if things get busy later on,
Remember that you can always take a moment to reconnect with yourself.
One easy breath.
A little pause.
A reminder to yourself of what really matters.
And just one final thought.
There is no need to make today a perfect day.
Just give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it and notice the good moments when they do come along.
Be gentle with yourself when things are difficult and remember that even the most seemingly mundane ordinary day can have something magical about it.
Thank you so much for sharing this little part of your day with me.
I have really enjoyed spending it with you.
I hope your tea or coffee is still warm and I hope the day ahead is a kind one for you.
Have a beautiful rest of your day.
Go in peace.
Namaste.
