At the end of the day,
It's time to slow down,
To relax and appreciate the sweetness of the present moment.
You can let go of all the tensions,
All the concerns of the past,
And worries about the future.
You are here in a space where you don't need to think about that.
You are in a place where you feel safe,
Where you have the chance to do nothing,
To go nowhere.
Allow yourself to embrace the calm and stillness.
I invite you now to pay attention to your breathing.
And quite simply,
You inhale,
And you know that you are inhaling.
You exhale,
And you know that you are exhaling.
Each inhalation and exhalation takes you deeper into relaxation and letting go.
And now,
To help you settle even deeper into relaxation,
Let's focus on your body.
For us humans,
The body is our own.
So embrace it,
Observe as an impartial witness all sensations of the moment,
Whether they are pleasant or involve areas of tension,
Stiffness or even pain.
Simply allow them to be.
I invite you now to shift your attention to your eyes.
Exhale,
And let them rest.
Release all the small muscles around your eyes.
Our eyes allow us to see a paradise of shapes and colors.
Feel gratitude for your eyes.
Also express gratitude for your nose,
Which allows you to breathe and smell.
Your ears,
Which allow you to hear,
To listen.
Your mouth,
Which allows you to heat,
To express yourself,
To speak,
To sing.
Inhale,
And bring your attention to your face.
Exhale,
And let it relax.
Maybe allow a gentle smile to appear on your lips.
A smile releases tension in various facial muscles.
Feel the tensions release in your cheeks,
Jaws and throat.
Inhaling,
Bring your attention to your shoulders.
As you exhale,
Let your shoulders relax.
You are carrying so much on your shoulders.
Now allow them to relax.
Inhaling,
Bring your attention to your arms,
Your elbows,
Your forearms,
Your wrists,
Your hands,
Your fingers.
Thank your arms,
Which embrace what you love.
Your hands,
Which caress,
Touch,
Create and achieve lots of things.
Smile at your shoulders and your arms.
Inhaling,
Bring your attention to your chest,
Your lungs,
Your heart.
Exhaling,
Thank and smile at your lungs,
Your heart which allow you to breathe,
To live.
Send love and gratitude to your heart,
Which knows how to love and beats for you night and day.
Treasure this precious organ and take care of it.
Inhaling,
Pay attention to your abdomen with the organs inside,
The stomach,
Liver,
Intestines,
Kidneys,
Reproductive organs.
Exhaling,
Give tenderness and smile to your stomach and lower abdomen and all your organs for all the work they constantly do.
Inhaling,
Bring your attention to your spine,
To your back,
Which supports your skeleton and allows mobility.
Send your gratitude to your back.
Inhaling,
Bring your attention to your thighs,
Your knees,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
Your feet.
Send all your tenderness,
Your gratitude and smile to your feet which carry you,
To your legs that allow you to move.
Now imagine that this smile spreads throughout your entire body down to the toes.
Inhale,
I become aware of my whole body.
Exhale,
I smile.
Inhale,
Body.
Exhale,
Smile.
Observe without wanting anything other than what is present.
This is what allows relaxation,
Which allows release.
No effort,
No expectation.
Cherish your body.
Total gratitude for this wonderful machine.
Continue to experience all the sensations in your body,
Moving from head to toe and from toe to head,
Always anchored in the full awareness of your breathing and in your smile.
Well,
Let's continue the compassionate orientation of our practice.
You may notice that thoughts,
Memories,
Projects or associations of ideas sometimes come to disturb you and this is completely normal.
Then breathe with these thoughts.
Exhale and let them flow with the breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Realize that the emotions we feel as well as the thoughts we entertain condition our mind and make it adopt a certain vision of things and have an influence on our own emotional state and shape a certain view of things.
However,
We can train ourselves not to cultivate our emotions and negative thoughts as they arise,
And instead cultivate positive ones so they can contribute to our inner peace.
Thus,
Gratitude has been shown to be the strongest emotion for improving our well-being,
Because it rather encourages us to develop positive emotions by focusing on our blessings.
When in a state of gratitude,
It's harder to feel stressed or depressed or angry,
For example.
So,
Even if your day hasn't been particularly interesting,
There are always opportunities to develop this feeling of gratitude.
Consider that all the things we are experiencing at the moment are in interaction and depend on others to exist.
Light,
Warmth in our homes,
Food,
Clothes,
The ability to communicate.
All of this we hold to our parents,
Teachers,
Friends and countless strangers.
Now consider the people you know who enrich your life.
Those who smile at you,
Encourage you and support you.
These families,
Friends,
Acquaintances,
Colleagues.
Maybe there is a special person who comes to mind,
Who brings you joy and whose simple thought makes you smile.
Feel gratitude towards those you love,
Those whose simple thought make your heart swell,
And let yourself be overwhelmed by this recognition.
Take a moment to reflect about your own reasons for feeling grateful right now.
List at least three things you are grateful for,
That brought you joy as you think about the day that is ending.
Take a moment to immerse yourself in the appreciation of these experiences.
You may notice that it's surprising to see how many opportunities we have to choose gratitude instead of complaining.
If you wish,
Direct your awareness towards your heart.
With each inhalation,
With each exhalation,
Feel your heart filling with gratitude.
At the end of this session,
Notice how you feel in this moment.
See if this gratitude exercise did you good,
Brought you comfort.
We will end with this quote.
It is not happiness that fills us with gratitude.
It is gratitude that fills us with happiness.
