It's not joy that makes us grateful,
It is gratitude that makes us joyful.
A quote from Brene Brown.
I've done a lot of research on the topic of gratitude and the science behind it,
In order to counteract feelings of loss and depression over the years.
I learned the ability to focus on the appreciation of what you have in your life will decrease the sadness around the feelings of the things you don't have,
Or what you think is missing.
There is no joy without gratitude.
Another wise quote from Brene Brown.
When you are grateful for whatever,
You increase the joyful sensation in the mind and the body.
But people are often scared of joy.
Sounds ridiculous.
But think about an awesome moment in your life and notice,
Did you have a thought or ever think,
This is too good to be true,
Or this doesn't happen to me,
Or when is the other shoe going to drop.
I just know something bad is going to happen.
If I feel this and I enjoy this,
It will go away.
These are common feelings around the topic of gratitude in our human world.
The teachings about gratitude promote positive thinking and a healthy lifestyle,
But you just can't think about it or talk about it.
You must practice it and embody it.
The story that comes to mind that I want to share with you,
When I felt an intense sense of gratitude,
Was the first day I visited my local community center to get assistance from the food pantry.
After quitting my career of 20 years and attempting to follow my dreams,
I found myself struggling between the dream and my very real financial situation,
Which was slowly deteriorating.
I remember driving to the center that day,
Doing all the things to keep my composure.
At the same time,
I was thinking,
I have a master's degree in education,
And because I chose to be a yoga teacher,
Here I am driving to a food pantry to feed my family.
Thankfully,
It went well,
Way better than I ever imagined.
And as I drove home with eight bags of food in my car,
The tears began to stream from my eyes.
I realized that I was not sad because of shame or guilt,
But because I was so grateful for the kindness and the generosity of the people at the center.
My heart was so full of joy that I could be helped in this way,
And that this kind of support exists in our world.
When I got home and I shared the story and all the goodies with my family that we had received,
It felt like we had won the lottery.
I knew in that moment what Brene Brown meant by saying,
Gratitude makes us joyful.
I'd like to invite you to think of a time where you felt joyful,
And you could trace it back to a kind act or word.
Or maybe you can imagine a time and a space when you were feeling so grateful that you literally were jumping for joy.
Appreciating our blessings and the good things as they happen in our life helps to cultivate gratitude and in turn will create more joy.
Over time in doing this,
It helps to build resiliency in the challenging times and offers us a space to be persevering when we struggle.
It helps to foster connection within us and with others.
Experiencing kindness in this way inspired me to see that there is kindness in the world and to feel grateful for just that.
And as I see that spill over onto my son with the happiness and joy on his face that day,
I know these are the ripple effects of practicing gratitude.
Practicing gratitude through meditation is just one way to actively bring more joy into your life.
This has become a practice of my own that I do daily,
And this is what I would like to share with you today.
I would like to share a teaching about gratitude with you today.
There are four forms of gratitude.
The first one is gratitude in.
This is the gratitude that you have for yourself,
Being thankful for you and your amazing gifts that you bring to the world.
Gratitude out is the gratitude for the things outside of yourself,
Expressing gratitude for the daily blessings in your life.
The third is gratitude up,
Having gratitude for God or the universe or whatever your source of higher power is.
You may do this through prayer,
Intention,
Spending time in nature,
Or it could just be the feeling of thank you.
And the fourth is gratitude letting go,
Knowing there is a bigger plan here.
And no matter what is happening in and around us,
There is a force and an energy that is moving us towards gratitude.
The scientific benefits of having a regular and active gratitude practice will not only increase feelings and experiences of joy,
But will also decrease depression,
Increase resilience,
Create healthier and happier physical and mental habits in your daily life,
Offer you better sleep,
Less inflammation in the body,
And less overall burnout in life.
We can do this in several different ways.
A gratitude journal,
Practicing gratitude meditations,
And actively speaking words like thank you and using your appreciation on a daily basis.
Take a moment and think what is one way that you can express gratitude today.
I would like to invite you into a practice with me today.
We're going to begin with the freedom trinity,
Paying attention to our body,
Eyes,
And breath.
First,
I will invite you to get comfortable in your space,
Feeling soft and relaxed,
Maybe bringing your hands one on top of the other over your heart space and gently closing your eyes or having a soft gaze.
Now bring your awareness to your breath,
Just noticing at first the rise and the fall of your chest as the breath comes in and out.
Our practice today is a mantra-based meditation practice.
Remembering that a mantra is a thought tool to keep you focused throughout your meditation practice when the thoughts naturally start to flow in and out.
Our mantra today is I am grateful.
I'm going to guide you through this practice and keep the time for you.
So take another moment here to check in with your body and your breath,
Feeling very quiet,
Comfortable,
And grounded in your space.
Next,
I would like to invite you to take a deep cleansing breath in through the nose and a long,
Releasing,
And relaxing breath of the nose or the mouth as you settle in just a little bit deeper.
Next,
We will begin with our mantra,
I am grateful.
As I say the words out loud,
I'd like you to repeat them in your mind quietly,
Continuing for the next several minutes as I guide you through.
Let's begin.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
As you feel the breath rise and fall in your heart space,
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
If your mind begins to wander,
That's okay.
Just bring it back to the mantra,
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
Notice the sensations in your heart space as you are continuing to repeat this mantra quietly in your mind.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
I am grateful.
I'm going to invite you to take a deep breath in through the nose and a long,
Releasing breath of the nose or the mouth,
Letting that mantra go for now,
Knowing that you can always revisit it whenever you need to.
We'll take another deep breath in together,
A little deeper into the belly this time.
A long,
Relaxing breath out.
As you gently come back into this space together,
I would invite you to take a moment to write down the words that could describe how you were feeling during this meditation as you repeated the mantra.
You can jot these in your phone or your journal or even maybe on a scrap piece of paper nearby.
In doing this,
It helps us to connect the words,
I am grateful,
To the feelings that we felt in our body.
This is the embodiment of the practice.
Now ask yourself,
How can I integrate a daily practice into my life to create more joy?
Committing to a daily gratitude practice has the power to create feelings of more joy.
It can support you on a holistic level,
Physically,
Mentally,
And emotionally,
To increase your well-being and your awareness around the things going on in your life.
Over time,
It has the power to increase the capacity to navigate the challenges and struggles that you might experience.
I noticed almost immediately that on any given day that I could find many grateful moments as I wrote them down or brought the awareness to them through meditation.
Even on the most challenging days when I take the time,
I can see that the day was not nearly as bad as I had conjured up in my mind.
I also know that when the challenges arise that I can see them through a different lens and attribute this to my gratitude practice.
Going back to that day when I first visited the food pantry and all the thoughts of shame and guilt that just disappeared when I acknowledged the kindness and the generosity and I really allowed myself to feel the thankfulness for that.
It completely changed my perspective.
I hope that this practice will help support you in making these kinds of changes in your daily life.
In order for it to really help you and nurture you,
It is important that you take this action every single day.
This mantra meditation practice is based on the actions that we take even in the smallest way to contribute to the betterment of our life.
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this meditation and that you can repeat it as many times as you need to to fill your heart and to erase the negativity from your mind.
I hope you have a beautiful and blessed day.
Namaste.
