Welcome to your meditation called Gratitude When You Have an Attitude.
This is a practice that can be used anytime you have an area that's frustrating or annoying or irritating or upsetting in some way where you do not have an experience of appreciation or gratitude.
Attempting to layer gratitude on top of an area where you don't experience it never produces the results you're looking for.
You don't shift the car from reverse into drive.
You first must go to neutral,
Have the car stop,
And then you go to drive.
This is a practice where you can move the car into neutral and stop.
If you're just starting this practice pick an area that's not traumatic but is upsetting in some way.
Start with smaller easier areas and as you build strength in this muscle you'll be able to expand it to more and more difficult situations.
So take a moment before you begin to think of an area of life that's frustrating,
Annoying,
Irritating,
An area that matters to you where you do not experience gratitude or appreciation.
So find a position that's comfortable,
Close your eyes,
And settle into the body.
Feel your feet on the floor,
Maybe shuffle your feet to make that connection,
Wiggle your butt in the chair,
With your breath let any excess energy go,
Feel your shoulders drop away from your ears,
Find a posture that's alert and awake but not stiff.
Allow your awareness to scan your body,
Resting on any part of the body that's looking for attention.
Not to change it or make it any different than it is,
But simply to notice it,
Become aware of it.
Bring to mind any intentions you might have for today,
For this practice,
Any wants or desires or thoughts you have of the future.
Just notice what's already there as you sit,
Softening the eyes,
Maybe turning the eyes,
The corners of the eyes up into a smile,
Bringing your attention to your breath,
Noticing the quality of the air as you breathe in,
The temperature of the air,
Notice the way your chest feels as you expand with the inhale,
The sensations of the top of the breath,
And then the sensations as you relax,
Slowly exhaling.
Sometimes it helps if you label in and out.
Anytime the mind wanders,
You just gently escort it back to the breath.
Now bringing to mind the area you chose to work on today,
And sitting with that thought,
Noticing the sensations that come with thinking about it,
Noticing where in the body you feel this,
What does it feel like to hold this thought?
Does the thought have a color?
Do the sensations have a temperature?
Does it have a shape or a weight?
And just sitting,
Exploring the center of the sensations in the body as you hold this area in your thoughts,
Continuing to breathe,
And noticing the sensations associated with this issue.
If you find yourself uncomfortable or looking to turn away,
You can talk to yourself the way you would speak to a puppy maybe.
Stay,
Stay,
And just feel into that area.
And as you sit and feel into that area,
Start to explore around the edges.
Sometimes around the edges,
You can begin to notice some space and around the edges you can begin to wonder,
Ask yourself,
What could I appreciate about this situation?
What could I be grateful for here?
Don't force anything,
Just wonder.
Is there anything that comes up when I ask,
Is there anything to appreciate about this situation?
Sometimes it's simply that you've survived it,
Sometimes there are aspects of the person or situation not directly related to the issue that there are to appreciate.
Just keep looking and exploring and leaning into anything that comes up that you might appreciate about that situation.
You can notice how that feels,
What's the experience in the body of that which you appreciate?
How does that feel in the body?
Does that have a color or a shape or a weight?
As you sit and breathe into that distinct experience,
Notice what it feels like to sit with that appreciation,
With that gratitude.
You might begin to notice that you can have both experiences,
Aspects that you don't appreciate,
Aspects you're not grateful for,
And aspects for which you are grateful.
And it's just a matter of which are you going to focus on.
The parts you're not grateful for don't need to disappear,
You don't need to be grateful for all of it.
And very often it's a matter of just looking to see what are you going to give your attention to.
It's always your choice as to what you focus on.
Take a moment or two to thank yourself for having the courage and the wherewithal to examine this area.
Acknowledge yourself for being strong enough to look.
And when you're ready you can take a few more breaths open your eyes and come on back.
Before you move on you might want to take a moment or two to just write down any reflections,
Anything you discovered,
Anything you noticed.
And feel free to come back to this practice as often as you like.
Thanks for joining.
You
