Welcome,
I'm Amy and in this meditation we'll be exploring gratitude.
Gratitude is a powerful practice where we open to the good in our lives so that we can feel better and build emotional resilience.
We'll be taking time to explore with our senses and to really experience how our body feels.
Notice that gratitude may not come easily or that the experience may be bittersweet but see if you can open to whatever arises with kindness and without judgment.
Be patient with yourself and trust that it will become easier with practice.
You can't do this wrong.
So let's start by getting comfortable feeling your weight dropping down on the chair or floor.
A sense of support from the ground beneath,
Sensing length and ease in your back,
Shoulders soft.
Take some deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth softening on each out breath and returning to breathing in and out through the nose.
Now we'll begin exploring gratitude.
Starting simply with the most basic things in life.
Having a roof over your head,
Eating,
Running water,
Enough to eat and drink.
Maybe you can bring your favorite food or drink to mind.
Clearly picture it.
Can you taste it?
Breathing freely,
Enjoying the experience and you may want to whisper to yourself,
Thank you.
Now moving on to feeling grateful for our natural world.
The warmth of sunshine.
The night sky with the moon and stars.
The breeze through the trees.
The gentle fall of rain.
Now visualizing your favorite place in nature.
Somewhere where you feel really happy.
Maybe a garden.
Clearly picture this beautiful place in your mind.
Use your senses to explore.
What do you see around you?
Can you smell anything?
What can you reach out and touch?
Breathing in and out,
Savoring this connection with our beautiful world and you may whisper to yourself,
Thank you.
Now we'll move on to cultivating a sense of gratitude for our favorite people or animals.
Picture them clearly in your mind.
Maybe you can hear their voices or see their smiles.
Bring to mind their good qualities.
Their love,
Affection,
Words or humor.
Maybe their unconditional support.
Maybe sharing laughter.
And enjoying any feelings of gratitude that may arise.
The hand on your heart.
Now cultivating gratitude towards yourself.
Feeling grateful for your body.
Whatever its shape and size or state of health.
Be grateful if you can see,
Hear and walk.
Know that as long as you're breathing,
There's more right with you than wrong with you.
Sense your breath flowing through you.
Life flowing through effortlessly.
You are imperfectly perfect,
Just as you are.
Breathing freely.
Enjoying this experience.
And you may whisper to yourself,
Thank you.
Now exploring your good qualities.
Your kindness.
Your wisdom.
Your humor.
Or your strength.
Maybe your ability to persevere through life's challenges.
Or your love and care for others.
Breathe freely.
And you may want to imagine that you give yourself a big hug.
Or you may even want to wrap your arms around yourself.
And maybe you whisper,
Thank you.
And now widening your focus to include everything that brings you joy.
Really exploring how this feels within the body.
Taking time to savor these precious feelings and sensations.
Feeling gratitude simply for being alive.
And for this opportunity to take time out to cultivate the good in your life.
Trusting that the seeds we cultivate in meditation will bloom into greater resilience,
Peace and joy.
And as you breathe out,
You may want to whisper to yourself.
In the words of the philosopher Meister Eckhart.
If the only prayer you say in your whole life is thank you.
It will be in you.
Now returning to the weight of your body.
Dropping down to the ground.
Breath flowing freely.
Fully alive in this moment.
And when you're ready.
Opening your eyes.
And sitting quietly for a little while.
Before moving on with your day.
With gratitude.
Thank you for being here today.
Www.
Mooji.
Org
