Hi,
Welcome to practicing gratitude during complicated times.
I'm Angela and over the next little while,
I'll guide you through some nice deep breaths just to help shift the body into a more relaxed state before moving into a gratitude practice.
Before we get started,
Allow these first few moments to be your time to settle in.
Whether you are standing,
Sitting,
Or lying back,
Becoming comfortable in all the ways your body knows how.
Setting the right position for your head,
Shoulders,
Hands,
And your hips,
Legs,
And feet so that you may physically feel at ease.
So while you're settling in and making any micro adjustments to your positioning,
I'd like to acknowledge that expressing gratitude may not initially seem intuitive when we're perhaps experiencing thankless times.
However,
That's why we call it a practice.
Gratitude is often regarded as one of our inner resources that helps us to boost our resilience.
So regularly connecting with gratitude for the things in our lives that are going well on both the good days and the not so good days over time can help us to bring about a shift in our brain's functioning that comes from practicing pro-social emotions.
All right,
So now that you're all settled in and just checking in to see what's right for you to either allow the eyes to slowly and gently close or if closing your eyes isn't comfortable for you right now,
That's okay.
Just lowering your gaze just a bit so that you can minimize any visual distractions.
Of course,
At any time during this practice,
Doing whatever is right for you.
This is your time,
Your practice.
Whatever you experience and how you choose to experience it is perfectly fine.
With your body nestled into a comfortable position,
We're going to start with some nice deep breaths and in this practice we slowly inhale through the nose and once we've taken in a nice deep breath,
We exhale through the mouth and depending on what's right for you,
You may let that exhalation be a nice big audible sigh,
But whatever is right for you.
In this breathing practice,
Just breathing in the rhythm of your own breath,
Nothing forced,
Nothing contrived.
If the rhythm of your breath doesn't exactly match the rhythm of my guidance,
That's okay.
Not to worry,
What's most important is you breathing in the rhythm that is comfortable and right for you.
So when you're ready,
On your next natural inhalation,
Slowly inhaling through the nose and as that breath enters the body,
Perhaps feeling the lower tummy rise and expand and whenever you're ready to release the breath,
Letting out a nice big sigh,
Exhaling through the mouth,
Exhaling fully,
Being as audible or as quiet as feels right for you.
Let's do that twice more.
Again,
Whenever you're ready to naturally inhale,
Slowly breathing in through the nose and perhaps feeling the breath deeply in your lower tummy and whenever you are ready to let that breath go,
Exhaling through the mouth,
Maybe having a nice big sigh.
And in your time,
We'll do that once more.
When you're ready,
Just to naturally breathe in,
Breathing in through the nose and just as and when you're ready to release that breath,
Breathing out through the mouth,
Perhaps having a nice big sigh and just breathing in the natural rhythm of your own breath,
Pausing now to check in with your body,
Just noticing how it feels.
After having had a few nice deep breaths,
Perhaps there's a sense of relaxed heaviness as tense muscles start to release.
Perhaps there's a sense of softness in the body.
And if nothing in particular stands out for you,
That's okay too.
That's an awareness in itself.
And now it's time to shift attention away from the breath and into a practice of gratitude.
In this practice,
We bring to mind or imagine some of the people who directly and indirectly contribute to our daily lives.
We begin by bringing to mind someone who has recently been helpful or who has offered a kind or thoughtful gesture.
And if no one comes to mind right now,
That's okay.
Perhaps imagine one of these scenarios,
Someone who helps you find your keys,
Your phone or your glasses,
Or a grocery clerk who comes to your aid when you have accidentally knocked something off of a shelf.
Perhaps there's a friend or a colleague who has sent a supportive text or email.
And as you recall or imagine a time when someone who has helped or did something that was kind or thoughtful,
Pausing to notice any felt sense in the body associated with thankfulness that these recollections or these imaginings evoke.
Maybe it's a sense of warm tingling in the heart space or a sense of ease and spaciousness in the body.
Maybe feeling the muscles of the face soften and relax.
Or noticing the jaw just slightly softening and dropping.
Whatever it may be,
Simply being aware of any physical sensations that you experience as you connect with what being thankful feels like in your body.
In addition to the people who have directly helped or been kind,
We can expand our awareness of thankfulness to those who indirectly contribute to our lives.
Those people who we will never meet but still play a role in our daily lives.
Here we might bring to mind or imagine the driver who stopped at the red light so that we could drive safely through the intersection.
Or the person who filled up the hand sanitizer at the entrance of the local grocery store.
And there are so many others.
Others who we'll never meet,
Who do contribute to our lives.
Understanding the people who work behind the scenes of this platform,
Who keep the app functioning.
And as you reflect on this experience of practicing thankfulness for the people who indirectly contribute to your life,
Being aware of what this practice evokes for you.
Checking in first with the body.
Maybe there's a sense of the shoulders softening,
Relaxing,
And dropping.
Also noticing any changes,
If at all,
In your own emotions or the thoughts about yourself as you focus on cultivating and connecting with gratitude.
Being now connected with gratitude through thoughts,
Physical sensations,
And emotions.
It's time to draw this practice to a close.
And as we do so,
Noting that we can cultivate gratitude by recalling or imagining an act of kindness that we have received directly or indirectly.
With this practice now concluded,
Perhaps you may wish to remain as you are for a little longer.
Or you may prefer to gently open your eyes.
And slowly prepare to move your body again.
With a deep bow of gratitude,
I thank you for meditating with me.
