Welcome to this practice for connecting with gratitude in challenging moments.
I'm Patti Halava of Awakened Peace Healing.
Take a moment and find a comfortable seat or lie down on your back,
Taking any position that will allow you to be comfortable and allow your breath to move freely through the body.
Once you've found a comfortable position,
Pause and close your eyes if that feels available to you.
Take a full breath in,
Expanding through the chest,
And then slowly exhale.
Place one hand on your heart center,
Holding your tender heart gently beneath the nurturing warmth of your hand.
Allow your other hand to rest gently across the abdomen,
Much like offering your body a loving embrace.
And taking in another rich breath in through the nose.
Pause as you take in the gift of this fullness,
And then enjoy a long,
Steady exhale,
Softening the body,
Allowing the breath to become soft and long,
Fluid and steady.
Allow your body to sink into the support beneath you,
And with each exhale,
Softening just a little bit more into the support of your hands,
Embracing your body and your body being held by the support beneath you.
Bring your awareness to a challenge or difficulty that you're experiencing right now.
This may be a circumstance or situation,
A conflict,
Or an experience of pain.
Simply notice this challenge in your awareness and observe how your body responds.
Notice the qualities of the experience,
The sensations.
And now notice that you are observing the experience in the body,
That it's not happening at this moment,
That at this moment,
You're observing your reactions to your thoughts about this challenge.
Notice the emotions that are arising,
Perhaps name them.
You might say,
I'm feeling grief,
I'm feeling pain,
Or I'm feeling discomfort.
And then acknowledge the emotion,
And then allow your breath to move in through the nose,
Down into the heart.
And then exhale from the mouth with an audible sigh,
Inviting your nervous system to soften and release.
Soften and let go.
Bringing your attention now to the flow of your breath,
Moving in and out through the body,
Moving in through the nose,
Down into the center of your heart,
Just beneath the warmth of your hand.
Breathing in and out from the heart and feeling the body soften as the breath flows easily.
Now bring to mind a memory of a time when you received comfort,
Love,
Connection.
This may have been recent or from a long time ago.
This may be something simple like holding someone's hand,
Wrapping yourself in a blanket.
Perhaps it was receiving support in a time of need.
Allow yourself to connect to this memory,
To connect to it fully,
Seeing the entire landscape of the memory,
The location,
The colors around you,
The textures,
The sounds,
Perhaps even the smell.
Allow your muscles to recall the feeling tone of the experience as you surrender to that moment of receiving.
See it and sense it clearly as though it were happening right now.
Feel it in your bones.
Now imagine that memory dissolving into a light,
A light that is a color that you associate with gratitude.
Imagine now that as you inhale the light of gratitude and this memory moves deeper into your heart and with each exhale it pulses as it moves out from the heart into the body.
Inhale the light of gratitude and exhale radiating light down through the torso,
The hips,
Legs,
Knees,
Ankles,
Down through the feet into the earth,
Being grounded in the light of gratitude as it pulses from the heart down into the earth.
Inhale the light of gratitude into the heart.
Exhale radiating light out through the chest,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Elbows,
Wrists,
Hands,
Out through the fingertips,
Out into the world.
Inhale the light of gratitude into the heart and with each exhale radiating light out and upward through the neck,
Face,
Back of the head,
Up and out through the crown of the head forming a fountain of radiant light creating a shield around you,
A gentle yet powerful protective shield of gratitude radiating out into the world.
This light is part of you.
Inside the space of this radiant light of gratitude you can recognize and experience the gifts available to you in your heart,
In your life,
The gifts that are present alongside the challenges and the difficulties.
These cannot be taken away.
This light is ever present within you.
It is your experience.
It's woven into the fabric of your being,
The strength of connection,
The strength of your capacity to receive.
It is abundance.
It is gratitude.
It's always within you and you can access it at any time.
Feeling into the light of gratitude and allowing this to create a space between you and the challenges in your life and within this space you can see possibility.
You can access your inner resources and supports.
Allowing the light of gratitude to radiate throughout your body with each heartbeat,
Softening the body,
Softening the mind,
Entering a space of receptivity of gratitude.
Breathing into the space for a few moments.
Now deepening your breath.
Inhale through the nose and exhale with an audible sigh letting go of anything that remains to be released here.
Gently bringing your attention back to the body,
To the support beneath you and the sounds around you.
Inviting a soft grin to form on your lips as you thank yourself for creating the space to expand your perspective and invite the experience of gratitude into your being as you gently open your eyes and return to your day.
Carrying this energy of gratitude forward with you knowing that it is always available.
