Raise Your Awareness With Gratitude

In this relaxing meditation Lou will help raise your awareness and increase the loving connection you feel towards yourself and others. He will share his inspiration for the practice and then guide you into a place of peace and appreciation.

Transcript

This practice today was inspired by a book I read called Thanks the Thousand by A.

J.

Jacobs.

And what he did was he thanked every single person that was involved in making his morning cup of coffee from the baristas and the coffee shop owners to the cup makers to the steel workers to the people who supply the water and two really important parts within gratitude and meditation that stuck out to me.

And the first is that in order to be grateful for something we have to be aware.

There has to be a sort of pause in our day or a pause in our being where we are then present and then we are able to show gratitude.

So it is both an act of doing but it is also an act of being.

And then the second thing that really stuck out in how he was thanking everyone who brought this simple thing we take for granted most mornings is the interconnectedness of so many different parts that had to work in order for that to happen.

And the interconnectedness of all of the things and all of the people around that we walk around and we see on a day to day basis and what they are doing that they are probably doing something that supports us in some way and we are maybe doing something that supports them.

And there is this degree of connection with everyone and of course if we go deeper into the spiritual significance that we are all connected and that ultimately we all are coming from that same place.

So those are just the two really important things that I took out of that.

So let's begin our practice on a really what is a gratitude practice but we are just going to kind of tweak and move into a little bit more of the finer things happening within our body and maybe things that we take for granted in our life.

So let's go ahead and find your seat.

You might already be there and you may have already closed your eyes.

And it's the awareness that we are cultivating through our practice.

So allow yourself to use the rise and the fall of your breathing and begin to come aware of your body resting gently on the cushion,

On the ground or in the chair.

Aware of the different connection points to the ground of your hands.

And bring awareness to that subtle feeling that the breath gives as it moves from the outside world to the inside world and then from the inside world to the outside world.

Finding any places in the body that feel like they need to be softened.

Simply bringing awareness into our being.

And sometimes meditation is the only time during our day where we bring a full intention of awareness.

Now we may get distracted and thoughts may come but we always have the ability to come back.

Come back to our breath,

Come back to our center.

And allow ourselves to be open,

To receive,

To be.

And we're learning not to be so caught in the changing patterns of our mind,

Of our body sensations,

Of our feelings,

Of our life.

And we connect with the more impermanent nature of who we truly are.

Because everything that has the ability to pass away,

To rise and to fall is not what is permanent.

But there is an awareness within each of us that is beyond that.

And see if you can take a few more breaths to connect with your own awareness.

We're going to do a quick body scan.

Just noticing any parts of your body that might need a little extra love.

Maybe sending your breath to these parts.

And just starting from the top of your head,

Moving down through your nose,

Your chin,

Your shoulders,

Chest,

Heart,

Torso,

Back up into your arms.

You feel the shoulder blades melt down the back.

Your elbows,

Your forearms,

Your hands,

Your wrists.

And into your hips,

Thighs,

Your knees,

Shins,

Calves,

Heels,

Ankle,

Top of the foot,

Toes,

Bottom of the foot.

Just find a few breaths filling up your entire body.

And maybe coming back and stopping at your heart.

And the reason that we did this very short body scan is that we often don't see the interconnectedness of our being at all times.

How the breath and the oxygen that we breathe in beats our heart.

And the heart sends blood and oxygen to each parts of our organs to work and to circulate through our body.

All of these parts in our inner working,

Inner world.

They're all connected and if we're lucky,

For the most part,

They work.

And if you're listening to this and you've had something that has taken one of these body parts away,

Still finding the gratitude for the ability to hear this and to breathe and to allow that heart to continue to beat.

Let's find thanks for the fact that our heart has supported us all of these years without us having to do anything.

And if you do have the ability to walk and to use your hands.

Thank you for giving the energy to all of these parts of your body.

And let's take a good breath in and breath out.

Keeping the eyes closed,

I'd like you to imagine a room in your home.

It could be the room that you find yourself in.

Maybe the kitchen,

Maybe another room somewhere in your home.

First thing that pops to mind.

Imagine without even having to be there or to have your eyes open.

You can imagine yourself sitting in that room and just start to become aware of the things that are around in the room.

If you're in the kitchen,

You can be aware of where the fridge is,

What pictures are on the fridge.

If you're in a bedroom,

Be aware of clothes that may be hanging up or on the ground or your bed sheets,

Pictures,

Anything that you can bring into your mind's eye.

I'd like you to scan the room once you've placed things around it and see if you can find something that works,

That it just works and you often don't even realize that it's working.

It could be as simple as your sheets work to keep you warm.

They do their job at night.

Your coffee maker works to make your coffee.

The fridge just stays cold and keeps things fresh for you.

Anything that you can think of that works.

And then seeing if we can go deeper and think about how many things had to go right for this thing that works and helps you to make it into where it's sitting right now.

How many people?

How far did the parts travel?

Of course,

It's not for you to know this answer.

It's just to imagine and find thanks that things that are happening beyond our knowing are helping us and we have this space to appreciate them and to thank that process for making our lives a little bit easier.

And a nice breath in and let that out.

Thinking now to bring someone that you've shared a moment with in this room.

It might be a friend,

It could be a significant other.

Some moment that you've had in the room that you're looking in.

Could be a small moment.

Could be a life changing moment.

If you can picture that person,

Same room,

Start to color that experience with your feelings of it and your remembering of the sounds and what you guys were doing.

And a moment that you can give thanks for being able to share this in this space that you have with someone that probably matters to you.

And again,

It could be a small,

It's just a nice dinner or a sweet exchange.

And I love you.

And know that there's a good chance that this person is probably grateful to have shared that experience with you as well.

And let's take another breath in and let that out.

And release the focus on a room or another person.

And let's bring our awareness back into yourself.

And if you'd like you can focus on the heart.

And also if you'd like,

Maybe if you feel like you can plug yourself in a little more with placing one hand on your heart,

One hand on your belly,

Maybe both hands on your heart.

Putting everything inward to ourselves.

And simply finding thanks,

Finding gratitude for you.

Giving yourself thanks for all that you do.

Giving yourself thanks for just being here.

Because the fact that you would be listening to this right now shows how wonderful of a human being that you are.

And you don't have to do anything to be that wonderful.

You don't have to do anything to prove yourself,

To get validation from other people.

And you know in your heart,

The hardest of hearts,

That there is a deep,

Profound,

Open love that is who you are.

And you may have been through a lot,

You might have done a lot.

But in this moment,

Being thankful for it all and being grateful for who you are.

Deep,

Deep inside.

And take a breath in.

You squeeze yourself a little bit tighter just for a moment if your hands are there.

And then just let that out,

Release your hand.

And start to bring some movement back.

And whenever you feel ready,

You can begin to open your eyes.

And slowly begin to come back into the room.

I have so much gratitude for being able to share a personal and intimate space with you.

I hope that if you enjoy practicing with me,

You check out some of my other meditations that I have on here.

Wishing you all the love and peace and joy as you move on through your day,

Through your week,

Through your month,

Through your year,

Through your life.

Namaste.

Reviews

Perfect words, perfect timing. Thank you, Lou!!!

Beautiful way to start the day 🌞
Much love 💗
Much gratitude 🙏🏼

I'm going to spend time practicing gratitude for the things that work in my life (my tendency is to ruminate the negative aspects, repeating stories ad nauseam). Today is Saturday so this seems like a good weekend project.
I have so much gratitude for Insight Timer and the wonderful teachers with their beautiful meditations leading me towards a higher consciousness.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Namaste

Feeling so much gratitude towards myself for choosing to be here this morning and especially towards you for creating this guided meditation for everyone that discovers you....thank you 🙏🏻 for your gift!

Many gratitudes to you🙏🏻Namaste❤️

Lou you're such a compassionate guide & gentle soul and I'm loving you're flow. This reminded me that the key to gratitude is awareness. I express my Gratitude for sharing this space with you too Lou. Thank you 🙏

This was a beautiful meditation and I really felt in touch with my inner self and with God’s love for me and in me. Thank you Lou.🙏🏻🦋 Namaste.

Very nice, thank you!

Listened to this with my husband laying in bed before rising. I am so grateful for the gentle meditation that reminded me not to take this simple gift of life and love for granted. Thank you, Lou!

Really enjoyed this. Needed the reminder to take time to be grateful. Lovely. Thank you.

Beautiful. I loved the quiet spaces allowed with such deep Kindness. Many thanks and Many Blessings. 💜🐢🦋

Very nice. Thank you! 🙏

Thought provoking 🙏

What an amazing start to my day. This is drenched in awesomeness. Thank you so much.

Healing and beautiful. Namaste 🙏🏼❤️

Lovely way to start off the day...thank you! Namaste 🙏

Namaste and blessings. Beautiful meditation...I cried....❤️