Hello everyone and welcome to this profound yet simple practice for gratitude.
If you are here you may have heard of the profound impact gratitude can have on our mental,
Emotional and physical well-being.
Gratitude can be a gateway to joy,
A bridge to feeling connected and a balm for the heart.
Through gratitude we invite healing energy to flow into our lives and as it does,
Studies have shown it eases pain,
Reduces stress,
Improves the health of our heart and the list can go on and on.
All of this is based on our power of choice.
Choosing to be grateful,
To orient our mind and thoughts in a way that is healthier for us.
This practice of gratitude is not about avoiding,
Suppressing or bypassing emotions that might be a bit more difficult to contain like grief,
Anger or frustration.
It is about holding space for all that arises while choosing to orient ourselves towards appreciation of life as it unfolds.
The way I perceive it,
When we work with gratitude we are calling into our lives an angel,
A healing energy that wraps around our lives,
Homes,
Workspaces,
Our very being with its magical embrace.
Gratitude brings forward the energy of well-being,
Of devotion,
Of joy that starts to open up our hearts and the mind.
It is difficult to capture this magic in words for gratitude is not only a thought,
It is a living,
Breathing force that blossoms in the heart.
Today I invite you to step into gratitude in a tangible sacred way by creating a gratitude altar,
A simple yet profound container for your thankfulness.
All you need is a small container and pieces of paper.
This is the basics,
After that you can add as much or as little as you want.
Each day or whenever the moment calls,
Write down something you're grateful for and place it within the container.
Let this be an act of devotion to life,
Witnessing how over time your altar fills with praise,
With love and with seen and unseen blessings.
By this simple daily action we are creating a channel for gratitude to come flood our lives.
Where attention goes,
Energy flows,
Allowing the flow of gratitude to come in,
In even more surprising loving ways.
So today's invitation is this,
Open your heart,
Create a simple yet profound space for gratitude and allow this healing energy to shine its light on your way.
Now we will do a short meditation practice to activate your altar.
You can hit the pause button and come back whenever your altar is ready.
Like I said,
The altar can be very simple.
At the moment my gratitude altar just has the container with the papers,
A pen and a flower from my garden.
It is simple and it fills me with joy every time I write on it.
So this short activating meditation you will do when your altar is ready.
You're gonna come and sit close to your altar,
Either in front or besides it.
Get comfortable,
Find a comfortable space where you can have your back long without any extra tension.
You can sit on a chair,
On a couch or on the floor.
Once you come into this comfortable position close your eyes and start to feel the air coming in and out of your nose.
No need to change anything,
Just to bring your attention,
Your awareness into the breath flowing in and out of your body.
There's nothing to do,
Nowhere to be,
Just here,
Feeling your breath coming in and out of your nostrils,
Of your body.
Allow every exhale to relax the weight of your body deeper into the ground or the surface that you're sitting on,
Relaxing your head,
Neck,
Your jaw,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your back,
Your chest,
Your torso,
Your hips,
Your legs.
With every exhale allowing any worries to melt away allow every exhale to sink you deeper into this moment.
Come into this space of just feeling your breath and your body touching the ground or the surface that you're sitting on.
Start to allow your attention and the weight of your body to sink deeper into the ground,
Into the soil,
Into the earth,
Through all the points of contact that are touching the ground and the surface that you're sitting on and at the same time allow your attention to expand to the air that surrounds you.
Still feeling your breath,
Your body,
The earth below you and all the air that surrounds you,
That touches your skin.
Allowing this awareness to expand,
To contain your altar,
The space that you're in.
Visualizing,
Sensing,
Imagining how this awareness expands even further away,
Even deeper into the earth,
Containing the city,
The town,
The nature that surrounds you.
Allowing this awareness to keep expanding even further away through the air and deeper down into the earth.
Just imagine,
Sense,
Feel this open awareness containing the earth,
The sky and everything that surrounds you.
With this open awareness we're gonna call in the energy of gratitude and compassion.
Inviting these two beautiful vibrations to come in through this expanded open field,
Coming in through the air,
Through the ground,
Coming into the city,
The town,
The nature that surrounds you,
Coming up also from the earth.
Imagine visualizing the energy of gratitude and compassion coming closer to the space that you are in,
Surrounding and feeling the space that you're in with their vibration.
Visualizing,
Imagining,
Sensing this energy,
This breathing vibration of gratitude and compassion to activate your altar,
Your life.
With these qualities of gratitude,
Of awe and loving awareness towards life.
See,
Imagine,
Observe yourself in your daily life,
Filling the gratitude jar with joyful memories,
With gratitude for experiencing and perceiving all the beauty that comes into your life.
Taking a few moments here to visualize yourself writing down everything that you're grateful in your days and filling the jar with more and more and more blessings.
Imagine,
Feel this connection of your heart with gratitude and with your altar.
Visualizing,
Sensing,
Feeling this living,
Breathing energy of gratitude washing all over your body,
Your mind,
Your altar,
Your home,
Your life.
Taking a deep exhale,
Being grateful for gratitude to coming into your life and manifesting in all the words that you have placed in your altar.
Coming back to feel your body,
Your body touching the ground or the surface that you're sitting on.
Rubbing the palms of the hands together,
Creating heat between them,
Bringing them in prayer position between your eyebrows,
Bowing towards your altar,
Towards gratitude,
Towards life.
Take a deep inhale,
Exhale,
Bring the hands down to your knees,
Still observing,
Visualizing,
Feeling the presence of gratitude activating your altar.
One more deep exhale,
Start blinking your eyes open.
Thank you so much for joining me today for activating your altar,
Your gratitude practice.
If you feel the call,
I would love to hear your experience with this gratitude practice.
Many blessings on your life,
Your altar,
Your gratitude practice.
