Hi,
My name is Carolyn Zeal.
Thank you so much for joining me today to meditate and journal on gratitude.
I appreciate you being here and I appreciate you.
There are so many benefits to being in a state of thankfulness,
Of feeling gratitude.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines gratitude as a strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something.
I love this definition.
It's so active.
It's bold.
A strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something.
And the benefits for this strong feeling of appreciation of gratitude are many.
Studies show gratitude improves your physical health,
Improves your mental health,
Enhances empathy,
Reduces aggression,
And grateful people are happier and sleep better.
And here we are living through unprecedented times of stress,
Fear,
Anxiety,
Loss,
And sadness.
We're experiencing a lot of change.
And although we never really know what's coming next,
That feeling of not knowing and what it does in our bodies is heightened because of our global crisis.
And maybe for some focusing on gratitude might seem insignificant,
Might make someone feel guilty knowing someone else might be suffering.
And here's the thing,
Focusing on gratitude is more important than ever.
I know that when I'm able to feel into my gratitude,
I can more easily show up for others in my life.
I can lead by example.
If you can tap into your gratitude,
You can find your inner strength.
You can reach out to someone else that might need a little support,
A little lift,
A little gratitude,
A little light in their life.
And like many things that bring us peace,
Joy,
And light,
Gratitude is a practice,
The practice of noticing and being thankful for what is valuable and meaningful to you.
And as you practice gratitude,
Remember the Cambridge dictionary definition,
Which is active and bold,
A strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something.
Our gratitude is active.
It's ever changing.
And in one moment,
We can shift from negativity to positivity just by focusing on one small thing that makes us feel grateful.
So today we will practice.
We'll do a little meditation and then we'll do some journaling.
So find yourself in a comfortable position,
Ideally seated,
Your journal by your side.
And when you feel ready and settled in,
Close your eyes.
Take in a deep breath through your nose,
Feeling your belly rise and your chest expand,
Holding it at the top and sigh it out as you do,
Feeling your belly fall.
Another deep breath in,
Belly rise,
Expand your chest,
Filling your lungs,
Holding it at the top and sighing everything out,
Letting everything go.
And one more deep breath deeper than the one before,
Pulling in all that oxygen,
All that nourishment,
Holding it at the top.
And as you release,
Let go of anything that does not serve you in this moment.
Focus now on your breath,
Witnessing without trying to change it,
Just focus on your breath.
And as you breathe,
Think about what your breath does,
How it nourishes you,
Supplying that oxygen to your lungs,
To your bloodstream,
Pumping all that life force through your body.
In this moment,
Thinking about your breath,
The simple act of breathing,
Which creates a complicated,
Beautiful process in your body,
And all you have to do is just be thinking about this,
This miracle of your breath.
How do you feel in this moment as you breathe in and out,
Focusing on your breath and the miracle that your breath is?
Gently shift your focus to your heart.
Notice your heart,
Your beating heart.
As you notice your heart beating without you having to try to make it beat,
How do you feel?
Are you grateful for your heart?
Breathe into your heart and just feel yourself,
Feel that life force beating in your chest.
And as you feel your heart beating without you having to try to make it beat,
How do you feel?
When you feel ready,
Gently open your eyes and turn toward your journal and write about your gratitude for your heart and your breath.
There's no right or wrong way to do this exercise.
You're simply writing about all that gratitude that you feel for your heart and for your breath.
You You You I invite you now to think about one thing that made you smile yesterday and write about that And as you write about that one simple thing that made you smile Also include how you feel as you write about it and be as detailed as you like Remembering there's no right or wrong way to do this exercise I'll give you some time You You You Let's expand on this gratitude Think of someone in your life that you're grateful for and write about all the reasons That you feel gratitude for this person You You You Let's bring it a little bit closer to home and Think about one thing that you're grateful for about yourself One thing that you're grateful for about yourself and write about that and It could be a big thing Maybe a quality that you possess or it could be something that you've done for another person Something that you've accomplished that you're proud of Or it could be as simple as your heartbeat or your breath Whatever it is write about one thing that you're grateful for about yourself Remembering there's no wrong or right thing to write You You You Let's take it one step further What is one thing that you can do today?
To make someone else Feel appreciated and thus grateful What is one thing you can do today for someone else to bring a little light into their life?
By making them feel appreciated and thus grateful You might want to write it like this Today I bow Today I bow to show someone My gratitude toward them by and then you can complete that sentence I'll give you some time You You When you feel complete I invite you to close your eyes and come back to yourself Noticing your breath Noticing your heart And in this moment Noticing how you feel you may actively be feeling gratitude Or you may be feeling something else and that's okay,
Too No matter how you're feeling in this moment,
Remember there's no wrong or right way to feel And know that you can always come back to your journal and you could practice this process of journaling about gratitude over and over and over again Thank you so much for taking the time to practice gratitude and meditation and journaling with me today Have a beautiful,
Beautiful day Know that I am grateful for you Thank you.
Namaste.
