Gratitude For Life

Immerse yourself in the natural world and your sensations to bring a deep sense of gratitude for this life that we are living. Being grateful can encourage positive emotions such as kindness and self-compassion while also helping enhance our creativity and problem-solving capacities.

Transcript

Gratitude.

A gratitude practice can be used to promote a positive mood,

Hope and resilience.

As we experience positive emotions such as gratitude,

Loving kindness and compassion,

Our awareness broadens and our creativity and problem solving capacities blossom.

And as we become more effective in whatever we choose to do,

Being grateful can also banish depressive and negative thoughts and raise our energy levels.

We don't need to wait for a surprise or act of kindness from a friend to feel gratitude for what we have.

We can exercise gratitude every day,

Celebrating the small things we have that we often take for granted.

Cultivating a daily gratitude practice can have a long reaching positive influence on our thoughts,

Feelings and actions,

Helping to bring us the love,

Joy and happiness that we all desire in our life.

Let's get ourselves into a comfortable and sustainable position.

A position that you are going to be able to maintain for at least 20 minutes.

You may like to sit cross legged on the floor,

On a chair or even lie down.

Do not worry if you fall off to sleep during this meditation,

There is no expectations for this practice.

Whatever happens for you is exactly the way it should be.

Just feel yourself supported by the surface below you.

Feel the touch points where you connect with the earth.

You may feel your feet or thighs connecting with the earth or your buttocks and back against the chair or floor.

Just feel how supported you are and allow yourself to sink deeper and deeper into the earth below.

You may feel an energy from Mother Earth as she gently holds you in the space where you are.

She cradles and supports your practice of going from the outer world into your inner world to connect with yourself and the universal energy that is all around us and within us always.

You may begin to notice sounds in or outside the room.

You may hear a car,

An air conditioner or people talking.

Or you may even hear your own body digesting or your heart beating in your chest.

Just listen without creating attachment or judgement of the sounds you hear.

Just allow them to be.

I'd like you to now take a deep breath in right into your belly.

Feel it filling up with air.

Feel your whole body filling up as you breathe in.

Allow a slight pause at the top then slowly exhale.

Try to make your exhale slower than your inhale.

This signals to your body that it is time to relax and let go.

It's safe for you to be sitting or laying here.

Safe to be taking time for yourself.

Safe for you to go within and nurture yourself.

You have nowhere to be and all is well.

Take another deep deep breath in and feel your whole body filling up with the clean life giving air that we are lucky enough to have all around us.

Take a slight pause at the top of the inhale and then slowly let the breath go.

Take a minute or so now to breathe deeply in and ever so slowly out.

You may want to breathe in for a count of 3 and out for a count of 6 or in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 8.

Whatever works for you just let that be.

Feeling yourself relaxing more and more with each breath.

Each breath in allows a chance to intake fresh new clean oxygen that nourishes your body,

Mind and soul and each out breath allows you to let go of what no longer serves you such as any pain,

Stuck tension or emotions.

They can all be released and leave the body now.

Feel your body sinking deeper and deeper getting heavier and heavier with each breath.

You are feeling so relaxed and at peace with where you are and what you are doing.

If you have any thoughts coming up as you go deeper and deeper into relaxation just notice these thoughts,

Don't engage with them or get caught up in a story that the mind wants to follow.

Just see them for what they are,

Just thoughts,

That's all they are.

Once you can see them for what they are you are able to let them go and let them float off into the distance.

Thoughts come and they go,

There will always be thoughts as long as you are alive but they hold no weight in the present moment.

At the present moment you are transitioning from focus on the outside world to focusing on the world within.

Focusing on your body,

Your breath and the essential love energy that is within all of us.

I now invite you to access your dream-like mind and be inspired by the images,

Feelings and insights that will come up as you journey within and connect more deeply with yourself and your spiritual resources.

We will be immersing our senses in the visual images,

The sounds and the smells of being in a green lush forest.

We each have our own way of using our senses to experience the present moment.

This journey will help you heighten your awareness through all of your senses.

As we begin our journey as you sense and imagine that it's a beautiful summer's day and you are walking in a magnificent oil growth forest,

Trees are amazing,

They are so tall and big that they have been here for hundreds of years.

They have seen many people come and go and still they stand.

Their roots go deep into the earth and are therefore pulsating with the energy from Mother Earth.

You can feel the deeply grounded energy of these tall trees swirling all around you in the air.

Take a moment now to stand and feel this energy all around you and going through you,

Filling you up with this amazing,

Amazing feeling of light and love.

Feel this energy with all your being,

Pulsating and sparkling in your body.

Feel yourself being filled up from your toes to the top of your head with this amazing,

Grounded energy.

Just say to yourself,

I am so grateful for this beautiful forest,

The energy that it is producing and that it is helping me to raise my vibration and energy levels.

Really identify what you are grateful for about this forest and about the energy that is filling you up as you speak.

It may be the feel of the smooth and rough bark that covers these trees.

Just take a moment now to feel the different textures with your fingers and hands and feel gratitude for your sense of touch and the sensations and depth that it brings to your life.

You may want to hug the tree with gratitude for the life giving oxygen that it produces for us every single moment of the day.

As you hug the tree you may feel the pulsating energy coming from deep within Mother Earth.

Take a deep breath in of this fresh,

Clean and pure air that is all around you in this green and lush forest.

Feel that air permeating and penetrating every cell of your body,

Bringing life,

Renewal and healing to all parts of your body.

Feel gratitude for your body and its ability to accept and use this air to cultivate energy,

Relaxation and health in your body.

Thank your lungs that breathe the air,

Your heart that helps to bring the air to all parts of your body and your brain that orchestrates this magical rhythm and balance called life.

As you let go of the tree a beautiful,

Big colourful butterfly slowly flaps its wings as it floats past you.

Just watch the gracefulness and beauty of this creature as it makes its way across space.

We are so lucky to have sight.

It enables us to really deeply appreciate the beauty that is all around us.

We are able to see sunsets,

Sunrises,

The smiles of our family and friends,

The waves in the ocean and the movement of the wind in the leaves that are above your head right now.

Take a moment now to think of all the things that you are grateful you can see.

Really go deep into the feelings behind these gifts that we are given every single day.

Just now a gentle warm breeze blows gently around you and you can feel the sensation on your bare skin.

It feels amazing.

The gentle breeze also brings with it a scent of summer flowers that are dotted all around the forest.

All different shapes,

Sizes and colours you can see.

You may like to pick your favourite one and breathe its sweet scent in deeply enjoying the pleasure that it brings to you.

There are other smells that you may start to notice now like the smell of the fresh air or the soft moist air that comes from the forest floor.

The smell of green and summer air mingling together that takes you into a dream-like state of places from your past when you have felt so content and happy to be out in nature,

Surrounded by beauty and the earth's abundant energy.

As you walk along the faint path on the forest floor you hear the sound of water up ahead.

So you follow the sound and find yourself in front of a small but fast running stream filled with the most clearest water that you have ever seen.

You reach down and run your fingers through the water.

It is cold and crisp against the warm summer air.

You know that this water has come from atop a tall mountain cooled by the air high above as it has made its way down the mountain to be in front of you now.

You find yourself in a comfortable position just next to the stream so you can sit and enjoy the sound of the running water.

You sink down onto a bed of soft ground cover and lie back cushioned and comfortable on the soft ground.

You look up above you into the canopy of the forest and see the birds in the branches flying around the tree tops and up in the bright blue sky.

Other than the sounds of the birds chirping and the water running it is very quiet and so peaceful here.

Feel yourself unwinding and connecting with the beauty and nature all around you,

Letting go of any worries and returning to the deep sense of calm that is within you.

Just allow yourself to deeply appreciate everything that is all around you and within you.

Feel it on a deep cellular level.

As we begin to close out this meditation on gratefulness I would like you to gently come back into the room.

Use all your senses to begin to connect again with your environment.

Hear the sounds outside the room.

Now hear the sounds inside the room.

The people around you and yourself.

Feel the clothes on your skin,

Feel your body lying or sitting on the ground.

Feel any breezes that may be in the room or on your skin.

You may like to gently wiggle your toes and fingers or you may feel like taking a big stretch to really ground yourself back into your body and when you are ready you may open up your eyes.

Feel the connection that you have made with your senses and your environment and carry with you the gratitude that you feel deep down in your body for everything that you have and that you are.

Reviews

Thanks so much for your lovely meditation. May the joy be with you. Namaste