Welcome to this practice of appreciation.
Taking a moment now to just come into your breath.
Come into a comfortable seated position.
Close the eyes.
And just begin by focusing on the area of the chest now.
Of the heart.
And you're just going to breathe,
Simply breathe into this space of the heart.
Often associated with receptivity,
With acceptance,
With listening.
And just being aware of any thinking,
Any habitual thoughts or tensions that may have built up in your mind during the day.
And we're just going to soften now in this moment.
To breathe into the heart.
And we're going to start by just contemplating one thing that happened to us today,
That we appreciated.
It may be something very simple,
Whatever it is.
Perhaps a meal you shared with somebody.
Perhaps a brilliant piece of work or idea you contributed.
Perhaps your ability to overcome some kind of limitation or obstacle.
Whatever it was,
Just kind of contemplate that for a second,
Just that one thing.
Taking a breath with that.
And contemplating another thing,
Another simple thing that happened to you today,
Which you would like to give thanks to in this moment.
And taking a breath with that,
Allowing the kind of idea or the thing to fall away.
And you just connect to the sensation of gratitude now.
Just how that feels in your body,
That thankfulness.
And once again,
Just scanning your day and allowing yourself to kind of intuitively pick up another thing that brought you some light.
That made you smile or inspired,
Whatever it was.
Just something there.
And again,
As you bring your perception into your heart,
You just kind of breathe with this sensation of gratitude.
And now I invite you to reflect on the people or relations in your life that you may be grateful for.
They may be close friends or family,
Sons or daughters,
Parents.
They may be people that you work with or you kind of see and appreciate on a daily basis.
And just connect to the qualities,
The energy of those people in this moment.
Hold that in your heart.
And once again,
You can kind of let the individuals or the specific people fall away.
And you now just connect to the sensation that comes into your body.
And you allow yourself to kind of expand this from the chest and out into the rest of the body.
Really just receiving everything you've generated,
Everything you've been given.
And on your next breath now,
Taking a moment to contemplate the whole spectrum of life.
So from the day you were born and as you went through your learning process and into your life today,
To all the places you've visited and appreciated,
To all the beauty of nature,
Of culture,
Of everything that's surrounded and animated your very existence up into this time.
And take a moment now to hold that in your heart,
To hold that whole spectrum of life in your heart.
Everything that made you grow,
Everything that motivated you.
Just allow it to kind of merge into your body.
Allowing that sensation to freely move,
Freely move into all the corners of your being.
Taking a deep inhale and a deep exhale.
And just as a final acknowledgement now,
Giving a thankfulness to yourself for taking this moment of appreciation and reflection today.
Taking a deep breath with that,
Feeling the appreciation for the simplicity of the air that passes in and out through your lungs.
And bringing your awareness now into your body,
Into your contact points with the surface you're sitting on.
Taking your time,
Gently bringing your eyes open.
Thank you.
