Feel Gratitude In Your Body

Gratitude is a feeling that you can intentionally access to change your experience of life. Through a series of guided questions and spacious pauses, you are invited to move beyond thinking about what you're grateful for into locating gratitude as a physical sensation in the body that you can return to over time.

In moments when gratitude feels out of reach, desire and longing may take its place. This practice invites you to explore how these feelings are connected on a spectrum, where you can hold them all together in the truth of your experience.

The questions for contemplation in this meditation can also be used as journaling prompts to deepen your gratitude practice. Bookmark this audio so you can return to it the next time you want to feel more gratitude.

Transcript

The intention of this meditation is to cultivate gratitude. For many of us, Gratitude does not come naturally. This is because our brains are wired for survival. We look for danger. If we want to see blessings, We have to train ourselves by acknowledging them. This meditation practice is a reminder that you have the power to shape your experience of life. To begin this meditation, I'll ask a series of questions. I will give time after each question for you to contemplate your answer or write your answer down in a journal. You can even pause the video if you want more time to write. Many meditators find a journaling practice to be supportive of their meditation. Journaling gives you an opportunity to get your thoughts on paper so that the mind has more space for new pathways of thought. Whether you write or contemplate, Find a cozy, Comfortable position, One that feels nurturing to you. This is part of the meditation. You are intended to feel good. Think of a time when you felt gratitude. Paint the picture. Where were you? Who was there? What did you see? What sounds did you hear? Add as much sensory detail to the experience as possible. How did you know that you felt gratitude? What was the feeling in your body? How do you act when you are grateful? How does gratitude change you? Why do you want to feel grateful? Is there a particular experience you can think of where you wished you felt gratitude but didn't? In what way do you hope gratitude will change your life? I invite you to rest in the resonance of the memories, Stories, Thoughts, Emotions, And sensations that these questions unearth for you. Be with your truth. Follow the path your mind takes without shame or judgment. Trust your instincts. Call into your awareness the feeling of gratitude in your body. See if you can connect with how it feels to be grateful. Replay the memory of a time you felt grateful as you look for the sensations in your body. Bathe in gratitude. Rub it on your skin like a lotion. Set yourself free to be moved and transformed by this quality of perception. This is your ability to receive and appreciate the gifts of life. Perhaps other words, Thoughts, Or memories come into your awareness as you explore gratitude. Can you welcome those into your experience with curiosity about what gifts they have to share? Whatever is arising for you in this moment is meant for you. Receive your intuition with warmth and gratitude for all the wisdom it has to share. When we don't feel gratitude, What we feel is desire, Longing. Unable to appreciate the abundance of what we have right now, We are seeking something else, Something more. Think of a time when you deeply desired something. What does the feeling of desire and longing feel like in your body? Can you recreate the sensation now? Dance between these feeling states of desire and gratitude. Can you give yourself over to one and then the other? Feel yourself moving, Flowing, Falling completely into one, And then the pull, The call of the other. If you want to physically move your body or make gestures, You are welcome to do so. When you are ready, I invite you to release these sensations of gratitude and desire and come back into a neutral state in your body. Connect with your breath, Whatever this means for you. Notice the quality of your breath. Notice how your whole body feels. How has this practice moved and changed you? Savor this feeling in your body. Make a mental map of what you have cultivated and know that you have access to this way of being at any time. Take a moment to express gratitude to your memory and the people involved, To yourself for taking the time to do this practice, And to the qualities of gratitude and desire for how they connect us more deeply to the experience of life. I invite you to find a small movement that feels like an expression of self-gratitude. You might wrap your arms around yourself in a hug, Squeeze your palms together, Or place one hand on the heart and another hand on the belly. Take your time as you transition out of this meditation and back into your environment. Find gentle movement to release where you've just been. Gaze with soft eyes around your space and take it in. Maybe even find something to rest your attention on for a moment that you are grateful for. Take a breath in. And out as you gaze at that object and send it your thanks. Know that you can do this small practice of observing and thinking at any point in your day with anyone or to yourself. After this meditation, I invite you to continue journaling. What did this practice unlock for you? What do you want to remember from this experience? And the next time you are seeking gratitude, This practice is here to support you.