Hey,
I'm Coach Danny and I lead meditation so that you can play at an elite level in your personal and professional life.
Today,
We're going to be practicing a gratitude meditation.
And this isn't your everyday gratitude practice where you just think about what you're grateful for.
You're going to leave here actually feeling it to your core and gratitude for the beautiful things in your life,
Gratitude for the everyday stuff and also for the challenges.
So if you're ready,
I'm ready too.
Let's begin our practice.
So I'm going to invite you to get into a comfortable position and taking a nice upright posture if you are choosing to sit.
And you're also welcome to lie down.
And if you are sitting,
Tilting the forehead slightly down,
Tucking the chin just slightly in so you get a nice alignment at the neck and the back.
Placing your hands on either your lap or one hand on either leg and opening up the chest,
Maybe 10%.
Allowing the shoulders to fall away from the head,
Feeling your feet and where they make contact with the ground beneath you.
We'll begin our practice by setting an intention to fully be here,
To be here right now,
Letting go of what you were doing earlier and what needs to be done,
But giving yourself that gift to be fully present for this meditation.
And we'll seal that with three deep breaths.
Breathing in through the nose,
Slowly out through the mouth.
Once again,
Breathing into the belly,
The chest,
The lungs,
Filling in,
Slowly releasing,
Letting go,
Letting go.
And one more time,
Biggest breath you've perhaps taken today,
Filling the whole body with light,
Energy and releasing.
Letting go,
Letting go deeper into this moment.
And I'll invite you to return back to your natural rhythm of breath,
Allowing your breath to happen on its own,
No manipulation or changing it.
As you do so,
Following that inhale and the exhale,
I'm gonna take a few moments to relax the body even deeper because when we are present in the body,
We are present in this moment.
And so starting at the face,
Just noticing if you're holding any tension that might look like softening the eyes,
Relaxing the forehead,
Relaxing the tongue,
Unclenching the jaw perhaps.
Taking one more deep breath into the face and letting go.
Moving down to the shoulders,
Maybe there's an opportunity to release any tension,
Any tension that's ready to be released.
So we'll take a deep breath into the shoulders,
Raising them up towards the head and then letting them fall.
Notice if there's any tension in the hands.
Maybe you wanna soften the hands.
As you do so,
Wiggling the fingers,
Noticing all the different sensations,
Softening the belly.
As you do so,
Just feeling the expansion of the belly as you breathe in and deflating as it breathes out.
Feeling your seat beneath you and the support that it provides and then feeling your left and right foot.
Noticing if there's any tension that wants to be released.
So I'll invite you to take one deep breath into your feet and letting go.
Imagining any tension just releasing out of the feet into the earth.
As you continue to breathe,
Noticing any shifts in the body,
Even from a few minutes ago,
From when we first sat down.
Just becoming mindful of this moment.
And we're gonna begin to transition to our gratitude practice.
And if at any time your mind gets distracted,
Goes into thoughts,
Stories,
Judgments,
It's all good.
Just recognizing that happens whenever you recognize it and just bring it back to my voice and listen to the next guidance that I'll be providing.
So that happens a thousand times.
It's all good.
Just come back.
And so as you bring your awareness up to your mind's eye,
Your imagination,
I want to invite you to bring to mind somebody in your life that is just so easy to love.
When you think about them,
Maybe you can't help but smile.
It's really not a lot of complications with this relationship.
It's so much joy that this person exists in your life.
And as you bring them to mind,
Seeing their face,
Their expression,
Even what they're wearing,
Just seeing them brings that love into your body.
Noticing that shift of emotion.
It could even be a pet.
And as you take them in,
Just reflecting on how amazing it is that this person,
This being is in your life.
And how life would just be a bit more dull or something would be missing if they weren't there.
All the memories that they've provided as being a part of your life.
And you're welcome to whisper to them,
Thank you.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
Thank you for existing.
And as you do so,
Maybe feeling where in your body that gratitude is coming from.
Maybe it's a feeling throughout your whole body.
Maybe you feel it in your heart.
Connecting in with that.
Take one more deep breath and let it go.
Letting their image fade and just coming back to your breath.
And then I'll invite you to shift from that person to part of nature.
So this could be anything like the sun,
The clouds,
Smell of the air,
Body of water like an ocean,
The flowers,
The animals,
Smell of sweet grass after it's cut,
Changing of the seasons,
Whatever that is,
Just picking something that easily brings you joy.
And again,
Reflecting on how life would just be a little bit more empty if that didn't exist.
Reflecting on the joy that it brings you.
What it catches your attention,
Stops you in your tracks from your day to day.
How that feels to really just embrace that moment where you're appreciating that aspect of nature.
And you're welcome to whisper to yourself,
Thank you.
Thank you for existing.
And with a deep breath,
Letting it go.
And that image fades.
Next,
I want to invite you to bring to mind a challenge that you've already overcome.
Maybe this was when you were younger.
Maybe it was recently.
At the time it tested you,
Pushed you to your limit,
Made you question.
And yet you made it through.
And maybe you would never wish that upon anyone else.
But you also walked away with some deep lessons.
You're changed because of it.
You're better able to handle and meet life.
You're stronger,
More compassionate,
More patient,
More loving.
Because of this challenge that you faced and overcame.
And not choosing anything that I would deem traumatic,
But something that really tested you.
Just notice the progression of you going through it and now being on the other side.
Sometimes those challenges make us who we are today.
They make us great.
And we wouldn't have gotten to where we were without it.
So can you whisper,
Thank you.
Thank you for getting through.
Thank you for who I am today.
Taking a deep breath and letting it go.
And next,
Bring to mind a current challenge that you're going through.
Maybe it's something personal or maybe it's with somebody else.
Although it can be really difficult to find the positive side of something that can be so challenging when we're in it.
Can you recall that the previous challenge that you made it through?
You'll also make it through this one too.
That there's lessons waiting for you on the other side.
And that you get to decide how you show up in these challenges or in this challenge.
And it's going to shape you to become the person that you're meant to be.
If you embrace it,
Something waiting on the other side.
And so with that,
Can you whisper thank you.
Finding some part of gratitude for what you are being given by the universe to get to that next level.
Thank you.
Feeling that resilience,
That perseverance,
And the wisdom that's in this challenge.
And for that,
Thank you.
Taking a deep breath and letting it go.
And lastly,
I want to invite you to bring to mind an image of yourself.
This could be the little version of you,
Whatever age comes to mind.
Maybe it's five,
Eight,
Teenager.
Maybe you can imagine looking at yourself in the mirror today.
Whatever feels more aligned and connected,
Go with that.
As you see yourself at whatever age,
Just notice what comes up.
And sometimes this can be the hardest part.
To be grateful for ourselves.
That we may mess up,
But we're still here.
Still have the opportunity to be the best version of who we can be.
And through the challenges,
We're still here.
That we are uniquely ourselves.
And that is a gift to the world.
So if you feel called,
Placing a hand on your heart and whispering thank you.
And for some of you that may be tough,
Keep practicing.
The more we practice being grateful,
The stronger that muscle gets.
Taking a final moment to be in this space.
Taking a deep breath and letting it go.
And just connecting back in once again with your regular breath.
Connecting into your senses,
Noticing the sounds in the room.
Temperature,
Support of whatever you're sitting or lying down on.
And notice the shift,
Even if it's slight,
From when you first sat down.
What does it feel like to have intentionally practiced evoking the emotion of gratitude?
The feeling of gratitude?
Where do you feel that in your body?
And know that this is something you can return to at any time.
That the more you practice what you're grateful for,
The more natural it may feel.
So when you're ready,
I'll invite you to begin to bring some movement back into the body.
Maybe wiggling the fingers and the toes.
And slowly opening your eyes when you're ready.
You're also welcome to take as much time as you'd like.
But I want to thank you for practicing with me today.
Allowing me to share this practice with you.
And I hope you have a beautiful day.
