Grounded In Gratitude Meditation

My relationship with Gratitude has been nuanced. I thought of it as spiritual gaslighting. To the point where I felt acknowledging anything good about me & my life would negate the things that weren't right. Navigating Higher ed. and the nonprofit industrial complex, we're often taught to lead with our trauma first. We are so much more than our trauma and the worst moments of our lives. This meditation is here to help guide you away from that and to gratitude. I hope you get what you need.
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Transcript

Hello. I hope you all are having a wonderful day, A wonderful night. Wherever this may find you, I hope that you are doing well and I hope that you're safe and healthy. This meditation I wanted to ground us in gratitude before we head to sleep. We often think about starting off our days in gratitude, But it's also important to end our days in gratitude. I used to have such an adverse relationship to the whole concept of gratitude because I saw it as this spiritual way of gaslighting myself or convincing myself that things were okay when they weren't. But I'm finally at a place where I realized that acknowledging the good, Acknowledging the things that are going well, And acknowledging the things that are going right does not negate or minimize the things that aren't where you want them to be. You can still pause and acknowledge that there is good, That there are good people in your life in the midst of betrayal, That there is blessings in the midst of tragedy, And that there is abundance and just enough. So wherever you are, I want you to get comfortable and I want you to get ready to meditate with me. Now it is raining and thundering here, So if you hear a little lightning, A little thunder, Just rock with it. You know, It's like we got us a little natural ambiance. The universe is here with us. Give us a little background music because we never have background music on Meditations with Dezhi. So just in joy the ride. So wherever you are, Once you're comfortable, I want you to take a deep breath in for three seconds and hold it for four seconds and release. Let's do that one more time. Breathe in for three seconds and hold your breath for one, Two, Three, Four, And release. If you're ready and you're comfortable at this point, I'd like you to close your eyes, Focus on your breath, Stay with your breath, And just listen to my words. What are you grateful for? What are the things about you that you are grateful for? Are you funny? Are you resilient? Are you emotionally intelligent? Are you alive, Surviving a global pandemic? I want you to sit in stillness for a while and keep with that three, Four deep exhale breath and just think about what are the things about you that you are grateful for? I am grateful for every moment that you did not give up. I am grateful for every moment that you took a chance on yourself. I am grateful for every moment that you got up again, Even when everything around you told you to stay down. I'm grateful that you find moments like this one to give your mind a moment of stillness, A moment of rest, A moment of peace. I'm grateful that you love yourself so much that you would do that for you. I'm grateful that you are here. I am grateful that you are beautiful. I am grateful that you are holy. I am grateful that you are divine in your blackness, In your transness, In your queerness, In your disabledness, In your indigenousness, In all of who you are. You are divine and I am grateful that you are holy just as you are, Just as you came into this world. I am grateful that you are a deeply spiritual being with an intuition that connects to the creator of the universe, With an intuition that connects to your ancestral lineage. You have the knowledge of those who came before you, Living inside of you. I am grateful for your deep wisdom. I am grateful for the many moments of rest that will come your way. I am grateful for the many shoulders that will be there to catch your tears. I am grateful for the ears that will be there to hear you out, The ears that will lend you understanding. And I am grateful for the lips that will speak life into your spirit. I am grateful for the eyes that will see your beauty. And I'm grateful for the soul. I am grateful for the prayers that will protect you. I am grateful for your steps being ordered. I am grateful that you are holy in all things. What are you grateful for? What about yourself are you grateful for? Are you grateful for where you come from, Where you're going? Whatever it may be, Even if it's just one thing, Hold on to it. And I want you to sit with it in stillness. If you find yourself losing your train of thought, Your mind wondering, It is okay. Tell your thoughts that you'll come back to them after this meditation. But right now, This time is for you. If you lose yourself in your thoughts, Return back to the three, Four breath that we did in the beginning of this meditation. That is, Breathe in for three seconds. Hold it for four and release. Focus on that breath. Focus on your one thing or your many things. Focus. Allow yourself to sit in your gratitude. Allow yourself to see the beauty that so many others see in you. Allow yourself to be enamored with your own essence, To be awakened by your own spirit, To be inspired by your own soul, To be reinvigorated by your own commitment to yourself. Sit here for a few more breaths. What are you grateful for? If you had trouble answering this question at the end of this meditation, Find a piece of paper or pull up your notes in your phone and just write it down. What about myself am I grateful for? Revisit this question as you think about it. Think about the ways that you have survived the impossible, The ways that you have overcome and moved mountains. Come back to this question until you can give yourself one thing and then many things. I want you to wiggle your toes, Wiggle your fingers, Rock from side to side. Start to bring your presence back into the room and whenever you're ready you can open your eyes. It is okay to acknowledge the things that are good about you even as you are working to improve, As you are working to become a better version of yourself, As you are working to come home to yourself. It's okay even when we have so much work to do it is okay for us to acknowledge all the work that we have already done. It's okay to give yourself a pat on the back every now and then and it's okay to not be striving to not be seeking but to be grateful for all that you have already done because you have done so much just by being here, Just by existing. I am so grateful for you and thank you for listening and I hope you get what you need. I hope this serves you well and if you have any feedback or questions please let me know and I'm here to talk. Thank you.

Reviews

This meditation brought me to tears at the end. I love what you shared about how gratitude sometimes can feel like gaslighting yourself. I’ve never been able to put it to words. The shadows are just as important and I’m so used to beating myself up when everything isn’t in ‘alignment’, ignoring the things that I HAVE done. Thank you for this🫶🏾✨

Hunti, hunti, hunti✨️ I am grateful I found you; so needed this! 🙏🏾

So grateful, beautiful meditation Desi. Have a wonderful week ahead. Namaste 🙏🏻✨🩵

I love how natural and free of cliche your meditation script is. You sound like the coolest person.

I especially loved the part about the thunder and the universe - it really made me smile.

Thank you! ♡♡♡

Thank you, that was just what I didn't realise I needed! X