Gratitude For The Past Year: Mindful Goodbye To The Year 1

Let's cultivate gratitude and positive reflection as we prepare to bid farewell to the year. This is a recording of our 'Mindful Goodbye To The Year' Live Session, where we delve into the power of gratitude through 1) Guided meditation traveling through the past year, focusing on moments of joy, growth, and learning; 2) Discussion of our experiences and insights on the benefits of gratitude journaling; 3) Community connection and support for reflection and sharing. This event is part of my “Mindful Goodbye to the Year” course, which you can discover in my profile. Be sure to follow me to stay updated on the course launch and other upcoming live events. Let's come together to celebrate the passing year and set positive intentions for the new one

Transcript

Hello.

Hello guys.

Thank you so much for your presence.

Welcome to our space today.

My name is Diana.

I am a MindBodyConnection coach,

A psychosomatic specialist,

And a meditation teacher.

So I'm very excited to host this live event that is dedicated to Mindfully Saying Goodbye to 2024.

This series of live events is dedicated not only to reflect on the past year,

But also to learn from our experiences,

To express gratitude of what we will be exactly doing today,

And to set the tone for 2025,

To understand deeply what contributes to our life,

What really resonates with us,

What we want to bring from this year to the future,

And so on.

I find it a very useful,

Very effective reflection in general.

I'm doing it myself every year,

Closer to the end of the year,

Maybe the 30th or 31st of December,

But so I hope you guys are already in the mood for the change,

For the shift of the year.

Let me know how you feel about that.

Whether you are already in this kind of Christmas or New Year mood or not yet,

Or maybe not at all,

Probably you're not celebrating the holidays,

But you're here for some other reason.

Please guys,

Let me know.

I always love to have this sort of a discussion in our live events,

Rather than just me talking and sharing some information and so on.

Also,

This live event was inspired not only by my personal will to reflect on the past year,

Which was very rich in experiences and emotions,

But also it is kind of the first step towards the course that I am planning to launch next week here on Insight Timer.

That will be the course,

Mindful Goodbye to the Year.

I encourage you guys to follow my profile here,

So you will keep in touch and you will not lose the future live events and you'll stay up to date to the release of the course.

I'm sure that it will benefit everyone and every person will be able to not only to learn something new about themselves,

But also to improve their lives.

So I try to bring as much value into this course as possible from my coaching experience,

My personal practices.

So I'm just very,

Very excited and happy to share it with the world.

And I can see a couple of comments.

Let me go through them.

Kathleen,

8 p.

M.

In the evening here,

I'm in the middle of England and it feels very Christmassy and full winter.

Wow.

That sounds really amazing.

I'm missing winter and snow so much.

That is what Christmas time and new year has been for me during the past,

I don't know,

25 years,

But the last seven years I'm traveling and mostly in the opposite hemisphere,

So now it's winter,

Sorry,

Now it's summertime here in Brazil,

But still a lot of Christmas mood going on.

And Demetra,

Hi,

Sorry.

Oh,

My throat.

Hi,

First time for me here and I'm also looking forward to leaving some things of this year behind.

Yeah,

Definitely.

I feel you in this as well.

Oh,

So yeah,

Guys,

Let's take a deep breath together.

Thank you both for your comments,

Guys.

I really appreciate this communication from both sides and let's all settle down into the present moment and let's take a deep breath,

Sending the air deep into the belly,

Chest and your head and releasing it all the way to the side and letting your body and mind relax just a little bit and let's repeat it once again,

Full depth,

Deep breath in and a breath out,

Put a light smile into your lips and allow yourself to dedicate this time just to yourself,

To the community,

To the exploration of life itself while we are here in this space together.

Demetra,

Another comment for me,

Well,

It's looking a lot like Christmas here in Italy too.

Okay,

Italy.

Yeah,

I can imagine.

I've been in Italy in December,

Middle of December,

A few years ago.

It was amazing.

It looked amazing.

So yeah,

I can imagine that.

Excellent.

So of course,

Guys,

If you will be having any questions or comments during our live event today,

Please always feel free to share your thoughts,

Opinions here in the chat box,

Your experience and whatever comes to your mind,

It is a safe space to be yourself,

To express yourself and I always encourage you guys to shine your light,

So do not be shy and please participate in the forms that you would like to,

Well,

And I'm having my kind of plan for this live event in front of me.

So I'll be looking into that.

Right.

So the topic of this first live is gratitude.

So I think the best way to start working and reflecting in the past year is just to be grateful for everything and anything that has happened.

And as we are here today now together,

It means that we have lived through any challenges,

Any difficult situations and we survived,

We are alive and let's celebrate that.

Let's say thanks not only to the positive moments,

To any highlights that are popping up in our head probably,

But also to the lessons that we've learned,

To the challenges that made us stronger and so on.

We will go into more detail and depth of it during our session.

And in the beginning,

I would just like to mention a few words for you guys.

Thank you so much for your presence,

For being here.

It means a lot to me and I love the connection that we have here in the community.

And I would like to encourage you guys to donate during our live events or maybe after,

And maybe not only to me for hosting this free live event,

But also to other teachers on the platform.

As a teacher myself,

I can say that it is an immense support for us,

Not only financially,

But also knowing that it is of your interest,

That it is something valuable that we are sharing with the world,

The time that we are spending together.

So thank you so much guys for your donations in advance.

And let's dive into gratitude.

I'm sure that all of us have heard about the benefits of gratitude,

Different practices.

I'm pretty sure that almost everyone here practices gratitude in these or that form.

And I would like to hear from you guys,

Maybe what are you grateful for right now?

And how do you usually practice gratitude?

What tips or tricks do you have for this practice?

Or maybe your favorite forms of gratitude.

I will be very happy to know from you and also to learn from you.

Maybe we can also discover not so obvious benefits of gratitude.

For me,

The practice of gratitude maybe started five years ago,

Almost six years ago with a journaling gratitude journal.

In the beginning,

I've heard a lot influencers or meditation teachers speaking about it on YouTube,

On other platforms.

And I decided,

Okay,

I'm going to give it a try.

I have nothing to lose,

Maybe just a bit of my time if it doesn't work out for me.

But I was really inspired and I followed,

I tried to follow and to get the benefits of gratitude.

So it just started with a dedication of time,

With intention.

It wasn't easy in the beginning because I had no idea what to expect,

Whether it would work for me or not,

Whether I would see any benefits for myself or not,

But it did definitely.

And now it is one of the practices that is with me every single day,

Something that I cannot live without it.

And I don't want to live without it,

To be honest.

So please guys,

Let me know how you feel towards the practice of gratitude,

Whether you have any experience with that or probably not.

Maybe you are just beginning your way.

Anything that you would like to share about that,

It will contribute to the discussion.

And I want to say that I am a big fan of neuroscience and it means that I'll be bringing up some scientific benefits of neuroscience in a while.

I hope you guys are excited to hear them because that is one of the biggest motivations for me to keep practicing,

To keep gratitude a big part of my life when I know how much it serves me.

All right.

Well,

Thank you guys for your hearts.

I hope that it means that our talk resonates with you and probably let's move to the scientifically proven,

Not only the benefits of gratitude that we feel in our being with our spirit,

But the benefits that have the scientific research behind.

First of all,

And I think that it is quite obvious for many of us that gratitude improves mental health.

It helps us to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety,

Increase happiness and enhance overall wellbeing,

Not only mental wellbeing,

But also the physical one.

Can you imagine that?

Because of course our mental health and our body are interconnected and one cannot live without the other.

So we're not only talking here about the mental benefits of gratitude,

But also about the physical ones that influence our overall physical wellbeing.

And of course,

With gratitude,

We can shift our perspective.

We can train our brain to look out for something a little bit more positive,

A little bit more optimistic,

Which with time will grow into something much bigger that will help us shift,

If we will,

Or if we need it,

Our perspective to 180 degrees.

So with tiny steps,

Little bit of dedication and time for gratitude,

We can have an immense mindset shift as well.

Also,

Practicing gratitude can help us enhance our relationships.

This one,

I guess,

Is not so obvious one,

But just think about that.

Gratitude can help us strengthen bonds with other people,

With our loved ones,

Or even with strangers and improve the social connections.

I'm curious how you guys see that,

Whether you experienced gratitude helping you socially to enhance your social connections and how it happened.

As for me,

Again,

It helped me to change the perception of some people,

Maybe even challenging people in my life,

When I started in my mind on paper,

When journaling,

To thank them for some lessons that they have taught me or for some experiences that we have lived together.

And of course,

It is very difficult to work this way with a challenging person in your life,

But simply expressing gratitude to the people you love,

To the ones who enrich your life,

Who contribute positively into your life,

To think about how this person affected you or helped you or loved you can bring these uplifted emotions into your experience right now,

When you're just thinking about them.

And another very important moment to mention here is that we can not only express gratitude to other people in our head and feel the positive emotions ourselves,

But we can also express it directly to them,

Openly communicating our gratitude to them.

And this is how I see the biggest advantage of gratitude enhancing social relationships,

Because I'm sure all of us at some point in our lives received thankfulness and gratitude from other people and remember how good it felt.

Right?

Maybe of course it made us feel a little bit shy,

But,

But great overall,

No?

So keeping that in mind,

I love to express gratitude directly to the people I appreciate in my life.

No matter how close we are,

Not only to my family members or close friends,

But also to the people with who we've had probably,

We just met and had a very short conversation,

But it was very enjoyable or so on.

All right.

Another scientifically proven benefit of gratitude is increased resilience.

And it is,

It shows that practicing gratitude can help us to cope with our stress and adversity much better to overcome challenges with a little bit more ease and how I understand it works for us is that we kind of feel the support that comes from within us.

All right.

We have so many things or even if a few things that we are grateful for,

But we know that this is the experience that is within us that we can kind of seek support in that will help us to overcome whatever there it is there in the future.

To me,

It has been a big realization that,

Wow,

If I have a lot of things or a lot of people to be grateful for today or every day,

And of course each day is different,

But it means that I'll,

I'll be able to come through,

Through anything in my life because there will always be something to be grateful for and something or someone that I am grateful for now will serve as a huge pillar of support to me.

So if you haven't thought of that,

Of gratitude in this way,

From that angle,

Try to discover that.

I'm sure that it will be a big source of support for you guys as well.

Just try it as a little experiment.

Right?

So if anyone wants to share the thoughts and meanwhile,

Let's take another deep breath in and out.

And relax a little bit more into the present moment,

Into your body,

Into your thoughts or reflections that our discussion causes.

Yeah.

Just to let go of anything that doesn't serve you at this moment.

And coming back to the link of mental health and physical health,

Expressing gratitude and feeling this felt sense of gratitude in our body can boost our immune system and actually reduce inflammation.

Again,

That seems to be like so distant from the practice of gratitude or journaling,

But science proves it.

And why not to use this incredible tool that is so accessible to everyone here in this space and just make ourselves a little bit,

Not only happier,

But healthier.

So to me,

That sounds incredible.

And whether it is difficult to me to measure how gratitude really impacts my physical health,

But looking back at these years of practice and gratitude,

Thank God I can say,

And I'm so grateful for my health.

So I am sure that gratitude had to do,

And it has to do something about that as well.

And I would like to remind you guys that this live event will be recorded and I will upload it as a talk,

Which will be available to everyone for free here on insane timers.

So again,

Guys,

Please follow my profile.

So you can either early listen or listen to some parts of our talk today and stay up to date with the future live events of this series,

Saying mindfully goodbye to 2024 and knowing the exact date of the release of this course.

I hope that all is clear.

No comments for now,

Guys.

And let's then move to some of the very effective gratitude practices that again,

Come from the scientific research that are scientifically proven,

Which means that they work.

And the more you believe they work,

The better they work.

So it is like a growing snowball.

The more you contribute,

The more you get.

So one of my favorite practices to express gratitude is to be very specific and be very vivid.

Instead of generally expressing gratitude,

Which also is great,

Just feeling this felt sense inside and this uplifted,

Elevated emotions,

Focus on some specific instances of kindness,

Of help,

Or some positive experiences.

You may mark the place where it was,

The person to whom you express gratitude.

Why exactly you express the gratitude for that?

The more specific you are,

The better your brain will identify these positive moments in the future.

The more it will focus on the positive.

The more it will be and become grateful.

So the more specific or vivid with your gratitude you are,

The better.

Maybe describing the details,

Some elements of your memories,

It will have a more powerful impact and positive impact on you.

Another way of gratitude practice is receiving gratitude.

So this is what I think a lot of people skip in perception of gratitude.

Of course,

We are used to express gratitude to think,

All right,

Well,

That is what I'm grateful for.

But imagine receiving gratitude.

And of course,

That is something more difficult to practice because,

Come on,

You're not going to come to someone and ask,

Okay,

Can you please express gratitude to me?

But as I see how it may work,

When you openly express gratitude that you're thankful for to someone,

The more it allows them to open up and to express gratitude to you or to other people.

And this ripple effect will influence you as well.

So giving direct gratitude to people and feeling more and more comfortable receiving gratitude will be an immensely effective practice.

So maybe you can thank someone for help or for a thoughtful gesture or for kind words,

For understanding you and so on.

And I'm sure they also have something to be grateful for to you.

So just start this chain of gratitude and that's how it will come back to you as well.

So once again,

I am very thankful to you guys for being here,

For your presence,

For your hearts,

For sharing this space.

I see you and I truly appreciate you.

Well,

The next practice,

Which we already mentioned today is gratitude journal.

I encourage you guys to regularly journal on gratitude and again,

Try to make it your daily practice.

You may,

Well,

When I'm working with my clients as a MindBody Connection coach,

I encourage them to write everything on paper,

To have a diary because it strengthens the connection between the mind and the body and it helps to release and work through emotions much better.

But if you,

For example,

Are a fan of technology,

You may have your gratitude journal either online or on your laptop or smartphone in your notes,

Wherever it is,

However it feels comfortable to you,

Practice it daily.

And you can just make a list of things that you're grateful for,

The people or the moments that were memorable for you during the day or the week.

Do not be afraid to waste the time on this kind of practice because when you are not only mentally expressing gratitude,

But you see how many things you have written,

How many things you have to be grateful for,

It really shows you how rich your life is and it lightens you up from moving.

So for example,

At the end of the day,

And this is what I also encourage my clients to have a habit of,

To express just five things you're grateful for today and five things that you're grateful to yourself today.

So that may be kind of challenging for some,

Right?

Let me give you just some ideas.

I'm grateful to myself that I had a healthy breakfast today or that I'm going a little bit earlier to sleep or that I called my parents even though I lacked the time or that I cleaned my apartment,

Or maybe that I drank a little bit more water today,

Which will make me healthier.

So five things that you're grateful for to yourself.

And of course,

Try at least once a day to express gratitude to others,

Whether in person,

It may be online,

Leaving a comment somewhere on Instagram,

Or here,

For example,

After listening to a guided meditation,

Leaving a kind comment and a review to the meditation teacher.

Because from my side,

I can say it really lightens my day up and,

Well,

It makes me realize again and again that I'm doing something meaningful and helpful for others.

And that is just an incredible energetic exchange that we have here on Insight Timer.

So these small practices,

When you incorporate them into your daily life,

I'm sure within a week you will see the positive changes.

And if you do them longer,

Your life will magically change.

Of course,

It's not magic,

It is practice,

Dedication,

Your intention,

And so on.

But the life will become much more beautiful.

Well,

And also another practice when speaking about journaling,

I already mentioned it in my connection series of life events here,

Which you guys may find in my profile as well.

I,

Maybe only last year,

Started to have a gratitude weekly journal.

And I like doing it on my laptop because there are quite a lot of things that I go throughout the week,

Watching through the photos on my smartphone or my Google calendar,

What events I had,

Which meetings I had,

What happened,

What was arranged,

What was accomplished,

My to-do list.

So I make a list of highlights over the week.

And by the end of the week,

I have 52 blocks,

One for each week that I'm grateful for.

And the best part is to read through the whole document and remember the whole year from the positive perspective.

And of course,

Not only positive things have happened during this year,

But some things again were really good lessons to me.

And overall,

The whole picture of the whole year will be much more positive if you have and keep this weekly gratitude journal.

So I encourage you guys to also try this practice starting,

Well,

You may start today,

But starting the first week of 2025.

So by the end of the next year,

You will see how many great,

Incredible moments you have lived through and that there are so many things to be grateful for.

Yeah,

Probably that's one of my favorite practices,

Gratitude practices above all.

So I strongly recommend you guys to try it again.

Please dedicate a few minutes.

To me,

It takes me about seven minutes each week.

It's very quick.

But again,

To feel the state of gratitude is something magical.

Well,

And another practice that I have to mention here is just mindful meditation that I'm sure that all of us are practicing here regularly.

Incorporate gratitude maybe at the end of each meditation,

30 seconds dedicated to expressing something that you're grateful for,

Something that you're thankful for,

Some positive moment or aspect of either this specific meditation about you or about the teacher that you have listened to this meditation with and so on.

Just incorporating this few seconds into any activity of your day,

Maybe mindful meditation or any activity that you wish will also benefit you a lot.

And again,

One of the biggest motivations for me and I hope for you guys will be just realize how much this gratitude practice can benefit you,

Not other people,

Not thinking how it will make the world better and nothing big,

But just you,

You're doing it for yourself.

You're taking care of yourself this way.

You are investing into your wellbeing with such a simple practice.

So I hope you guys,

I motivated you to incorporate some of these gratitude practices into your life.

And of course,

You are very welcome to listen to my gratitude meditations here on Insight Timer.

And I'm sure that it will help you to immerse yourself into that state much quicker.

And please don't forget to leave a review,

A little comment after you finish listening to the meditation.

I'll be really happy to receive it,

To read it and to connect with you this way on the platform as well.

Yes.

Once again,

Thank you guys for your hearts.

Let's make a little pause.

I will give you time guys to express your thoughts.

Please do so and sip a little bit of water.

And soon we will be moving to the gratitude meditation reflecting on the past year.

And once again,

Let's take a deep breath in.

Maybe being grateful for this moment.

And a breath out.

You may close your eyes and simply observe your breath.

Or any sensations in your body.

We can move to our guided meditation.

It will be about 10 or 15 minutes,

Depending on the flow.

And allow yourself to fully enjoy this time and take this time fully for yourself.

So find a comfortable position,

Whether it is seated or lying down.

Just make sure that your spine is straight,

That your diaphragm,

That your ribs can move freely.

You can breathe deeply.

You may close your eyes or soften your gaze,

Whatever feels better for you.

And just check in with yourself,

Your emotional state,

Your mental state.

Whatever is present for you right now.

Acknowledge that.

And do not label it as positive or negative.

Simply let it be here with you.

And set an intention to reflect on your past year,

Expressing gratitude for experiences,

Lessons,

And growth.

And you guys have quite a lot of freedom in this meditation,

How you would like to reflect on the past year.

Whether you would like to go in your mind from one month to another.

Or simply working with the highlights that pop up in your mind randomly.

Whichever works for you is the best.

And I will be asking you some questions or giving you some prompts,

So you may recall these moments to be grateful for right now.

And if you wish so,

You may also journal on that with a pen and paper,

All of your past years.

So recall the hopes and dreams that you had for this year.

What were you excited about?

What you dreamt about?

And be grateful to yourself for having these dreams and hopes.

And be grateful for the experiences that drive you forward,

That contribute to your life.

You may list as many as you want or as little as you want.

Maybe just one will be perfect.

And reflect on any challenges that you've faced during this past year.

And be grateful to yourself for how you overcame them.

For how the situations resolved for you.

And even if it wasn't something you were expecting or the outcome that you hoped for,

You are here with us right now,

Today,

And it means it worked out.

It worked out the best way possible.

Believe that.

Focus on moments of growth and learning during this past year.

Something you that you have learned about the world,

People,

Or yourself.

Perhaps professionally.

Or about your hobbies.

And feel this gratitude.

Recall any acts of kindness or compassion that you experienced or shared during this past year.

And let a gentle smile curve your lips.

Your heart soften a little bit.

Remembering those experiences or people who were with you.

And again,

Expressing gratitude to yourself.

Think about any fun or joyful experiences you had.

Not necessarily anything big.

But the moments,

The daily moments when you felt great at your best self.

Full of joy.

Or having fun like a kid.

Allow these memories of experiences bring you joy in the present moment.

Smile and reflect on any personal breakthroughs or achievements.

Something very meaningful that you have done during this past year.

In any sphere of your life.

In any form.

How these achievements or breakthroughs have changed your life.

How these breakthroughs revealed themselves.

Consider any relationships that deepened.

Or any new connections that you made during the past 12 months.

And visualize not only the people.

But also the connection that comes through you to this person.

From that person to you.

The connection that exists between you.

Between you both.

Send them love and gratitude,

Appreciation.

The light and the bright beam of light.

Thank you then.

And feeling grateful for these connections.

Focus on any moments of peace and tranquility that you found during this last year.

Maybe the holiday vacation that you took.

Or the days off that you allowed yourself to rest.

Or your relaxing evening routine.

Whatever it is for you.

Moments of peace and tranquility.

And be thankful and grateful for these moments.

For these experiences.

And to yourself for experiencing them all.

If it feels good,

You may put your left hand on your chest area.

Your heart area.

And allow your heart to soften.

Feel the heartbeat.

Feel your heart opening up.

Thanks to this gratitude.

Think about any creative projects or hobbies that you brought to life.

During this last year.

Thank yourself for dedicating time to practice them.

For experiencing something new.

Or deepening your experience.

For being creative.

For allowing yourself to tap into that creative energy.

Reflect on any acts of gratitude or giving back.

Maybe the people who expressed gratitude to you.

Or how you were able to give back to your community or family or loved one.

Your pet.

Yourself.

Whatever it might be for you.

Allow yourself to feel this gratitude in your body right now.

All of the things that you've generated during our meditation.

Tap into the physical sensations of this even of gratitude.

And allow this energy to flow through you outwards.

And feel the space where you are now.

Flow and feel the city where you're in.

Your country.

Continent.

All globe.

And the whole universe.

And now you and every one of us is bathing in gratitude.

Including your gratitude.

How magical is that?

And silently or out loud.

Say thank you.

For everything.

That has been a part of your life during this past year.

Thank you.

To yourself.

Keeping these sensations and emotions.

That you've generated during our practice.

Bring your awareness back to the present moment.

To the room where you're in.

Your physical body.

Your breath.

If it feels right,

Open your eyes.

And fully arrive into the here and now.

I wish you guys to remember that gratitude is a very powerful tool.

That can transform your life.

And these are not just big words.

But this is the experience of millions of people.

And it is or will be your experience as well.

I wish you to have a life full of joy,

Peace and appreciation.

I wish you to incorporate this practice of gratitude into your daily or weekly routine.

And just enjoy life to the fullest.

This ends our live session today.

Let's take a moment together to appreciate our space.

Our time together.

Insight timer.

This incredible platform that allows us to gather for these life events.

Once again,

Thank you guys so much for your donations.

During or after our live session.

Please follow me here on insight timer to discover the courses.

If you're especially interested in the mind-body connection.

It's one of the courses that I take myself twice a year.

To deepen the connection with myself and improve the quality of my life.

To discover my guided meditations.

And to stay connected.

I'm always open to your feedback guys.

To your ideas.

You may message me.

Send a DM here on the platform.

And I would really appreciate your feedback about our today's live event now in the comment section.

If you have stayed with us until the end.

Please let us know.

And I hope that this live event helped you guys to close the work week.

To shift into the weekend energy.

So I wish you to enjoy the coming weekend.

Dedicate the time to yourself.

Rest to your loved ones.

To the activities that you enjoy doing.

To something that will improve the quality of your life.

And we will meet again next week for the second live event of this mindful goodbye to the year series of live events on Insight Timer.

So please stay connected and I'll hope to see you next week.

Bye.