So go ahead and become comfortable if you're not already.
And close your eyes.
And as you are taking your three deep breaths and settling into your physical body,
Take a breath in through your nose and open mouth exhale.
As you do a few more like these,
I'm gonna read a quote from Melody Beatty.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
Chaos to order,
Confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast,
A house into a home,
A stranger into a friend.
It turns problems into gifts,
Failures into successes,
The unexpected into perfect timing and mistakes into important events.
Settle into the natural rhythm of your breath in and out of your nose.
And there are five steps to cultivating gratitude in your life.
The first step is taking stock or counting your blessings.
And the second step is practicing acts of kindness.
The third is to practice positivity in your thoughts,
In your words and in your actions.
The fourth step is awakening forgiveness,
Allowing forgiveness to unfold from you at every moment.
And the fifth step is celebrating the blessings,
Savoring each of life's joys.
First,
Let's focus on our blessings.
Settle in and begin centering yourself through your breath.
Allow your body to soften,
Your jaw to relax,
Your forehead to relax.
You made it here to your meditation this morning.
Let that be gratitude in itself.
Feeling the gentle flow in and out of your breath.
And allow your breath to fill up your entire body.
And through your mind's eye,
We will start to go through the five realms and identify what you are grateful for.
We'll start in the physical realm.
What in your physicalness are you grateful for?
Allow it to expand.
And allow the gratitude to start to radiate out.
And now we'll travel to the emotional realm.
All the emotions that we have create so much in our life.
What are you grateful for?
Maybe it's emotion that sometimes you push down and really it is a defining characteristic of you.
Let it shine.
Allow yourself to be grateful for it.
Maybe it's something that you're known for.
That you have an impression that you share with each and every person that you meet.
Let it shine.
And next we'll travel to the material realm.
As we look around at all of the things that we have,
Tangible items,
Homes.
What is it that you are grateful for?
Simple,
Big or small,
Complex.
Allow yourself to feel gratitude.
And continuing on,
Think about the relationships in your life.
Maybe a particular relationship that you're grateful for.
Or something that touches all of your relationships.
Let that gratitude radiate through your heart.
And our fifth realm is spiritual.
Your connection to source,
To spirit,
To oneness,
Your faith,
Your trust in the universe.
Allow your gratitude to be bigger than you.
And allow all of these little pieces of gratitude,
The physical,
The emotional,
Material,
Relationship,
And spiritual sweep through you.
Let them wash over you,
Filling up your heart,
Bathing your soul in gratitude.
Go there for a few moments and sit in this washing over of gratefulness,
Of abundant love,
Of wholeness.
And as we sit here in our stillness,
In our gratitude,
Let's go deeper.
I offer up the mantra sankopa,
Which means a deep intention.
And repeat this mantra for the next few minutes in your mind.
The pace can be slow or fast or it might change.
Just repeat sankopa.
And if you have a sankopa practice,
Replace the mantra with your sankopa,
Your deep intention.
Allow it to bring up more gratitude.
Everything will have a little bit of gratitude in it.
And we'll be here for a few minutes and I'll ring the bell when it's time to come out.
And still sit quietly with your eyes closed.
Thank you.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Sit quietly here in your breath,
In your meditation practice,
Allowing yourself to notice how you're feeling mentally,
Emotionally,
Physically,
And take a deep breath in through your nose.
And slow,
Slow,
Deep breath out through your nose.
Let's do one more like that.
Deep breath in,
Fill up your body with life,
Give you the air,
And send out your gratitude into the universe,
Letting it radiate back to you.
And gently bring your hands together at your heart.
We'll close off our practice with one om.
The universal sound of connectedness,
Knowing that we are all together.
Breath in.
Keep your eyes open as you're ready.
And now,
Coming back into your day.
I hope you carry this gratitude with you throughout your entire day.
