Welcome to this gratitude practice for beginners.
First I would like to congratulate you and commend you on your decision and your efforts to begin a meditation practice.
As we begin this meditation I would like to invite you to find a comfortable position.
This could be a seated position with your spine straight and everything in alignment from the crown of your head to your tailbone with your sitz bones firmly grounded on either the floor or the chair that you're sitting in.
Or this could be a position where you are lying flat with your arms at your side and your legs outstretched.
So once you find your comfortable position.
Let's settle in.
And take a couple of deep breaths.
On my mark,
We will breathe in for a count of two and release for a count of four.
And we will do this three times.
So prepare your mind and prepare your body.
And here we go with our three deep breaths.
We're going to breathe in one,
Two,
And release one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Breathe in one,
Two,
Release one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And last time in one,
Two,
And release two,
Three,
Four.
Now as you bring your breath back to its normal rhythm.
I want you to take an account of how every muscle in your body is feeling right now.
Just do a quick scan from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.
And try to let go of any tension you're holding on to and any of your muscles.
Take a minute and do that now.
Okay,
Great job.
Now let's bring our focus to some mantras that we are going to recite today.
I'm going to say a mantra and I want you to repeat it after me.
We're going to go ahead and do a series of these all at once.
And then we'll have some reflection time to apply some of these mantras to our personal situations.
So repeat after me.
Today I choose gratitude.
I am grateful for the many gifts I've been given in this life.
Even on difficult days,
I can find at least five things for which to be grateful.
Gratitude is an attitude and a choice.
Today I choose gratitude.
I am grateful for today and for each breath that I take.
I am grateful for this practice and its calming effects.
Even on difficult days,
I can find at least five things for which to be grateful.
Today I choose gratitude.
I want you to think back on the series of mantras that we just recited and choose the one that's speaking to your heart right now.
Just take that mantra,
The one that's speaking to your soul,
And repeat it over and over again in your head for the next minute or two while the background music is playing.
Just repeat this mantra.
Let it get into your body.
Let it get into your soul.
And I'll come back to you in a minute or two.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So now that you've had some personal reflection on the mantra that's speaking to you,
We're going to focus on the fact that even on difficult days,
We can find at least five things for which to be grateful.
So right now,
We're going to take a minute to gather our thoughts,
And I'm going to give you some time to list five things,
Make a mental list of five things for which you are grateful for today.
If it's early,
Early morning and you've just woken up,
You can reflect on yesterday,
Finding five things for which you can be grateful.
Let's begin now.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
And I just want to welcome you back to the room and back to this meditation.
As you close out your thoughts.
Listing five things you're grateful for every day will increase your attitude of gratitude.
I would encourage you to try this exercise daily.
Some people like to keep a gratitude journal,
Where they will write down in an actual list,
The things that they're grateful for daily.
Try to pick different things every day.
If you get into the rut of writing down the same five items,
Then you're not really expanding your gratitude muscle.
As we bring this meditation to a close,
I just want you to think about exercising gratitude,
Having an attitude of gratitude.
It takes practice and it takes dedication.
So as we bring this meditation to close,
I want to thank you for spending your time with me today.
We're going to close with three of those deep breaths that we started the meditation with.
So on my mark,
We'll breathe in for a count of two and we'll breathe out for a count of four and we'll do that three times.
So breathe in one,
Two,
And release two,
Three,
Four.
Breath in two and release two,
Three,
Four.
Last one,
Breathe in two and release two,
Three,
Four.
As you bring your breath back to its normal rhythm,
I would like you to do one last body scan.
Just quickly scan your body from top of the crown to the tip of your toes and release any tension that you feel in your muscles or in your nerves or in your bones.
And as you let the background music take you out of this meditation,
I want to thank you for spending your time with me today.
Thank you for wanting to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
You are taking an amazing step to expand your personal being.
And for that,
I commend you.
May God bless you and keep you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
