Good morning.
My name is Hilary Lafon and today what I'd like to do is talk with you a little bit about gratitude and then guide us on a short gratitude practice.
So wherever this meditation finds you,
Make yourself as comfortable as you can.
If you feel comfortable,
Close your eyes.
If not,
Just look around the space.
Use your senses to draw you in,
Really focusing on what you see,
Hear,
Smell,
Taste,
Touch and feel.
And for a moment think about the word gratitude.
What does gratitude mean to you?
It's kind of been a buzzword lately.
You hear it everywhere.
For some of us we just roll our eyes,
Thinking about what we're grateful for day in and day out but how does it really work?
One of the greatest gifts of being a human being is being able to choose what you focus your attention on.
And so if you're not a trained Zen Buddhist monk,
The first thing you can do in the morning is focus on counting your blessings.
This is a great,
Easy way to change your attitude and to start the day fresh.
Really gratitude is the experience of counting one's blessings.
It's that physical embodiment of the phrase thank you.
And why is gratitude so great?
Because it literally helps you have better sleep,
Have a greater sense of well-being,
Having a better ability to handle changes and stress.
It can also help reduce physical pain.
And that's one reason I'm starting today's practice with gratitude is just from my own experience of recently having back surgery,
Spine surgery,
And dealing with pain nonstop.
So just listening to my words may have already helped calm you,
Helped settle you.
But let's go a step further.
And I encourage you to close your eyes now,
Come into your body.
Let's start by relaxing the physical body first.
Doing a quick body scan starting at the top of the head.
Notice if there's any areas around the forehead,
The eyes,
The mouth.
What is one spot you can soften?
Inhaling and exhaling.
If this is the first breath of the day that you've really taken notice to,
Welcome it.
Exhale all the breath out.
And through the nose,
Sip in the air deeply,
Letting your chest expand,
Your belly rise.
Feeling your body elongate,
Sitting up straighter with the oxygen coming in.
And as you exhale,
Feel this sense of softness,
All the rigidity leaving your body and your spine as that energy flows down,
Almost like a spiral.
Inhaling again,
Breathing in,
Feeling that energetic flow coming up through the front of the body.
And exhaling,
Feeling it go down the back body,
Rooting you down,
Helping you find this time and place.
Although your mind may wander to the future or dip back to the past,
Use your breath and your physical sensations to stay right here,
Right now.
Noticing if there's any tension or sensation in your shoulders,
Chest,
Stomach area.
Allow your belly to be heavy and hang.
Let's all have happy Buddha bellies right now.
Coming to the back body,
Inhaling,
Feeling yourself rising and then exhaling,
Allowing each muscle in the back to soften.
Noticing any tension or sensation in the upper,
Mid or back bodies.
We're not trying to get away from pain today,
We're just trying to notice,
Observe and relax in any way we can.
Feeling your arms loosen and soften,
Notice if you're clenching your fists or having your hands tight,
Put a little bit of energy in this area to relax and soften.
Noticing if the hands are cold,
Warm,
Tingling,
Just noticing and observing.
Allowing your sit bones to be heavy in the seat or wherever you find yourself.
Allowing your legs to soften,
The right leg,
The left leg.
Feel your feet flat on the floor,
Maybe lift your toes up and then release them and let them down.
Have a sense that your whole body may not be a 100% relaxed but is slightly relaxed a little bit more than when you started.
This is a practice,
It takes time,
Be kind to yourself and let the shift happen.
Let's take three deep breaths together,
Exhaling all our breath out.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the nose or the mouth and feeling free to sigh it out,
Make some noise,
Slowly letting all the stale air go.
Two more times,
Inhale and exhale.
One more time when you're ready,
Inhale and exhale.
Breathing naturally and normally,
Bringing the idea of gratitude to your mind.
Let's think about one thing we're grateful for.
It could be a great night's sleep.
For me,
Enjoying and being grateful for the beautiful warm days ahead.
My partner and my son,
I'm grateful for.
I took a walk earlier and saw hot air balloons,
I'm grateful for those.
Pick a couple things you're grateful for and just breathe and feel that gratitude wash over you.
Sitting,
Allowing,
Letting a sense of well-being permeate yourselves,
Uplifting your spirits and maybe even having a slight little smile on your face.
Breathing,
Softening,
Being grateful.
If you've been able to find one or two things that you're grateful for,
Let's take it to the next level.
This is where the juicy change happens.
Yes,
We're grateful for things but the real change happens when we say why we're grateful for it.
This is when it connects to ourselves,
To our energy.
For instance,
I mentioned I was grateful for a good night's sleep but really because I know that my spine is healing when I rest.
When I said I was grateful for the beautiful days ahead,
It's because I knew I'd be able to get outside and spend time in mother nature which is so important to me.
When I said I was grateful for my son and my partner,
Again,
It fills my spirit because it is so important for me to feel connected and loved in my community.
Lastly,
When I mentioned the hot air balloons when I was walking,
How grateful I was to see them in the sky,
It was because it reminded me that the sky is the limit.
I can do anything I set my mind to and those hot air balloons activated that inside of me,
Reminded that and I'm grateful for that.
So I encourage you to take the next step as you inhale and exhale and soften.
Think about what you chose that you're grateful for and put a why behind it.
There is no right or wrong.
Why are you grateful for those things you chose?
Breathing,
Softening,
Allowing this gratitude practice to open your heart,
Allowing you to get closer to setting the intentions that are truly right for you.
Let's finish our time together with three of the deepest inhales and exhales.
Exhaling all the breath out and together inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose or the mouth.
Two more times inhale and exhale.
Last time together inhale and exhale.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes,
Come back to your space.
Think about what you're grateful for and why.
And I look forward to guiding you on future meditations and offering you thoughts and inspiration and talks.
I'd like to end with a quote today by Carl Jung,
Who looks outside dreams,
Who looks inside awakens.
Thank you so much.
