Bathe In Abundance: Gratitude Practice

Bathe in a warm ocean of abundance as Dr. Howard Johnson gently guides us through this soothing gratitude meditation. The practice starts by connecting with gratitude to the gift of the physical body, then gratitude for the past, and finally, gratitude for the future. Enjoy

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Dr Howard Johnson.

Welcome to this gratitude meditation.

We'll first begin by connecting with gratitude to the physical body in the here and now.

Then gratitude for our future and gratitude for our past.

So let's begin now by finding a quiet spot where we won't be disturbed.

This can be either sitting or lying down.

Allowing our eyes to close as a way of deliberately bringing attention inward towards the body.

Beginning to notice the simple physical sensation of breathing.

The breath moving the body up and down.

And we can begin by taking three deep breaths.

Breathing in deeply as if we can breathe the breath right up to the crown of the head.

Gathering all of our attention and our energy up at the crown of the head and holding and then letting go.

And so the breath could drop down the length of the spine and down out through the base of the spine into the surface that we're lying on or sitting on.

And taking another deep breath.

Breathing all of the attention up to the crown of the head.

Holding and letting go.

On each out breath arriving more and more fully in this moment in this body.

And letting go of the concerns of the day.

All of the activity,

The goals we've been trying to reach,

The problems we've been trying to solve and the decisions to be made.

Leaving them all aside for now.

Allowing the attention to come into the body.

And let's take one final deep in breath.

Breathing in to the crown of the head.

Holding and letting go.

Allowing the breath to return now to a natural rhythm.

When we notice thoughts arising this is our first opportunity for gratitude.

This wonderful gift of thinking.

Recollecting all of the amazing things that thinking has enabled us to do over the course of our lives.

Planning,

Achieving,

Perhaps gaining qualifications or studying.

Making decisions or solving problems.

Perhaps imagining wonderful things.

Thinking has benefited us so much.

Though thinking is a wonderful thing.

Remembering to say thank you every time a thought arises.

But thoughts are like tools and even the most useful tool doesn't need to be carried around everywhere.

It can be put down when it's not needed.

And the invitation in this practice is to thank our thoughts and then put them down for use later on.

Bringing the attention back to this body breathing.

For a while noticing the hands.

The sensation in the hands.

The hands can reveal if there's any struggling or striving left over from the day.

Perhaps the fists are clenched or there's tension in the fingers.

So let's deliberately invite our hands to rest.

Perhaps the palms to open.

The fingers to relax.

Feeling sensations of tingling.

Of warmth or coolness.

The contact of the hands against the surface they may be resting on.

Letting the hands relax.

And then bringing the attention up into the jaw.

The jaw is also an area that can reveal if we're still guarded or straining or holding onto something.

Is the jaw clenched?

Where is the tongue in the mouth?

Inviting the jaw to open slightly and the tongue to rest on the floor of the mouth.

Still noticing the waves of breath coming and going.

As we now bring the attention up into the muscles around the eyes.

The final place that can really reveal if we're still trying hard,

Straining.

Is there tension in the muscles around the eyes?

Are we frowning?

And very gently inviting these muscles to relax,

To soften.

There's no need right now to be guarded or struggling.

It's perfectly okay to allow this body to rest.

The body breathing.

And now the invitation is to bring some gentle attention down into the feet and the legs.

Noticing sensations here.

Crickliness in the toes.

Fuzziness,

The weight of the legs.

The contact of the legs against clothes.

And also sensations coming from deeper inside the legs and the feet.

The muscles,

The weight of the muscles.

Scentations in the knees and the ankles.

As we notice our legs still aware of the breath moving in and out in the background.

And now bringing to mind all that our legs and our feet have done for us in our lives and all that they continue to do.

Our toes working hard for us to keep us upright and balanced.

Our legs helping us to move from A to B.

Working hard.

The enjoyment that the body has brought through sports or leisure.

These faithful servants working day in and day out.

They never have a day off.

They're loyal,

Hardworking.

Is it any wonder that now and again the legs get tired or experience pain?

Feeling the direct sensation in the legs and the feet.

And saying thank you to them.

A very sincere,

Very warm heartfelt thank you for all they've done for us.

They've worked so hard and continue to work hard.

Thank you legs and feet.

Thank you.

When the mind wanders,

Thoughts come into the mind then shifting our attention to thoughts.

Acknowledging what a wonderful gift these thoughts are.

Even when we're practicing gratitude they're still coming along and offering their helpful services.

Trying to solve our problems in life.

Trying to help us to make decisions.

Trying to take us off into fantasy or imagination.

This wonderful gift never stops working.

But if we choose we can be very grateful to our thoughts and yet also put them down.

We don't need to carry these helpful tools around with us.

Thank you thoughts.

And the invitation is now to bring the attention up the body into the pelvis.

Still noticing the breath breathing itself in the background.

And beginning to become aware of the sensations all around the pelvic area.

Sensation in the hips.

The soft organs of the body.

Perhaps even detecting the subtle rise and fall of the breath low down in the pelvis.

Sensations of contact,

Of heaviness.

Achy sensations,

Dull sensations.

Sharp or fizzy sensations.

Being curious in all that's going on within this amazing body that we have.

And recollecting all that our pelvic area has done for us.

The reproductive organs.

Perhaps we've had children.

Perhaps there's a possibility of having children.

Perhaps there once was a possibility.

The hips and all that the hips have done for us.

Helping us to move around.

Saying thank you to the pelvic area.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then bringing the attention up the body further into the stomach.

Taking a while to explore the sensations here.

The stomach rising and falling with the breath.

Sensations of movement.

The stomach working tirelessly all day and all night to digest our food.

Extracting the goodness,

The nutrients and discarding the waste.

Is it any wonder that sometimes the stomach has pain or aches?

The stomach has worked for us 24 hours a day,

7 days a week as a loyal servant without a single moment off.

It has never had a holiday.

All it's ever done is try to keep us alive and try to keep us healthy.

So with this gentle and caring attention directly on the stomach.

Saying thank you stomach.

From the bottom of my heart I thank you for everything you've done for me.

Everything you continue to do.

Yes sometimes you have problems,

Sometimes you have pain or you struggle to do your job and it's no wonder you work so hard.

Thank you.

The breath breathing in the background.

Saying thank you when thoughts arise and putting them down.

The invitation is now to bring this same quality of attention up into the chest.

Noticing all of the sensations in the chest.

Tightness,

The movement of the breath.

Perhaps spaciousness,

Heaviness.

The sensation of rising or falling.

Bringing some extra special attention to where the heart is.

If we're very still we may feel the beating of the heart.

Recollecting all that we have to be grateful for,

For this chest area and especially for the heart.

This organ that tirelessly pumps blood,

Goodness,

Life and energy around the body day in and day out.

All day and all night.

Is it any wonder that the chest feels tight sometimes?

Thank you.

Sending this heartfelt sincere gratitude to the chest,

The heart,

The lungs.

Since the very moment we were born this part of the body has done nothing but work as hard as it can.

Speeding up when we needed to,

When we're in danger,

When we're excited and slowing down at night time but never having a moment off.

Thank you so much.

The breath still breathing in the background.

For a while noticing the sensation in the arms,

The heaviness of the arms beside the body.

Sensations of tingling in the fingers.

The weight of the muscles.

And everything that our arms and our hands have done for us in our lives.

The things that they have made possible.

The tasks that have been completed.

The messages we've been able to type.

The communication.

The things we've been able to carry.

The sports that we've been able to play.

The musical instruments.

All of the things we can be grateful to our hands and our arms for.

With a very warm and caring attention to our arms and hands.

Extending this heartfelt gratitude.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And now the invitation is to bring this attention up into the whole of the head and the face.

Feeling the sensations around this area of the body.

The heaviness of the eyelids.

The temperature of the air as it enters through the nostrils or the lips.

The sensation behind the eyes.

Sensations on the scalp.

And I invite us now to place the attention about two inches behind our eyes where our brain is.

We can't feel our brain directly but we know it's there.

And recollecting all that we have to be grateful to our brain for.

All of the thinking.

All of the imagining.

The brain has worked probably amongst the hardest of all of the organs.

Never switches off.

Always trying to offer its services.

Helping us to plan,

To organise,

To achieve in the day.

And at night time it's trying to process all that it's been through in the day.

Trying to file away memories.

Trying to process emotions.

Thank you brain.

You've worked so hard for me.

Thank you.

And now we're opening with gratitude to a sense of the whole body.

Breathing.

As though the breath could move right through the entire body down to the ends of our fingertips.

And right down to the tips of our toes.

There's plenty of room for all of the sensations to come and go with this great tide of breath blowing in and out of us.

Thank you body.

Thank you.

Continuing to notice the breath.

Breathing in the background.

The invitation is now to bring to mind someone in our past who has had an important influence in helping us to develop the qualities and the characteristics that make us what we are today.

It may have been someone who we found very pleasant and had a good relationship with.

Or it may be someone who was not so pleasant but who we learnt some very important lessons from.

Or someone who we managed to grow from.

The breath still breathing in and breathing out.

Taking some time to build a mental image of this person who has played an important role in helping us to become who we are today.

And as we hold this person in mind,

Thanking them.

Thank you for the role that you have played in my life.

Thank you.

And now finally the invitation is to bring to mind the future.

The possibilities that the future brings.

With all of its uncertainties come possibilities and opportunities.

The experiences we are yet to have.

The choices we are yet to make and to learn from.

The people we are yet to meet.

This vast expanse of uncertainty is our biggest goldmine of opportunity.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And for the final few moments of this practice.

Dwelling in gratitude for the past,

The present and the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Reviews

Simply amazing! Thank you 💖

Thank your for sharing 🙏😊

Amazing! Absolutely perfect and resonated profusely with me today. Thank you!

👍 great thanks and gratitude to this opportunity to be made aware of all things to remember with gratitude.