Body Gratitude Meditation

A meditation on connecting to a sense of gratitude for your body.

Transcript

Welcome to this mindfulness meditation recording.

It's great that you're taking the time out today to connect with yourself.

Take a moment to get comfortable.

Find a place where you can sit or lie down,

Ideally one where you will be free from all interruptions.

Once you are in a comfortable position,

Take a moment to focus on your breath.

Without changing anything,

Notice the subtle rise and fall as you inhale and exhale.

Notice any thoughts that come up as you inhale and exhale.

Let them go and bring yourself back to your breath.

Slowly inhale and then gently exhale.

As you slowly inhale and exhale,

Allow yourself to let go of any worries or stress.

You have nowhere to be but here in the present moment where you can notice any unhelpful thoughts and simply let them go and bring your attention back to your breathing.

Take another slow inhale and then slowly exhale.

Take a moment to feel gratitude that you are alive and breathing,

That your heart beats without any conscious effort on your behalf.

Sometimes we forget how truly fortunate we are just to be here in this very moment,

Experiencing all that life has to offer.

Take a moment and notice any emotions that you are feeling.

Where do you feel them in your body?

Maybe it's a tightening in the throat or the chest.

It's important to remember that our emotions are like the weather.

They come and they go and they aren't good or bad.

They're all just signals of things that we need to pay attention to.

What's important is that we lean into our emotions rather than trying to numb out from them.

Now take a moment and bring your attention to your feet.

Feel a sense of gratitude for your feet,

For the places that they take you,

Where they allow you to go.

Feel thankful that you have the ability to walk.

If you are unable to walk,

Take a moment to be thankful for any other abilities that you do have.

Often we get so focused on our external appearance that we forget of our bodies as our home,

The place that we have to live,

The vessel that enables us to live our lives.

Now bring your attention to your legs.

If you have any unhelpful thoughts about your legs,

Simply notice them and then as you exhale,

Let them go.

Take a moment to thank your legs for all that they do for you,

For their strength in helping you stand and caring you throughout your life.

Inhale and then exhale,

Allowing your legs to relax and connecting to a deep sense of gratitude.

Next bring your attention to your stomach.

If any unhelpful thoughts come up about your stomach,

Simply notice them and as you inhale and then slowly exhale,

Bring your focus to your breath.

It's important to remember that our thoughts don't have power to harm us.

What matters is that we learn how to notice them and simply recognize that they are just thoughts.

They aren't facts.

We don't always have to believe them.

Slowly inhale and then gently exhale.

Thank your stomach for protecting your internal organs,

For helping to digest your food.

Your stomach does so much for you every day.

Its purpose is not to shrink away.

Its purpose is to protect you.

Maybe you've been at war with your stomach.

What if you instead took a moment to feel gratitude?

Slowly inhale and exhale any tension,

Stress or unhelpful thinking and let your stomach relax.

Then slowly bring your awareness up to your shoulders.

Let your shoulders start to feel heavy and melt into the ground or chair.

Inhale and then exhale slowly.

Drift your attention to your arms.

If any unhelpful thoughts come up about your arms,

Simply notice them and bring your attention back to your breath.

Take a moment to thank your arms for all that they enable you to do,

For helping you to hug the people that you love,

For caring things.

Inhale and then gently exhale.

As you inhale,

Filling your lungs with air,

Allow yourself to be washed over with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation.

Next,

Gently bring your awareness to your hands.

Thank your hands for all that they do for you.

They allow you to write,

To draw,

To grasp things.

Slowly inhale and then exhale as you truly connect to a sense of gratitude for your hands.

Imagine how tough things would be if you didn't have the use of your hands.

Then slowly let your awareness drift to your face.

Allow any tension in your face to melt away as you inhale and exhale.

Connect to a sense of gratitude for your eyesight.

How amazing is it that your eyes allow you to gaze on sunsets,

Nature,

And the faces of people that you love?

Not everyone has this and if you don't,

Take a moment to feel appreciation for your other senses,

For your sense of smell that enables you to smell all of the scents,

For your sense of taste and your taste buds,

For your hearing that's enabling you to listen to this meditation.

And to hear your favorite song and the laughter and the voices of the people that you care about.

Your body is your home,

Not your billboard.

If you struggle with focusing on the appearance of your body,

It's so important to practice self-compassion.

It's not your fault that you struggle with this and you're definitely not alone.

And through a daily gratitude practice,

You can work to shift your attention to all of the amazing things that your body does for you rather than what it looks like.

Lastly,

Take a moment to be thankful for all that you have in your life outside of your body functions.

When you look back on your life at age 80,

Do you really think that you'll be reminiscing about the time that you spent focused on food or self-punishing exercise or trying to get a six pack or trying to change your body?

What you will actually be thinking about is the memories and the relationships,

How you pursued your passions and the things that you care about.

Your life is about so much more than your body.

Take a moment to think about one thing that you are truly fortunate and grateful to have.

Really let yourself connect with that feeling of gratitude.

What does the gratitude feel like as it fills your body and courses through you almost like a stream of beaming light running down your chest,

Filling you with the energy of being thankful?

Thank yourself for taking the time out to feel gratitude today.

When you're ready,

Gently open your eyes and bring yourself back to the present moment.

Reviews

My body is my home, not a billboard. My thoughts are not facts, they are just thoughts. My emotions are to be felt, but are like the weather...and will pass.
Beautiful

It's beautiful.. It makes me feel like energized by grateful feeling and more compassionate to my body. Thank you 😊🙏

Lovely meditation to help deepen a loving connection with our physical body. Personally I find this deeply healing. Thank you.

a truly beautiful and meaningful meditation.

Made me cry. Thank you

Very nice meditation to start off the day

So amazing, very positive!!

Puts such a wonderful positive perspective on my body and it's purpose. Love it. Thank you!

Really loved this - took a bit to get into it but what a powerful message....awesome perfect to start the new year

Loved this! Just what I needed today!😊

Lovely. Such a sweet message of love and gratitude

I loved this, and will definitely do it again! So relaxing and such a good focus and reminder. Thank you!

Perfect pick-me-up to tune into on those days you feel less than yourself...Thank you for sharing your soul and love with us...<3

Lovely. Thank you!

Very nice reminder of gratitude....thank you. 💖🌷

Beautiful thankyou. I need to hear this message daily.

Wonderful-Jennifer is a wonderful therapist who really gets how to heal from body hatred and disordered eating. Check her out on Podcasts like Food Psyche.

Absolutely loved!!! Great for days where you're feeling not feeling confident about your body. Thanks girl!