Gratitude & Grace

Gratitude is a practice that activates parts of the brain that signal pleasure and reward. It can help us produce lasting feelings of self-confidence, self-assuredness, and happiness and it can help to rewire the brain to recognize more opportunities to be thankful for. In this way, gratitude can lead to grace— a precision and alignment with our highest Self as we move through life.
In this meditation, we practice remembering, envisioning, and feeling into the feeling sense of gratitude.

Transcript

Welcome to our first meditation in our series Gratitude and Grace. There's a lot of peer-reviewed research and studies showing how important gratitude practices are. They improve our mental health and our well-being. They can help us feel more satisfied, Boost our self-confidence and our self-esteem. They can actually make you feel happier. And when you feel happier and full of joy, You feel like anything is possible. Even if they're for brief moments, These sensations and feelings that are produced from practicing being grateful and being thankful can help us to fall in line, To align with our higher purpose. And this is called grace. When we're in our flow, In that state of attracting exactly what we need, Of being intentional, Of effortless effort. So gratitude leads to grace. Find yourself in a comfortable seat. Allow your spine to effortlessly lift up out of your waist. Feel your ribs gently expanding up and outwards, Even to the back, Into the chair if you're seated in one. Tuck your chin in just slightly so you feel the top back of the head rising up and the weight of your head, Your skull, Is just gently floating there right on top. As your eyelids softly drop closed, Release any tension down through the neck, The tops of the shoulders, The arms and the hands as the palms soften onto your lap. If there are any other places in the body that need a little adjustment to feel comfortable, Go ahead and do so now. Uncross your legs, Let go of tension in the jaw, Whatever it is you need. And now move your attention to your breath, The air coming in and going back out of the body as a constant reminder of being in the present moment. So without changing it, Notice this present moment breath, The in-breath traveling through the nostrils, Down into the chest, And the out-breath going back up and out. Notice how the in and out-breath may feel a little different from one another. Notice the sensations and the quality of your breath right now. Can you feel your breath in your back body? Can you feel it in the right and left side of your ribs? Do you feel any movement in your abdomen? Can you feel the breath gently touching the very tip of the nostrils? Very gradually start to lengthen your breath. Inhaling now for a count of five. Breathe in one, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breathe out one, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breathe in one, Two, Three, Four, Five. Breathe out one, Two, Three, Four, Five. Continue on your own. Allow your exhale to be a little bit longer if that feels right to you. Breathing in for five, Breathing out for five or six counts. No strain, Just a natural, Comfortable, Long breath. Take notice if this breath seems to be soothing and calming the body already. Now just allow your breath to come back to a natural pace. It may fall into a new natural pace now as you're probably a bit more centered and grounded and relaxed. Bring all of your internal awareness, Bring your attention up to the space at the back of the forehead. The mental space, The mental arena. You can imagine yourself just sitting back, Leaning back in a comfortable recliner somewhere in your brain, And just gazing, Just watching, Observing this space. Notice the darkness, Notice how expansive or how limited this space feels. How big do you think this space is? How far does it reach? Just allowing the body and the breath to be by themselves, Observing with curiosity, Noticing any colors or any shapes, Any lights, Any patterns, Or anything else that may be appearing or passing by. Now we're going to practice some brief mindfulness of recent experiences, Recent things that we feel grateful for. So firstly, Looking back into the last week or two weeks, Bring to mind something small that happened to you, Something that was a success, Something that was a gift or a blessing. It doesn't matter what you choose, Just find one thing and remember the feeling of being thankful for it. If it helps you, You can visualize as if it was happening right now, And you were there again, Getting the good news, Achieving the accomplishment. Try to recall the feeling within your body, The feeling of contentment, Happiness, Joy, Relief, Satisfaction. Where do you sense it the most in your body? If you get distracted or you lose the image or the idea for a moment, Just recreate it once again. Allow yourself to enjoy it. Now release that image, Release that experience, And recall another. It may be something that happened a little further back in time, Perhaps it's something more substantial, Something more important, A little bigger. Maybe it's something that you've had access to your whole life, And you realize how grateful you are to have it. Again, Just choose one thing for now, Build the image there in your mind Observe with curiosity, Where do you feel the sensation of gratitude in your body right now? Every time you feel yourself getting a little distracted, Memories pop up or things you need to do or self-talk, Just release any attachment to those thoughts. Rebuild this idea of thankfulness and gratitude right now in this moment. Keep rebuilding, Keep seeing the details, Keep feeling this bubble up in your body, The sensation of being lucky, Gifted, Blessed, Thankful. As you're practicing this way, Allow a smile to come onto your face. It could be very small and subtle, It could be large. Allow your face to relax into a smile, An authentic expression of gratitude and joy. You are deserving of this feeling. As you allow this second image or experience to fade from your mind right now, I'll ask you to take your hands and rub them together slightly in front of you, So that your palms get warm, Gently rubbing the hands together. And now place them all over your heart or over any area where you felt this expression of gratitude coming up in your body as sensation. Let your hands rest there, Feeling the warmth penetrate, Feeling your body lift into your hands. Take a deep breath and let it go, And repeat to yourself, I am grateful, I am grateful, I am grateful. Release your hands back down to their resting place. Notice your breath again, Notice how it's moving through the body in a slightly different way. Notice the weight of your seat in your chair or on your cushion, And bring your awareness to the base of your spine, Down near your tailbone or your root chakra. Take one long, Slow breath all the way up the spine to the top of the head, To the crown. Breathe in, Breathe out. Visualize it coming back down the spine, Grounding you back into your seat. And allow your eyes to gently, Slowly open again. Take a moment to notice how you feel as your presence re-enters your space.