Ah,
Hello and welcome to today's gratitude meditation.
I'm so grateful you've taken the time to join us today.
And I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit or lay down,
Whatever feels good to you.
I invite you to focus on your breathing.
Just coming back to the breath,
Allowing your body to be nourished every time you breathe in oxygen and exhale all the way out,
Getting rid of all the carbon dioxide and everything else,
Waste exiting your body and come back to your breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now,
What I invite you to do is if you find your mind wandering during this meditation or you find that you're not able to focus on my voice,
I want you to ask yourself this question.
What am I grateful for right now?
And just bring yourself back to that.
What am I grateful for right now?
And allow yourself to come back to this moment and being in gratitude.
I want you to imagine your favorite or a familiar beach.
It's pre-dawn and you've just arrived at your favorite beach.
You can see the sand stretching out before you or maybe your favorite beach is a combination of pebbles and small little rocks and the ocean stretches out before you.
And you can see that the sky is just starting to get a little bit of color as you start walking along the shore of the beach.
You can feel the sand below your feet.
Maybe it's warm enough for you to take your shoes off and allow your feet to sink into the sand with every step.
And as the sky becomes a little bit lighter and a little bit brighter,
You notice the colors.
There are a few clouds and they are just a little bit pink underneath and red.
And you take a deep breath in,
Knowing that the best of the sunrise is yet to come.
You pause for a moment,
Plant your feet in the sand and place your hands over your heart.
And you repeat this morning mantra.
Thank you for this gift of another day and the opportunity to be of service to others and to make a difference in this world.
You take another deep breath in and repeat the words again.
Thank you for this gift of another day and the opportunity to be of service to others and to make a difference in this world.
And then you look up and you see the sunrise colors getting brighter.
The red has now turned into an orange and the whole sky is a beautiful shade of orange and yellow.
You can already feel the heat from the sun even though it has yet to rise above the horizon.
You walk a little further on the beach and find a log to sit on.
If you're still wearing shoes,
You take your shoes and socks off and walk towards the water's edge.
Now the sky is getting brighter and brighter.
Orange is fading into yellow and you can see the outline of the sun's light on the few clouds that are right on the horizon.
It's almost as if the sun is tracing a line around the edges of the clouds.
And as you step into the water,
It feels cool,
Refreshing,
And comfortable.
You can feel the waves on your toes rolling in and out around your ankles.
And then you see it,
The sun making its way above those few clouds on the horizon and lighting up the sky.
Behold yourself in awe of this beautiful miracle every day that the sun rises no matter what.
It appears as a big orange ball,
So much bigger and brighter than you've seen in a long time.
And as the sun rises above those few clouds,
You feel warmer.
You can feel the warmth of the sun reaching your skin.
You step a little bit deeper into the water,
Up to your calves.
And as you see the sun rising,
You think of all the reasons that you are grateful simply to be alive today,
That you are here to see the sun rising.
You're standing here with your feet in the ocean,
Feeling the waves rolling in and back out.
And you place your hands over your heart and you come back to your breath.
And you think about how incredible it is that your heart continues to beat every moment of the day and night,
Whether you know it or not.
And you give thanks for your heart,
And your other organs that keep you alive.
And as the sun finally climbs over those few clouds on the horizon,
You raise your arms above your head,
Lean back a little,
Allow the rays of sunshine to wash over you.
And you know that today will be a great day.
Because any moment in your day today when you are having a challenging moment or facing difficulty,
You know you can come right back here,
Right to this place.
Feet in the water,
Waves rolling over you,
And the morning sunrise giving you strength.
Bring your hands back to your heart and slowly back out of the water and start walking back to where you came from.
Coming back to me,
Coming back to this moment,
And taking the sunrise moment with you and taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
For the rest of your day.
Take a deep breath in,
Coming back to your breath.
Slowly open your eyes and smile a big smile as you go forth and create an amazing day.
