Hello everybody,
And welcome to this Gratitude Meditation.
Gratitude is an emotion that arises when we express appreciation.
It's important to pause,
Take a breath,
And create some space for this wonderful emotion.
So go ahead and sit or lie down and make any adjustments necessary to make sure that you're as comfortable as possible.
And as you settle in,
Give your body permission to relax by closing your eyes,
Unclenching your jaw,
Relaxing your shoulders,
And softening your belly.
Now begin to connect with your breath,
Simply noticing the rhythm of your breathing as you inhale and exhale.
Now let's begin to breathe more deeply.
Notice the gentle rise and fall of your belly as you breathe in and breathe out.
As you continue to breathe slowly and deeply,
Begin to bring gratitude into your awareness.
How does it feel to be grateful?
What is it like to express your appreciation?
With your next inhale,
Breathe in gratitude and imagine it flowing throughout your entire body.
And as you exhale,
Breathe appreciation out into your surroundings,
Letting it touch everything around you.
Gratitude in and gratitude out.
Bring it deep into your body and let it flow effortlessly from your heart.
And if your thoughts should wander,
Simply bring them back to the breath.
Once again,
Visualising gratitude coming into the body when you inhale and flowing out of the body when you exhale,
Expressing gratitude for each breath as well.
Now let's deepen this experience by adding some pauses to the breath.
Let's find some stillness between the inhales and the exhales.
First,
Simply notice the small pause at the top of the breath after the inhale and the pause at the bottom of the breath after the exhale.
After your next deep inhale,
Hold the breath for a few moments,
Staying with the stillness.
And as you exhale,
Notice the pause at the bottom of the breath.
So inhale and pause,
Exhale and pause,
Finding gratitude for each breath and the stillness in between them.
Throughout our busy lives,
We don't often get the chance to find stillness.
With a relaxed body and a calm mind,
It's easier to let gratitude in.
So simply breathe and experience this wonderful sensation of appreciation.
Letting gratitude wrap around you like a warm blanket.
Comfortable,
Relaxed and grateful.
Now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Simply breathing.
And as this practice comes to an end,
You might like to open your eyes with your next inhale.
And now return to your surroundings,
Feeling wide awake,
Energized and grateful for this gratitude practice.
Thank you for joining me.
Have an amazing day.
