Welcome.
Thank you for joining me to practice together.
Today we're going to explore a type of gratitude practice and this is one that can be done daily,
Maybe at the start or the end of your day,
To create a simple and quick ritual of gratitude.
It can be used at any time,
Especially when it feels a little like a reset might be useful,
When there are negative or difficult thoughts stuck in the mind and you just know that you need a little shift in perspective.
It's so easy to get caught up in the negative stuff that happens in life,
In the difficulties,
The things that are annoying,
And the problems that crop up every day.
And that's normal.
There's nothing wrong with it because human beings are wired to have a negativity bias and for many thousands of years this bias was really useful.
It helped us focus on and remember the bad things that happened to us so that we'd be less likely to let them happen again in the future and we'd be more likely to survive.
As modern humans this can help us in certain situations but since our survival is less under threat than it used to be thousands of years ago,
We tend to allow this negativity bias to take over in areas where it's maybe not so useful for us.
So this type of gratitude practice that we're going to do today can help us balance it out a little just by shifting our attention to the positive things in our lives.
And I particularly like this practice because sometimes gratitude practices can bring up some complicated feelings.
Maybe we don't feel grateful enough or the concept that we shouldn't have anything to feel bad about because someone else always has it worse can just be complicated for the mind.
But this practice just helps us hone in on little things,
Specific things that are good and relative in this moment.
So find a comfortable position to practice in today.
This could be sitting or lying down,
Standing up,
Anything that feels good.
There's no right or wrong way.
And if it feels good to allow the eyes to gently close,
Just letting that happen.
It feels better to keep them open.
Just allow the gaze to soften to be a little unfocused.
And letting the breath deepen and slow down over the next few cycles of breath.
Allowing the attention to draw a little more inward with each cycle.
Starting with three things.
What are three things that you're grateful for right now?
This can be anything big or little.
You don't need to find the perfect thing.
Just roll with the first things that pop into your mind.
What are you grateful for right now?
Three things.
Taking a nice long slow inhale and a long slow deep exhale as we shift to two things.
What are two things you're looking forward to in the next day?
Again,
Going with the first things that come into the mind.
Not needing to pick something perfect or something that would sound good to anyone else.
It's two things.
Two things you are looking forward to in the next day.
And taking a long slow deep inhale filling the lungs and a long slow cleansing exhale as we shift to one.
What is one thing that has warmed your heart in the last day?
Just noticing the first thing that comes to mind.
Something that warmed your heart or made you feel good inside.
It's one little thing.
And notice what comes up when you think about that thing.
Allowing the attention to roll over it.
Explore it.
Any sensations in the body that happen as you think about this thing?
Any thoughts that come up?
Any energetic feelings or just general felt sense?
Noticing anything pleasant that's present.
Enjoying those pleasant feelings,
Sensations,
Thoughts.
Relishing in that.
Allowing it to pause in your consciousness in your mind.
Feeling anything you notice.
Really allowing yourself the full enjoyment of whatever this pleasant thing is,
No matter how small.
Soaking it in.
Taking a deeper inhale as we prepare to shift out of this period of practice and back into life.
Allowing the physical body to relax with the exhale.
Soften a little bit.
Allowing the eyes to gently open if they've been closed.
Or slowly allowing the gaze to focus if the eyes stayed open.
Slowly taking in your surroundings.
Re-acclimating as we close this practice.
Thank you for taking the time to practice today.
And thank you for practicing with me.
