Bell sound Get into your favorite meditation posture.
And start by focusing on your breath.
Without controlling your breath,
Try and notice the contact point between the air and your nostrils or mouth when you inhale.
Noticing the coolness of the air when you inhale.
Notice the warmth of the air when you exhale.
Notice the rise and fall of your body with every inhale and exhale.
Notice where your breath stops today.
Like it's down into your belly or stops in your chest or throat.
Try taking a few deep breaths.
Imagining your belly like a balloon that you're trying to inflate with every inhale.
That you let the air out of with every exhale.
Moving your breath as far down into your belly as possible.
Finally,
Take a moment to notice where you feel the day in your body today.
Where is your center of feel?
Now,
I'd like you to open your eyes and begin to look around the room.
Take a look at the various objects in the room.
See if you can find anything in the room that is there because of you and you alone.
That you made from scratch.
Where you were the only person involved in every step in the process.
That you grew,
Harvested,
Or chopped any of the materials in the room.
That you grew,
Harvested,
Or chopped any of the materials in those items.
Wove any of the cloth.
Where you carved and designed it by yourself.
Built or developed it completely on your own.
Down to the paint or sandpaper or seed.
Even the idea responsible for that item's creation.
Is there anything in the room that did not involve someone else in some way?
Consider that for a few moments.
How dependent we are on one another.
How connected we are.
How much we have thanks to other people's input.
Other people's work.
How much we have to be grateful for from others.
Now I'd like you to pick out one item in the room that catches your eye in particular.
Think for a few moments about all the people that were involved in its creation from start to finish.
All the people that would have had to help in producing the materials.
Creating the idea for that object.
The start.
The design for it.
Shipped it.
Sold it.
Consider all the work that all those different people put into that object.
And send some gratitude to all of those people that you just thought about.
Send them thanks for their work,
For their contributions to your life.
Now let's take a few moments to appreciate some of the less tangible things.
First,
I'd like you to turn your attention toward your body.
Think for a moment about all the work that your body does for you every day.
To help you move.
To help you work.
To help you express yourself.
To help you think and feel.
Think about your health and the ways that you've experienced health over the years.
The way that you experience health now.
The strength that your body has shown you in these areas.
Send some gratitude to your body.
Now let's consider your relationships.
First,
Think about the many people who've been kind to you in the past.
Whether it's been many times or few.
Or times that they've shown kindness in big ways or small.
Think of relatives and friends who are supportive or kind to you over the years.
Focus on as many specific incidents of kindness as you can.
Send gratitude to each of the people who have been kind to you over the years.
Send gratitude to each of them for that kindness.
And send gratitude to your family members.
Now I'd like you to recall how as a small child you were completely dependent on the kindness of an adult.
You were fed,
Washed,
Put to bed.
You were taught to walk and take into school.
You had teachers that taught you.
You had adults that showed you affection.
You felt love.
As much as you can,
Try to expand these feelings of gratitude,
Love,
And affection.
Focusing in on them.
And send some gratitude to those who helped raise you.
Now I'd like you to consider the idea that all the love and kindness you've received in your life depended on similar love and kindness in previous generations.
Those who helped you were helped too.
Those who loved you were loved too.
Imagine this kindness,
Love,
And caring reaching back over millennia.
And perhaps take a moment to send out a wish to repay and pass on this kind of vast kindness.
Finally,
Take a few moments to think back on your day or the day before it.
And the moments that brought you joy,
Even the slightest happiness.
Allow yourself to send some gratitude to the people,
Experiences,
Or things that help bring that joy into your life.
With that,
I'd like you to finish with the question,
What do I now know?
What did I learn from this experience?
You can continue to consider your response to that question as you hear the chime of the meditation bells.
At the end of the third bell,
You can open your eyes and come back to the room.
