Welcome to this gratitude meditation practice.
Practicing gratitude can help us to shift the stories playing in our mind,
To focus and seek out more of the positive things happening in our lives.
Our brains are already hardwired to search for threats.
They are really good at imagining worst-case scenarios and replaying past events to prevent them from happening again.
To add to that,
Our brains are so good at it that they also tend to filter out a lot of the good things.
When things go right,
Our brains might barely register that it's happened.
In this gratitude meditation,
We practice seeking out the good in our lives,
Training our minds to focus a bit more on what's going right so that we can enjoy more happiness and less stress.
To get started,
Find a comfortable seat either sitting or lying down,
Close your eyes and turn your attention into your body.
Feel the weight of your body against your seat,
Relax your shoulders away from your ears,
Relax your jaw and the space between your eyebrows.
Start to notice your inhales and your exhales,
Inviting your breath deeper into the body,
Down into the abdomen.
Take stock of how you're feeling today.
Is your body tired?
Are you feeling overwhelmed,
Excited?
Simply check in with yourself and notice where you are right now.
Now try to recall a moment where you felt grateful.
What was it for?
Allow this moment to replay in as much detail as you can remember.
What did gratitude feel like in your body?
Can you relive that sense of gratitude?
As you inhale and exhale,
Try to maintain those feelings of gratitude.
Allow yourself to bask in them.
And if you're not feeling very grateful just yet,
That's okay.
Simply repeat the mantra,
I am cultivating feelings of gratitude.
I am cultivating feelings of gratitude.
I am cultivating feelings of gratitude.
Now with your attention on your breath,
Allow that moment to fade.
Looking back through your day,
See if you can pick out at least five things that you're grateful for.
Nothing is too big or too small.
With each thing,
Take a moment to experience it again.
Allow the feelings of gratitude to grow within you,
Noticing how it feels in the body.
If it feels good,
Smile as you remember each moment of gratitude.
If you're feeling stuck,
Look past today to your experiences and opportunities that you've had.
At the most basic,
You are alive.
You are here today,
Right now,
Listening to this meditation and taking the time to care for yourself,
To do something good for yourself.
Consider people in your life as your family,
As your friends,
As your family members,
As your family members,
As your family members.
Consider people in your life who have made a positive impact.
Remember why you are grateful for them.
Consider the moments to come up with your list of things you're grateful for.
Letting go of any particular moment,
Let go of the feelings of gratitude that remain.
Make a wish to continue finding things to be grateful for throughout the day as a reminder to your brain not to filter these out.
Bring your attention back into your body,
Back into the room.
Take a moment to thank yourself for taking the time today to practice gratitude.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
