There are so many studies about how important it is for us to have a regular gratitude practice.
Gratitude helps to improve sleep and decrease depression and anxiety.
It helps us to better manage physical pain and to create stronger connections to others and so much more.
Sometimes we get caught up in trying to determine what we should be grateful for.
We might want to be grateful but feel overwhelmed or depressed or in a situation that is just so difficult.
In those instances,
We might search our lives for big things to be grateful for and come up empty.
But it's actually the accumulation of gratitude for all the little things that makes the biggest difference and which helps us to make it through those tough situations with a more open perspective.
In addition,
Most of us spend a lot of time ruminating about the past or reliving it in some way or worrying about and anticipating the future.
We have so much going on in our brains at any given moment that we seldom stop and allow ourselves to simply rest in the here and now.
Not on purpose,
Just by habit,
We allow our thinking minds to take us on rides far away from the present and often even further away from many of the things for which we are grateful.
I'm here today to offer you a practice that will help strengthen your gratitude and your grounding muscles,
A way to calm the mind and find thankfulness,
Closing your eyes or softening your gaze and taking a few deep breaths at your own pace.
Taking note of the feel of your breath in whatever way feels most natural to you.
Maybe you notice the rise and fall of the belly.
Maybe you notice the flow of air at the back of your throat and then bringing awareness to the nose,
Noticing the coolness of the air on the upper lip as you breathe in and the warmth as you breathe out and noticing any smells you are aware of and then bringing to mind a smell that you are grateful for.
It could be a fall day,
Freshly cut grass,
Summer rain,
A pie in the oven.
Really wrap your sense of smell around the memory of what you love and feel grateful that you have had this experience to draw upon,
Allowing the gratitude for this scent to fill not just your nose but your whole body.
Where do you feel this gratitude?
Is it a small smile forming on your face or an expansion in the chest,
Resting in the memory of this lovely smell and in the gratitude for it for just a few moments and then bringing your attention to your face,
Sensing into the muscles of the brow and inviting relaxation if possible,
Softening the muscles around the eyes and then with them still closed,
Sensing into the eyes,
The eyes resting behind your closed eyelids.
What sights have you seen that you are grateful for?
Perhaps a breathtaking landscape,
A bright orange sunset,
The smile of a baby or a loved one.
Perhaps it's the gift of sight itself.
Taking a few moments now to imagine this sight in as much detail as you'd like and then allowing the sensations of gratitude for this beautiful scene to fill your whole body.
Where do you feel the gratitude for this sight?
Resting here in the sensations of gratitude for this sight for just a few moments and then bringing your attention to the tips of your ears,
Just noticing the curvature of cartilage and then noticing any sounds in the room or the space that you are in,
Not judging any of these sounds as good or bad,
Just noticing and then bringing to mind a sound for which you are grateful.
Maybe it's a song or a bird call,
Wind chimes,
Laughter,
Recalling in detail this sound that fills you with joy.
What are the qualities?
What about it makes it so precious to you?
And then allowing the feelings of gratitude for this sound to travel through your body,
Filling your chest,
Your heart,
Softening your face,
And however else you experience gratitude.
Just resting here in this experience for a few more moments and now bringing your attention to your jaw,
Noticing if you are clenching or if it's relaxed and if you need to loosen if possible and shifting focus to the muscles around the mouth,
Sensing into the lips and then inside of the mouth,
The cheeks,
The tongue.
Are there any lingering tastes in your mouth right now?
And bringing to mind a taste for which you are grateful.
Maybe it's chocolate or homemade bread or hot coffee on a cold day.
Allowing your mouth to respond to the memory of this taste,
Recalling it in as much detail as you'd like and perhaps also enlisting the sense of smell here too.
And then allowing the feelings of happiness this taste brings you to radiate through your whole body,
Bathing you in gratitude and resting in this gratitude for just a moment.
And now sensing your whole body,
However you are seated or lying,
Noticing the placement of your limbs,
The weight of you held safely by gravity,
Noticing the feel of your clothing or blanket against your skin,
The temperature of the air in the room and then bringing to mind a sensation for which you are grateful.
Maybe it's the warmth of a campfire or the soft fur of a beloved pet or a satisfying scratch when you have an itch.
Take a moment to recall the details of this touch for which you are grateful,
Feeling the joy of it as you imagine it and letting that joy spread through your body and taking a moment now to lightly hold in awareness all of the things that you brought to mind during this meditation.
They were likely not big,
Exorbitant things,
But were probably little things with big meaning for you.
Robert Brault said,
Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
I would like to offer this adaptation.
Enjoy the little things for they are the big things.
With gratitude to each of you as we share these sacred practices.
Namaste.
