Reset & Refocus With Gratitude

Gratitude is the most important practice we can have right now. Practicing gratitude can help us reset our practice, and refocus on things that are going well despite things that aren't going well. Gratitude also connects us to the experiences of others, reminding us that we are dependent on the kindness and labor of other people.

Transcript

I think gratitude practice is one of the most important practices that we can be doing right now.

I often say that it's so easy to be ungrateful right now,

Considering the multitude of things that are happening each and every day.

But for me,

Gratitude practice is a way for me to kind of reset my practice,

To reset and refocus on the things that are really going well for me,

Despite all the things that don't seem to be going well.

Gratitude practice also really connects me into the experiences of others around me,

And it reminds me that I am really dependent on the kindness and the labor of so many beings,

Many of whom I don't even know.

But I'm dependent on the work that they're doing for my deep well-being,

Happiness,

And joy.

Gratitude also helps me to experience spaciousness in my mind.

It helps me to experience a sense of fluidity as well.

I think a grateful heart and mind are tools that we can carry into the most difficult situations that we're experiencing.

So to begin our practice,

I really invite you to come into a position that feels appropriate for you,

Particularly a physical posture that feels manageable for 10 minutes of practice.

And so when I say appropriate,

I mean,

You know,

Find yourself in a position that feels as if you can manage both the comfort and the discomfort of the physical posture.

So you can stand up,

You can sit down,

You can lie down,

You can surround yourself with all your fluffy pillows,

Or as I love to do,

I love to just lounge on the couch listening to meditations and doing practice.

Whatever is appropriate for you,

I encourage you to do that right now.

And once you've gotten into a position that feels appropriate,

I invite you to just reflect on an intention that you have for your practice.

So basically,

You're asking yourself,

Why am I practicing?

What's the point of this?

As an example,

For me in my practice,

My basic intention is to reduce violence,

Right?

To cultivate an open,

Expansive mind so I can be of real benefit to myself and to others around me.

This is why I'm practicing.

And so once you've set your intention,

I invite you to begin by shifting your attention to the seat under you.

I encourage you to notice the sensations of the weight of your body making contact with the seat.

Let this sensation ground you.

Let it be an anchor for you in this moment.

As I often say,

Let the sensation take care of you by holding you and grounding your attention.

And as we continue moving through the practice,

I really encourage you to take care of yourself.

Using this sensation of the body making contact with the seat as a grounding sensation,

Or any other sensation that may feel more neutral.

But whenever you feel uneasy or maybe triggered,

Returning your attention to something that feels neutral and solid and holding,

Or just stopping the practice would also be a good thing to do as well.

But as we move through the practice,

Just pay attention to how you're feeling,

To your levels of getting triggered,

And take care of yourself.

Now I encourage you to shift your attention to your breath.

If you're able to shift your attention,

I encourage you to further just notice the in-breath and the out-breath.

Letting both the in-breath and the out-breath slow down.

Taking your time slowly,

Deeply inhaling through the nose,

And then taking your time exhaling through the mouth.

If you're feeling activated right now,

Just breathing in and out of the nose would be the best way to breathe.

If you're feeling more relaxed,

Breathing in through the nose,

Out of the mouth would also be really helpful.

Allow the breath as it slows down to begin to uncover maybe some of these subtle emotional energies.

When you notice some of these energies emerging,

Just allowing those energies,

Those emotions to be within your mind.

It's okay.

Whatever arises,

It's okay.

So let it be there.

Notice it.

Often in my practice,

I imagine that my mind is a vast open sky,

And my emotions and thoughts are clouds passing through the sky.

So when my breath begins to uncover some of this material,

I just imagine that these are clouds of thoughts and emotions floating up into the sky in my mind.

And I just look up and allow that material to flow through the sky of my mind.

So when you're ready,

I encourage you to shift your attention to your heart center,

So the space right in the middle of your chest.

If you feel able to,

Bringing a palm up,

A hand up,

To place right on the heart center.

And if you can,

Just taking a few moments to notice the sensations of the hand making contact with your chest.

And in my practice,

I love to experience the sense of groundedness and holding that I get from my hand resting on my chest.

Once we feel pretty stable,

I encourage you now and invite you to begin to reflect on gratitude.

And particularly,

Inviting you to reflect on all the ways that you are a recipient of both seen and unseen acts of labor or kindness that are about our deepest well-being and happiness.

So thinking about all the things that people are doing for you.

The workers at the grocery store,

Or the people who deliver food,

Right?

Or loved ones,

Friends,

Partners who are helping you out and supporting you right now.

All the people who maintain the functioning of our favorite apps,

Like Inside Timer.

So thinking about all the ways people are contributing to our deepest well-being,

Happiness,

And joy.

And this is going to start awakening the energy of gratitude and appreciation within our heart centers.

And I love to imagine that this awakening appreciation and gratitude is like a soft white light that begins to radiate from within my heart center.

And slowly it begins to fill my body with this soft white energy,

As if I am beginning to glow from this energy of gratitude.

And if you're able to,

I encourage you to imagine breathing in and out of the heart center.

So as we breathe into the heart center,

Imagine that this breath is feeding into this energy of gratitude and growing it and deepening it and actually circulating it throughout your mind and your body.

You don't have to feel anything or see anything,

But just having faith and trust that this energy is growing is enough.

Just allowing yourself to sit within this growing energy of gratitude,

Letting this energy actually take care of you,

Letting it hold you.

Let yourself experience deeply this gratitude,

Which for me is this experience of openness and vulnerability.

And there's also some difficult emotions that arise as well,

And that's fine.

Sometimes there's sadness that arises within this practice of gratitude,

And that's okay.

Let the energy of gratitude hold this energy of sadness that may come up for you.

Allow yourself to be moved by this reflection,

This contemplation.

Allow yourself to really think creatively about all the ways that you're being supported and helped by countless beings.

Let yourself reflect on how you depend and rely on others and how that's okay,

Because there are others who rely and depend on you.

And once you feel as if this experience of gratitude is really strong,

I invite you to imagine just sharing this energy of gratitude with whomever or whatever feels appropriate or interesting for you.

In my practice,

I love to begin sharing this energy of gratitude down into the earth.

So as if this glowing light that's radiating through my body,

Helping me to glow,

Begins to be shared down into the earth.

And I thank the earth for holding me,

For protecting me,

For providing resources for my deep well-being,

Happiness,

And joy.

As we share this energy of gratitude down into the earth,

This is also a really good opportunity to reflect on the Indigenous ancestral name of the land.

And the ancestral community,

Indigenous community that took care of the land that we're living and practicing on.

I like to share gratitude with my body.

So I thank my body for being a vehicle for practice.

I share gratitude with my breath,

Thanking my breath for supporting me.

I even thank and share gratitude with my mind for being awakened and for having this opportunity to touch into the wakefulness,

Enlightenment,

Quality of my mind.

And then we can take a step further and begin to share gratitude with other beings,

With our loved ones and friends,

With all the folks that are working to ensure our well-being.

It's going to take a few minutes to do that.

And if you feel resource enough sharing gratitude with people that maybe you don't like,

Sharing gratitude.

And when you share this appreciation,

We're sharing appreciation,

Not because of the harm maybe that we're perceiving from them,

But we're sharing gratitude with them because maybe they're showing us ways that we don't want to be in the world,

Which is how I share gratitude with folks that I struggle with.

They act as mirrors for me,

To show me different ways of being that are less violent.

But over time,

You can deepen this particular expression of the practice.

So if you're not resource enough to do any of these higher level applications,

Just come back to sharing gratitude with those that are easy to share gratitude with.

So we can prepare to slowly come out of the practice and I encourage you to start that by shifting your attention down to the seats.

Noticing the weight of the body again,

Noticing the sensation of being held by the seat.

You can engage in bringing simple movements back to the body in a way waking the body up again.

You may engage in a few deep cleansing breaths by deeply breathing into the nose and out of the mouth three times.

And lastly,

We dedicate the energy of this practice to the benefit of all beings,

To our own benefit,

And that we all may be free from suffering and that we all may have all the resources we need in order to be happy.

And safe.

Reviews

Lama Rod is such an accessible, strong, and stable voice. A guiding light toward love and nonviolence. I’m grateful for his presence, wisdom, and connection to the universe.

I always enjoy Lama Rod’s meditations. This is a lovely practice for cultivating and sharing gratitude and peace.

Grateful for you and your contribution to my practice today!

Your words are a reminder for all the small things that we sometimes miss being grateful for. Thank you.

Thank you for this meditation! It was great to listen to as I made tea this morning, your voice was at a very consistent level and you covered a lot of areas to think about being grateful for, even the earth and the ancestry! I appreciate it! 👍🏾🧘🏽‍♀️🩷

Thank you so much for this nourishing gratitude practice! 🙏💕

GREAT! sharing gratitude on it's deepest level beyond the obvious was enlightening. 🙏

It was so beautiful to be in the company of such a wise teacher.

Deeply grateful for this practice, thank you. 🙏✨🙏

Love Lama Rod, and would love more guided meditations from him!

Amazing. Started my morning with this and found it helpful to get back the negative thoughts that creep in before getting going for the day.

Love listening to this before my day starts. Thank you 🙏

Thank you for your dedication to nonviolence! Inspires me to continue my journey of meditation bringing kindness and compassion to our planet

I love how I am guided through this meditation, finding my gratitude growing each and every time I practice. Thank you. ♥️

Beautiful gratitude practice, thank you. There's so much to be grateful for in our lives. I really loved sending gratitude to Earth 🌎 🙏❤️

Thank you for a calming and gracious way to end my day.

Deeply grateful for this gratitude practice. Hit the spot. I will return often.

AWESOME!!! Thank you so very much - Beautiful practice.

Thank you for sharing this uplifting inspirational message

Thank you. I am trying to learn how to feel gratitude. You helped me begin ❤️