Hello,
Welcome.
Thank you for joining me for this practice today.
Let's go ahead and begin by taking a moment to settle into your space.
Begin to close the eyes,
Soften the shoulders,
The jaw.
Invite the body overall just to relax and soften.
Now take a moment to scan,
Beginning at the very tip top of the head and moving all the way down,
Noticing how it feels to be in the body in this moment.
Avoiding any tendency to correct anything or criticize anything you may be feeling or noticing.
Just allowing the body to be as it is and just keeping a mental note of what it is you find.
Now set aside that mental note just for now and bring your attention to your breath.
Collecting every ounce of your attention at either the tip of your nose or your lips,
Wherever it is that you feel the breath enter.
And observe as it comes right on in through the nose or mouth,
Travels swiftly down the airway into the lungs where it fills up the lungs and then flows back out up through the airway and is released out into the universe once again.
And it doesn't stop with just the one breath,
It continues.
And consider how it just does this,
Allowing the breath in and out,
Not always in the same way but for the most part accomplishing the same purpose.
Now recognize what a gift it is to be able to breathe.
Not only does it allow us to survive,
But it also gives us an anchor to which we can turn our attention whenever we need time to relax or clear the head.
Now take a moment just to say thank you to your respiratory system.
It can be as simple as,
Thank you lungs for enabling me to breathe.
Or whatever way feels most sincere,
Feels most natural to you.
Your own special way.
Say thank you to your breath.
Perhaps this is by placing a hand over your chest or inviting a smile.
And now consider this,
Those lungs,
They don't do a whole lot of good without the bloodstream.
As we breathe,
This precious oxygen enters the bloodstream,
Which is then pumped by a strong,
Beautiful beating heart and shuttled throughout the entire body.
Blood carries that nourishing oxygen to every portion of your body,
Nourishing it and bringing with it whatever that part of the body needs in that moment.
So see if you can sense the beating of the heart within your chest as it fuels this process.
Try to collect all of your attention and bring it deep into your chest,
Wherever you can find the heart,
Wherever you can feel it beating.
If it helps,
Perhaps shift your hand to a spot on your chest where you feel your heartbeat the most,
Perhaps on the left side of your body,
Because that's where the heart is housed.
Feel that beating,
Feel that pulsing,
And take a moment to say thank you to your heart.
Saying something as simple yet powerful as thank you heart for enabling me to live.
Choose your own special,
Genuine way of saying thank you to your heart,
To your circulatory system.
You want to hear something I think is amazing.
The heart and the lungs can't even do their jobs without something leading them,
And that's the brain.
This breathtakingly complex,
Mysterious,
Astonishing brain.
From the tiny cells to the large structures,
This brain does so much for us.
To help us function,
Yes,
But also to learn,
To grow,
And to thrive as human beings.
Just think about that.
Consider for a moment all that your mind does for you,
And now take a moment as we did with the other two structures and say thank you to your brain.
Maybe you start by saying something like thank you brain,
Thank you for enabling me to,
And then filling in that space with something you're most amazed that your brain is able to do for you.
Or just thinking of something that feels a little more natural,
Something you would say to someone close to you.
And now take a mental step back and lightly scan your body just as before,
Starting at the top of the head and moving your way down to your toes.
How does it feel now compared to the beginning of this practice?
There's no right or wrong way to answer.
Just notice what it feels like to be in this body right now.
This body is a gift just as much as those individual components of the breath,
The heart,
And the brain.
And no,
It isn't perfect.
No one's is,
No matter how much it might seem that way on the surface.
There are just some things our bodies can't do,
Whether it be something that they used to be able to do,
Or probably will never be able to do.
And that's okay,
Because there's also so much that they can't do.
They really are incredible if you take the time to look at those small things and realize how large they really are.
Things like breathing,
Being able to think,
Being able to even care.
That's all pretty remarkable.
And now with all of this in mind,
Just take a moment to thank your body the way you would genuinely thank a loved one for a thoughtful gift or a gesture.
Being kind,
Being compassionate,
Setting aside the imperfections,
Or maybe if it works for you,
Including the imperfections,
Just saying thank you to this body for functioning the way it does and working so hard to help you grow,
To learn,
And to thrive.
And now as we come to the close of this practice,
Take a moment to thank yourself personally for giving yourself this time.
This isn't something that everyone does,
And it really is quite nourishing.
I hope you felt that by participating in this practice today.
And begin to reorient yourself with your space,
Opening the eyes,
Inviting some movement into the body.
And even though there are things to respond to today,
Other assignments,
Other responsibilities to give your attention to,
Try to take this thankful aura with you as you go about your day.
Thank you for joining me,
For taking the time to participate in this practice today,
And feel free to come back to it anytime you'd like.
