The Art Of Appreciation

Truly appreciating people and things in our lives is an art form. It’s gratitude in the present moment. My dear friend, Pierre Bensusan, has permitted me to use his track called ‘Sentimentales Pyromaniaques’ from the album 'Altiplanos'.

Transcript

Welcome to In the Flow,

A positivity-provoking podcast designed to lift us up to that higher place to live our best lives.

We will laugh,

Cry,

Meditate,

And discuss any and all things spiritual to learn and remove any stigma surrounding spiritual gifts,

Meditation,

Prayer,

And the afterlife.

Today's subject is this.

I am so aware of appreciation this morning.

You know,

I stole my husband away and we went away for a weekend with some friends and I am so aware today,

And you guys know I always look for the lesson in everything,

Right?

I am so aware of appreciation and yeah,

Appreciation,

Gratitude too,

But I feel like that appreciation is different than gratitude in a sense,

Right?

Gratitude to me,

This is just my interpretation,

Right?

Always only my interpretation,

But gratitude is when I'm thankful for this,

That,

Or whatever,

Right?

Appreciation feels like more long-term,

Like I'm really aware that our friends gave up a weekend and paid money to like hang with us,

You know,

And it just feels more long-term or something.

I don't know if that makes even any sense,

But I'm just really appreciative.

I'm appreciative of my life to be quite honest.

I'm appreciative of,

For our friends and for my family.

Oh my gosh,

I'm so appreciative.

And that actually made me start to think then about what I can do on a daily basis to stay appreciative,

Right?

Because if we can,

And here's the thing,

We can do our gratitude practice.

Like I'm thankful for my health,

My family's health,

My this,

My that.

I'm grateful for that,

But appreciative to me feels like I say more stretched out,

Right?

And then I started thinking,

What does that mean?

Like why is there a difference?

You know,

Why is there a difference of being appreciative versus grateful and all that kind of stuff?

And I think that appreciative,

Being appreciative of stuff has to do with being in the present moment,

Right?

So like,

I was really a lot this weekend in the present moment,

You know?

Like I was like,

I would like look around and go,

Oh my gosh,

Look where I am.

I'm so blessed,

Right?

So to me,

That's kind of what the difference is.

Now here's the kicker to it in a sense.

Staying appreciative.

I mean,

Like I said before,

We can stay grateful,

Right?

And like I am so grateful for my family and friends and all of the stuff that I have and all of the experiences that I have.

I'm appreciative.

I mean,

I'm grateful for that,

But I'm appreciative for this present moment right now.

So it's just an interesting,

It's the little nuances obviously because it's all good,

Right?

It's all in a good place,

Right?

So but today is about appreciation and being in the present moment.

I am so appreciative that all of you are spending your time,

Your precious time,

Because that's what it is,

Your precious time with me right now.

I am so appreciative of that.

And that's kind of a long-term thing,

You know what I mean?

Like long-term meaning like it's the present moment.

So I just,

I get so much out of that.

You guys,

I am so appreciative of you all so,

So much.

So that's what we're going to meditate on today.

We're going to meditate on,

Here's the thing,

It's like gratitude in the present moment.

So that's what we're going to meditate on today.

Gratitude in the present moment.

Love that.

Which is appreciation.

So let's get ourselves comfortable.

You guys are awesome.

You guys are just so awesome.

Again that's that appreciation,

You know.

So let's get ourselves comfortable and however that looks for you,

I know I say that every single day,

But however it looks for you,

Close your eyes.

Whenever it feels like it's right.

And let's take a really great deep breath in.

So take a deep breath in.

And release it.

Awesome.

That is awesome.

And put that smile on your face.

What would it be like for you?

Is it possible for us all to,

As we're going to meditate,

Keep a smile on our face?

I know at some point it's going to feel like pretty darn fake,

Right?

But if you continue to do it,

You start to understand that joy.

So I invite you to do that today.

So what are you grateful for today?

What is going really well in your life?

What is bringing you joy?

Actually that's to me for right now the better question.

What's bringing you joy today?

It could be your puppy.

It could be your job.

It could,

I mean it could.

It could be that you're taking this short period of time for yourself because that's what this is,

Right?

It could be that cup of coffee.

Whatever it is for you.

And that's what I love.

And I know I say this all the time too,

But it is,

It's highly personal.

So what's bringing you joy?

What are you grateful for today?

And our mantra for today is one of my very favorites.

Samprati Hum.

And that means the present moment is my true nature,

Right?

So the present moment right now,

Appreciating the present moment right now is who I am.

It's who you are.

We are the present moment.

And today understanding that,

That present moment and being appreciative for all that that is for you.

Again,

Another highly personal thing.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

So I will keep the time.

So you don't need to stress about that.

This is your time for yourself.

If you lose the mantra or forget what it is,

You can always just go back to focusing on your breath.

The in and the out.

Keeping that smile on your face.

Samprati Hum.

And let's begin.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Samprati Hum.

Let's start bringing our awareness back to the chair we're sitting in.

And let's take a nice deep breath in and release.

Can open your eyes whenever you feel comfortable.

And are you still smiling is the question.

At one point I was like,

Oh my gosh,

The smiling thing is killing me.

But it just created another layer of happy to it.

So I hope you guys enjoyed that.

I appreciate each and every one of you in the present moment today.

So until next time,

From my heart to yours,

Namaste.

Reviews

I Appreciate you that was beautiful thank you