So let's find a nice comfortable seat,
Whatever looks best for you,
Whatever feels best for you,
Not looks,
Whatever feels best for you.
So you don't have to do what I'm doing,
You can lay down,
You can keep your eyes open,
Whatever you need right now.
But wherever you are,
Start to tune in to the breath.
Maybe you'd like to close the eyes or keep them open.
But just find some softness in the body,
Maybe relaxing the neck and the shoulders,
Relaxing the hips and the lower back,
Belly.
Just find that breath,
Find that breath moving up and down the body,
Letting it flow naturally.
Maybe taking a few neck rolls here,
Rolling out the shoulders,
Maybe stretching out the heart space.
Just letting go of any tension,
Any tightness,
Physical or emotional that you're carrying in the body.
Just begin to relax right here.
Recognizing that something drew you to this particular meditation tonight.
Maybe the timing,
Maybe that word gratitude,
It can be really difficult right now to find that.
You might even feel impossible to find that gratitude.
So as we breathe,
Just go through a timeline in your day.
Start first thing in the morning when you opened your eyes.
Maybe it wasn't the best wake up that you've ever had.
Maybe you were startled.
Maybe you weren't ready to get up yet.
See if you can find just a moment of gratitude in your morning.
Maybe it was the people that you were surrounded by or animals.
Maybe it was the coffee that you had,
Breakfast.
That hot shower.
Maybe it was a song on the radio if you drove to work.
It doesn't have to be anything big.
Just finding some gratitude from your morning,
Something that you could be grateful for.
Maybe gratitude,
Maybe grateful is too strong of a word.
Maybe it was just a nice moment.
Just for a few seconds you thought,
This is nice.
Find that moment right now.
Once you have that moment in your mind,
Draw a deep inhale in.
Open the mouth.
Start to continue a little bit later into your day.
Maybe around lunchtime or into the early afternoon.
Going through that timeline in your head.
Maybe you don't remember what it is that you had for lunch.
Maybe you didn't even get lunch today.
Maybe you had a meeting or you were helping with some schoolwork.
Maybe you were really busy or just really tired.
See if you can find just a single moment from your afternoon.
A moment of gratitude.
A conversation with a coworker or a friend.
Maybe a text message.
A smile.
An email that you received.
Just find that little moment.
A cup of tea.
A moment of sunshine.
Just something small that made you say,
This is nice.
Find that moment in your mind.
Draw a deep inhale.
Exhale out.
Now moving into your evening.
Finding that moment of gratitude in your evening.
Maybe it's coming home from work or finishing up a task.
Maybe it's a meal,
A hug,
Puppy snuggles,
The drive home,
A workout.
Nice stretch or a nap even.
Just find that single moment.
It was just a few minutes.
Finding a moment of gratitude seems like too much right now.
Just something that made you think,
This is nice.
Draw a deep inhale in.
And exhale out.
Taking those moments all together.
Finding a collective feeling of gratitude for yourself for recognizing something beautiful during what may have been a difficult day,
Difficult time,
Difficult season of our lives.
If gratitude feels like too strong of a word right now.
Just coming back to that moment,
That feeling of,
This is nice.
Draw a deep inhale in.
Exhale it out.
Continuing to breathe deeply.
Taking this practice and carrying it into tomorrow.
Maybe then rather than at the end of the day reflecting back on what was good,
What you're grateful for,
What were those nice moments.
Finding them in the present moment,
Allowing it to stop you in your tracks.
Taking that moment to say,
This is nice.
Allowing your breath to move back to a normal rhythm.
And in your own time,
Beginning to open the eyes,
Giving yourself a little smile.
Thank you so much.
I think I really needed that tonight.
You're meditating with me.
I truly appreciate it.
I hope you have a wonderful evening.
You stay warm and I will hopefully see you soon.
Good night.
