Gratitude Meditation For Veterinary Professionals

Gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions and can lift your energy or mood when experiencing anger, frustration, grief, or sadness. This meditation will take you through a body scan, a description of the power of mindfulness, and a series of mindfulness exercises and visualizations prompting you to tune into thankfulness. You are invited to practice this meditation anytime you wish to relax or invite a sense of gratitude into your day.

Transcript

Welcome to today's gratitude meditation.

Eckhart Tolle said acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

I want you to find a comfortable seat or you might choose to lie down.

Knowing that you will be more able to stay awake if you sit in an upright position doesn't necessarily mean you have to sit cross-legged.

You can sit in a chair with your back upright and the top of your head pointing up towards the ceiling,

Keeping your feet planted on the floor,

Or if you do choose to sit on the couch or cross-legged on the floor you can do that as well.

Just making sure that you're in a position that you really feel that you can maintain without movement for the next 15 to 20 minutes or so.

And for those of you who are wanting to do this laying down,

You can lay down on your back,

Maybe keeping your hands on your belly or on your chest if you want to feel more grounded,

Or you might keep your palms open towards the ceiling if you are looking to invite energy into your body.

And I want you to first start by tuning into your breath and just noticing your breath.

Notice the sensation as your breath comes in through your nostrils,

To the back of your throat,

Into your lungs,

Expanding your chest,

Maybe opening up your belly,

And then the opposite as your breath leaves your body.

And we're not trying to change or manipulate our breath,

We're just noticing it,

Using it as an anchor to tune in to our body and into the present moment.

And if it feels comfortable for you,

If you haven't already done so,

I invite you to close your eyes,

Or if it's not comfortable to do that,

Then just soften your gaze.

Just allow your eyes to rest,

Allow your focus to rest on an area about two meters in front of you.

And let's take a moment to tune into our bodies a little bit deeper.

I want you to just notice the body parts that I mentioned,

Whether you're holding any tension or stress in those areas,

And just see if you can let that stress go.

Starting with your forehead,

Noticing if your brow is wrinkled or tense,

Letting that relax,

Feeling that relaxation move into your cheekbones,

Your jaw,

Your neck,

Letting your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth,

Feeling your shoulders drop down away from your ears,

Feeling that the wave of relaxation moves down through your chest and belly and back,

Down to your hips,

Your upper legs,

Your calves,

Your ankles,

And your feet.

And feeling that relaxation all the way to the tips of your fingertips from your shoulder,

Down your arms,

And into the tips of your toes through your feet.

And if you need to tense any of the muscles in your body in order to know that you're there,

You can do this.

You can clench your fists,

You can tighten your toes,

And then relax.

And if it helps to do that again,

You can extend that tension into the rest of your body,

Bringing your shoulders up to your ears,

Tensing your face muscles,

Feeling that tightness in your body,

And then letting it go and relax.

And once again,

Feeling that wave of relaxation move down from the top of your head,

Washing across the front and back of your body,

All the way down to your toes.

So Oprah Winfrey once said,

Be thankful for what you have and you'll end up having more.

If you concentrate on what you don't have,

You'll never ever have enough.

This practice of gratitude that I'm going to guide you through today is such an important and transformative practice.

If we can really recognize the things in our life that bring us joy and that we are grateful for,

It really helps to free us from some of the more heavy emotions that can weigh us down.

And there is evidence to show that gratitude is an emotion and a feeling that can override other emotions like grief,

Sadness,

Frustration,

Anger.

And so often the work that we do in the veterinary profession is so heavy and so emotionally charged,

And we find ourselves mulling over situations over and over.

And it's okay to think about these situations and it's okay to have these heavy emotions and to experience them.

And if you feel that you're in a point where you can move past those other emotions and let them go,

A great way to do that is to find something to be grateful for.

To have that attitude of gratitude around the situation,

And if not for the situation then for other things in your life.

And so many individuals benefit from having a gratitude practice where they simply take time every day to think about something that they are grateful for.

You can do this when you're brushing your teeth,

You can do this before you go in to work,

You can do this at the dinner table with your family,

You can do this at night before bed.

And we are going to practice this now.

So know that if any time during this meditation your mind wanders,

You start thinking about something from work,

From life,

Just notice it,

Be aware,

Don't judge it,

It's not bad,

It just is.

That's the human brain,

That's our monkey mind.

It's normal,

It's expected.

And the practice of meditation is not stopping the brain from thinking,

It's practicing adjusting where our mind goes.

So that when we notice our mind wandering,

That we can bring it back to an anchor,

To your breath,

To my voice,

Into your body.

And every time you do this practice of bringing your focus back,

You are exercising that part of your brain that allows you to have the focus and perform redirection and manage emotions in those times when it's needed.

So I'm going to invite you now to bring to mind someone in your life for whom you are grateful.

The first person that pops into your mind,

Can you see their face?

Are they laughing?

Are they looking at you with tenderness and concern?

What is it about this person that makes you so grateful for them?

And how does it feel in your body when you think about this person?

Maybe you notice a warmth in your heart,

Maybe a tingling in your chest,

Maybe you even feel yourself wanting to smile.

Feeling the sensations of that in your body as you think about this person for whom you are so grateful.

Next I want you to bring to your mind an animal in your life,

Past or present,

That you are so thankful that you have or had in your life.

Imagine the feeling of this animal,

Their fur,

Their feathers,

Their scales,

Whatever,

Whatever it is.

Imagine the sensation of holding them or visualize an activity that you loved to do together,

Maybe your favorite place that you brought them to.

How does that feel when you think about this animal in your life and how much joy they brought to you and how your life is better because of them.

And now I want you to draw your attention to something in work,

In your work that you do,

That has brought you immense gratitude.

There's a quote by Robert Brault that says,

Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were big things.

Maybe it's a little thing at work that just brings you joy when you think of it.

The fact that there's always coffee in the waiting room,

One of your team members always greets you with a smile.

One thing that you can think of at work for which you are truly grateful and can you bring that image to your mind.

And as you bring that image to your mind can you feel how that sensation of gratitude rests in your body.

Where's the warmth or the tingling this time?

Is it in your face?

Is it in your heart?

Really sitting in that experience of gratitude.

Now I want you to bring your attention to something in your life outside of work that brings you gratitude.

What are you grateful for?

Maybe it's an activity that you do or a group that you belong to or an experience that you recently had.

Bring to mind the first thing that you think of when you think of what you do away from work or outside of work that you feel so thankful for that you have this in your life.

Or if it was just one experience that you had that experience.

How did that feel?

How does it feel now when you bring it to mind?

Let that sensation of gratitude engulf you or almost feel like it's a bubble of warmth and light around your body.

Next I want you to bring your attention to something in your life for which you are grateful that you probably take for granted on a regular basis.

The fact that you have a room to sleep in,

A car to drive,

A TV for entertainment whenever you need it,

A phone to stay connected.

What is one little thing in your life that you could not live without or you would not want to live without but in the big picture is probably something relatively,

I don't want to say insignificant,

But that you take for granted.

Can you honor that in this moment?

It's interesting when we put these things in context.

You know difficult situations in our lives that we might be experiencing.

If we bring perspective to it or put things in perspective.

I know I complain sometimes that I get woken up in the night by my toddler but I remind myself later how lucky am I and how grateful am I to have a child when I've wanted a family for so long.

Or on the days where it's freezing cold temperatures outside and I have to walk the dog and I think how lucky am I to have this constant companion and that I am physically able to take her for walks.

And it's not to diminish any of the difficulties that we have in our lives by saying well I should just be lucky to be here.

That's not what I'm saying.

But to allow ourselves in moments of our lives to really experience fully and completely all the things that we have to be grateful for.

And there's a quote by Melody Beattie that says gratitude makes sense of our past,

Brings peace for today,

And creates a vision for tomorrow.

So knowing that at our most difficult times yes it's important to feel those feelings,

Let those emotions flow,

Experience how hard life can get.

And don't for one second diminish that experience for how difficult it might be.

And when you feel that those feelings and emotions have passed through you,

On the other side of that can you find something to be grateful for?

Gratitude really is one of our most powerful human emotions.

And the more that you can express gratitude for the things in your life,

The more you will probably find that you have to be grateful for.

So taking a moment now to just really feel the sensations in your body.

Notice how it feels to be fully and completely relaxed.

To feel this calm sense of serene serenity around the things in your life that you have to be grateful for.

And if you find yourself in a moment in your life where bringing things to mind for which you are grateful is difficult for you,

Then come back to your breath.

Notice your breath,

Your lifeline.

Ever steady,

Always there,

Never faltering,

Not something you have to even think of.

And just feel that breath move your body.

And speaking of the breath,

I'm going to invite you to take a deep inhale and sigh it out.

Let's do that again.

We'll breathe in deeply,

Exhale audibly.

One last time breathing in,

Letting go any tension or anything that's remaining.

And I want you to bring your awareness now to your body and start to invite movement back into your body by wiggling your fingers and your toes,

Maybe rolling your wrists,

Maybe stretching your arms above your head,

Your toes below,

And opening your eyes and just looking around your room,

Noticing how you feel in this moment,

Recognizing where you are physically,

Emotionally,

And giving gratitude to yourself.

Most importantly,

For taking time out of your very,

Very busy day to do something just for you by practicing this gratitude meditation.

I hope that you'll carry this sense of calm and gratitude with you as you move through the rest of your day.

I wish you well.

Take care.

Namaste.