Hello,
Welcome to today's gratitude meditation.
I'm a firm believer that having a daily gratitude practice is one of the easiest and most effective ways to enhance your life and your well-being.
Gratitude makes it easier to face adversity and challenges in life.
It reduces the risk of becoming depressed and it even has the ability to strengthen your immune system.
So let's get started,
Shall we?
Go ahead and sit with a good posture.
You can either sit on the floor or in a chair with your feet on the floor.
You can lie down if you wish,
Just somewhere that you can let your spine be straight but also relaxed.
Let your shoulders move outwards a little to expand your chest area and then let them drop away from your ears and tuck your chin down a little towards your chest so that you can lengthen the back of your neck,
Creating a nice long spine.
If you'd like,
You can close your eyes or just drop your gaze and just begin to breathe through your nose,
Focusing your mind on the sensation of your breath moving in and out of your body.
It's important to focus your mind and ground before you just start thinking about gratitude.
This way you won't be affected by any unwanted thoughts or feelings.
Continue to deep breathe in through your nose,
Feeling your lungs and your belly expand and then contracting as you let all the air flow naturally.
And then when you're ready,
Begin to bring to mind people that you love and express gratitude for them.
You are likely already very thankful for the people that you love,
So just bring them to mind.
Start with one person,
One person that you truly love and then say the mantra,
I am grateful to have you in my life.
Repeating that mantra in your head as you think of that person in your mind's eye.
And while you say this mantra,
Think of one specific time that you were truly grateful for this person.
Visualize the thing that they did that made you happy or the thing that they said.
You should notice a feeling of gladness and just be aware of the feelings that come up as you think of how grateful you are for that person.
And then proceed to someone else who is close to you.
Who else in your life are you grateful for?
And repeat the mantra,
I am grateful to have you in my life.
Think of that time when they made you when they made you happy,
When they said or did something.
Be aware of that feeling,
Recall that feeling,
And then in your mind's eye,
Begin to think of a place,
A special place that makes you happy whenever you go there.
Visualize that spot in your mind and then say the mantra,
I am so grateful to have this place in my life.
I am so grateful to have this place in my life.
Recall the feelings that you have when you visit this place,
How it makes you feel,
How grateful and glad you are to have this place to go to.
Maybe this place is your home.
Maybe this place is somewhere in nature.
One of the benefits of gratitude is that it just makes you happy,
Reduces the feelings of sadness and depression when you begin to focus your thoughts on the people,
Places,
And things that light up your life.
So as you move forward through the day,
Take this loving awareness,
This gratitude with you,
Maybe reaching out to one of these people,
Letting them know how much you appreciate them.
And always,
Always,
Of course,
Gratitude for yourself,
Gratitude for the wonderful,
Loving human being that you are,
Accepting yourself exactly as you are,
And knowing that you are enough and that there is always something to be grateful for.
You're welcome to stay here and just bask in this feeling of gratitude,
Where you can slowly open your eyes and bring yourself back into the space around you,
Maybe feeling a little bit more happy,
A little more thankful,
Maybe taking some movement with your body.
Take a deep cleansing breath,
Breathing in through your nose,
And this time breathing out through your mouth.
Have a wonderful day.
I am grateful for you.
Thank you for meditating with me.
