Hello,
Welcome to today's meditation.
The intention of today's meditation is to call upon the energy of gratitude and giving thanks for everything that we have in this life.
So let's begin by finding a comfortable seat.
You can close your eyes or drop your gaze to a few feet in front of you.
Allow your shoulders to fall away from your ears,
Dropping your hands into your lap.
And then make any final adjustments to your body so that you can be still in your seat and also feel relaxed and comfortable.
Begin by taking a slow,
Deep breath in,
Bringing yourself into this present moment,
Beginning to feel grounded and starting the process of feeling peaceful and centered.
As you breathe into the belly,
Watch it expand.
And then as you breathe out,
The belly gets smaller.
And just breathing naturally,
Normally,
In and out of your nose,
Feeling yourself relax.
In order to make space for love,
Kindness,
And gratitude,
We must first make some room by letting some things go.
So take a moment or two to mentally scan your body for any areas where you might feel some tension,
Some tightness,
Or soreness.
And then allow your breath to enter into that area,
Your warm,
Oxygen-filled breath coming into the body,
Finding the tightness,
The tension,
And soreness.
And then as you breathe out,
Allowing it to release,
Allowing yourself to relax just a little further.
Notice any worries,
Fear,
Anger,
Irritation,
Jealousy,
Or perhaps judgment.
And if you're feeling any of these emotions,
Just notice them and then allow them to flow out,
Out with the breath.
And then noticing any thoughts,
Thoughts that perhaps are negative or unwanted,
Maybe thoughts of making plans or recalling old memories.
And just as before,
Breathe into those thoughts,
Notice them,
And then just allow them to leave with the breath as the breath leaves your body.
Now that our bodies,
Emotions,
And thoughts are a little clearer,
A little bit more spacious and open,
We can begin to focus on the events,
Experiences,
People,
Pets,
Or possessions for which we are grateful for.
First,
Let us recall that this gift of life itself is perhaps the most precious gift we have.
Someone,
Somewhere in this world gave birth to you.
And as an infant,
Someone fed you,
Changed you.
As a toddler,
You were taught how to speak and how to understand.
Life is a miracle,
And in which that means you too are a miracle.
Maybe bringing one hand to your heart,
Feel the gratitude for the gift of your heartbeat.
Moment after moment,
Without you even having to think about it,
This heart is pumping fresh oxygen-filled blood to all of your organs.
This heart inside of your body,
Keeping you alive,
This breath coming in and out of your body again with hardly a thought at all.
A little gratitude for our body.
And then,
Think of all the things we have today that make our lives easier and more comfortable than they were for our grandparents or great-grandparents.
We flip a switch and the light appears.
We turn a tap and clean,
Drinkable water flows.
We adjust a thermostat and our room grows warmer or cooler to our liking.
We have a roof to keep us dry when it rains and walls to keep out the cold wind and windows to let the light in and screens to keep the bugs out.
All we have to do is enter a vehicle and it takes us where we want to go.
We have access to machines that wash our clothes and our dishes.
And we have clothes to wear and places to store them.
We have machines that store our food at just the right temperature and help us to cook it without ever having to gather wood.
We have indoor plumbing.
So can we take a moment to appreciate how much easier life is when our basic needs are being met?
And also take a moment to recognize that not everyone in this world has their basic needs being met.
How grateful are we to be able to sit here in stillness and peacefulness?
And now let's take a moment to reflect on the thousands of people who have worked hard,
Most without ever knowing you at all,
To make your life a little bit more easier or pleasant.
We give thanks to those who plant,
Grow,
Harvest and transport our food.
The individuals who maintain the roads and the railways that make it easier to transport goods to our communities.
There is another team of people who maintain those vehicles.
And also giving thanks to the drivers,
The loaders,
The unloaders,
Those who work at the store and stock the shelves.
The postal service,
Someone who sorts the mail and others who deliver it.
And there's those who maintain the servers so that we can get and send email and access the Internet.
There are those who design and manage the systems for gathering,
Sorting,
Disposing of our trash and our recycling to keep this world a better place.
And what about those people who play sports,
Create art or music or plays or poems or films that entertain and uplift us?
Giving thanks to them as to most of these people in our life are people that we've never met and never will.
But yet they play such a special role.
And now take a moment to consider the people and the pets who enrich your life,
Those who smile at you,
Those who cheer you on,
Those family,
Friends,
Acquaintances,
Colleagues and peers.
Those friends who support you when you need a shoulder to cry on or need someone to lend a hand.
Who in your life makes your life easier?
Take a moment to reflect on your own reasons for feeling grateful right now in this moment.
There is so much to be grateful for in this life.
Whenever you are feeling like you are not enough or you don't have enough,
Drop into the space of gratitude and allow it to fill your heart and your mind.
Take a gentle deep breath in and a long sigh of a breath out.
You can open your eyes or lift your gaze and gently come back to the space around you.
Making some gentle movements to your body,
Maybe bringing a smile to your face or offering yourself a warm hug.
You find many things to be grateful for today.
I am grateful that you showed up to practice with me.
Thank you.
