We've been told a lot about gratitude.
The lists,
The journaling,
And all that comes from a good place.
But something subtle can get lost in all of that effort.
Gratitude becomes something to produce instead of something you feel.
I've been there.
Going through the motions,
Saying the words,
Ticking the boxes and feeling nothing or worse,
Feeling like I was doing it wrong.
But a few weeks ago on my favorite trail,
I felt something completely different.
I wasn't doing gratitude at all.
I was just walking,
Breathing,
Watching the light come through the trees.
Somewhere between the leaf littered ground and the open sky,
Something came through me.
Not as a list.
And not thoughts about what I should be grateful for.
A wave.
Warm embodied,
Alive.
The trees.
My feet.
The exact blue of the sky matching the feeling inside of me.
That's what we're practicing today.
Not gratitude as a chore.
And not gratitude as performance.
Revelry revelry is what happens when your body feels safe enough to receive what's already good what's already here.
It's gratitude with a pulse.
And once you feel the difference,
You can't unfeel it.
So come with me.
Here's the key distinction I want you to hold before we begin.
There's performed gratitude and then there's received gratitude.
Performed gratitude comes from you.
It's effortful.
You generate it.
You work to produce the feeling.
Received gratitude comes through you.
You're not making it happen.
You're just open.
And it finds you.
So most gratitude practices train you in the first one,
Which has a lot of value.
But it misses a deeper current.
The portal into received gratitude,
Into that revelry.
Presence.
Presence in your nervous system.
It's your edges softening.
The noise of your mental to-do list quieting.
And when that happens,
When presence opens the channel.
Something else.
Rises.
Presence says I'm here.
Revelry says,
I'm alive.
One more thing before we begin.
This practice works because it uses ignition.
It's a simple technique where you start naming what's around you,
Small and fast,
Without editing.
It works because the naming itself opens the channel.
You keep naming.
And at some point,
The naming stops coming from you and starts coming through you.
That's the moment we're after.
So let's go in,
Arrive in this moment.
Find a comfortable position.
You're seated.
If you're standing or if you'd like,
This works beautifully on a slow walk outside.
Close your eyes.
Or soften your gaze downward.
Take one full breath.
Through your nose.
And out your mouth.
Just let it go.
Let's do one more And a big sigh.
It's released.
Feel the weight of your body wherever you're resting,
The ground beneath your feet,
The chair or surface beneath you.
That simple fact.
Something is holding you right now.
You don't have to do anything with this moment.
You don't have to produce anything.
And you don't have to feel a certain way.
You simply arrive.
So let's notice the sounds around you near and far.
Don't even try to identify them.
Notice them,
Letting them move through you.
Notice the light behind your eyelids if your eyes are closed,
Or maybe the quality of light in the room.
If your eyes are soft and open,
Try noticing your breath.
Without changing it.
Just this natural rise and fall.
It just comes on its own accord.
And let's go.
The body doing what it does without any instruction from you.
Now you're here.
So now we're going to begin the ignition.
And I'm going to invite you to just start naming aloud or silently anything around you or within you that you can appreciate.
Big or small,
Sacred or completely mundane.
Don't edit it.
Don't arrange.
Don't wait until you find something meaningful.
Just start.
Let anything qualify.
The color of the light.
The warmth of your sweater.
Your breath.
Your socks.
The fact that you carved out this time.
Start now and just keep naming steadily like tapping gas until the engine catches.
Just keep going.
Don't judge what's coming up.
Just let those.
.
.
Appreciations and gratitudes come through.
Maybe it's for your bed in the morning.
Someone who made you laugh this week.
Maybe it's your hands.
Maybe it's the coffee or tea you made.
The more you can Notice a name.
The more momentum happens.
Maybe the naming is starting to feel less effortful.
Maybe something is rising that you didn't prompt.
That's the channel opening.
Just let it.
Let it come.
You don't have to stay with what's in front of you.
Let your attention be pulled.
A memory might arise.
A feeling might arrive.
A simple knowing.
This is good.
Might drop in.
Receiving.
And if you just need to keep the momentum going,
Add a breath.
That always awakens one more thing in your body.
That you can feel a sensation that you can be.
Thankful for.
So remember you're not trying to be clever or meaningful.
You're catching the pulse.
Of what feels good,
What is good.
Just keep naming,
Keep receiving.
If you need to repeat it,
Repeat it.
There are no rules here.
Just revel.
And all that is wonderful.
About you,
Around you,
Inside you.
Around the world maybe even that connection to the world.
Is something you can revel in.
Hmm.
Take a few more breaths here.
So now see if you can let the naming slow.
You're moving past the ignition.
Into something else.
You're moving now into the current.
Do you feel this rhythm?
This warmth.
And aliveness.
It's like something carrying you rather than you having to push.
Let it move you for as long as it wants.
And if you've popped out,
Just come on back.
Name something right here,
Right now.
Maybe it's this moment.
Maybe it's my voice.
Maybe it's the air around you.
Let it move you.
Notice what's in your body right now.
Not in your thoughts,
But your body.
Do you feel the sensations?
Maybe there's warmth,
Softness.
You feel a slight shimmer.
Expansion.
In your chest,
In your heart.
This is received gratitude.
This is revelry.
And your body knows the difference.
Gently let your eyes come fully open when you're ready.
What you just felt.
Is something you let in.
And the blessings were always there.
They are always there.
The capacity for wonder is always there.
What this practice gives you is the opening.
And presence.
Is the doorway.
Revelry is what happens when you walk through.
And here's what I want you to take with you.
You don't have to earn this.
You don't have to produce it.
You don't have to get it right.
You just have to let yourself be here long enough.
For the good to find you.
And this week I invite you to try this on a walk.
Even just five minutes.
My hiking,
I was saying these words out loud.
There's something really powerful,
Too.
Naming.
Our gratitudes out loud.
It's revelry.
And it's always closer than it seems.
So thank you for being here with me today.
Until next time,
Big love.
