I'm Hunter and welcome to this gratitude meditation.
Gratitude reduces feelings of envy,
Makes your memories happier,
Enhances your empathy and helps you bounce back from stress.
Take a deep breath in and let that breath out.
Take a deep breath in and let that breath out.
Again,
Take a deep breath in and let it out.
Then let your breath be just as it is.
Let your belly be soft.
Let your jaw soften.
Let your hands relax a little more.
Notice the sensation of breathing coming in and out like waves.
Bring your awareness to your feet,
The bottoms of your feet,
The toes,
The heels and the tops of your feet.
Let them be completely relaxed.
Allow your lower legs and your thighs feel heavy.
Let them soften and relax.
Letting the belly soften,
The arms,
Letting the chest expand and soften and letting the face soften and relax.
First,
Recall that if you are listening to this recording,
You already have several marvelous gifts.
The gift of life itself,
The most precious gift.
Someone gave birth to you,
Someone fed you as an infant,
Changed your diaper,
Clothed you,
Bathed you,
Taught you to speak and to understand.
The gift of hearing so you can hear and learn whether it's the song of a bird,
The songs of singing and voices,
The sound of your own breath flowing in and flowing out.
The gift of a heartbeat,
Steady,
Regular,
Moment after moment,
Pumping fresh,
Life-giving blood to all your organs.
Now think of all the things we have today that make our lives easier and more comfortable than they were for our great grandparents.
We flip a switch and light appears.
We turn a tap and clean,
Drinkable water appears.
We adjust a thermostat and a room grows warmer or cooler.
We have a roof to keep us dry when it rains and walls to keep out cold wind,
Windows to let the light in and screens to keep out the insects.
We enter a vehicle and it takes us where we want to go.
We have access to machines that wash our clothes and we have clothes to wear and places to store them.
There are machines that cook our food at just the right temperature and help us to cook it without having to gather wood.
We have indoor plumbing.
We have public libraries that have thousands of books and recordings free for anyone to borrow and read.
We have public schools that can teach us to read and write,
Skills that were available to only the very few just a few hundred years ago.
Now take a moment to reflect on all the thousands of people who have worked hard,
Some without knowing you at all,
To make your life easier or more pleasant.
Sending gratitude to those who plant,
Grow and harvest your food.
Sending gratitude to those who transport that food to market.
To those who make the roads and railways that make it easier to transport the food.
To those who maintain the servers so that you can get and send email and access the internet.
Sending gratitude to those who design operations and systems for gathering,
Sorting and disposing of trash and recycling.
Sending gratitude to those who play sports,
Create art or music or plays or poems or films that entertain and uplift you.
And most of those people you've barely met or barely know.
Now consider the people and the pets you know that enrich your life.
Those who smile at you and cheer you on,
Those family,
Friends,
Acquaintances,
Colleagues and peers.
Sending gratitude to those ancestors who worked so you could live well and those friends who support you when you need a shoulder or a hand.
Now consider nature,
The earth and the abundance of life around you.
Sending gratitude to the trees,
Plants,
Animals and minerals that are part of this abundant world.
Sending gratitude for the air we breathe and the sun that sustains our planet.
Now take a moment to reflect on your own reasons for feeling grateful in this moment.
There's so much to feel grateful for in this moment now.
Gratitude fills our hearts and minds,
Uplifting our spirits.
When you finish,
You can notice the feeling of your body and your breath in this place.
Rest quietly for several minutes,
Noticing how you feel throughout your body,
Emotions and thoughts compared with before you started.
No judging,
Just noticing.
Finally stretch your hands and arms,
Feet and legs.
And let's finish with by placing a hand to the heart,
One palm and then the other.
Sending gratitude to yourself for taking this time to cultivate this powerful feeling within the body that has the power to change our outlook.
With practice,
You can find yourself feeling grateful easily wherever you are.
You may choose to keep a journal noting five things every day for which you feel particularly grateful.
You can draw on the strength of this gratitude that you've cultivated today whenever you wish.
Thank you for spending time with me for this meditation.
As you create more peace in yourself,
You create more peace for everyone.
Namaste.
