Welcome everyone.
My name is Nadine and I will be leading you through this meditation on gratitude today.
So for this meditation you won't need anything particular.
You just want to use any props or blankets,
Pillows that you need to find a comfortable seat.
So you can sit on a chair,
On your sofa,
On your bed,
You can sit on the floor,
Whatever feels most comfortable.
Use any props and support that you need so that you can sit comfortably for about 15 minutes or so.
And if for any reason you cannot sit comfortably for that amount of time,
Of course feel free to lay down on your back and make yourself comfortable on your back.
Alright,
So just settle into your seat,
Take a moment to find both sit bones rooting down firmly into the support underneath you.
And then grounding down also through your legs,
Maybe your feet if they're on the floor.
Your chin is ever so slightly tucked a little bit so that your neck is nice and long.
Energy reaching all the way up through a tall long spine up through the crown of your head.
Without tensing up your back or your shoulders.
So find a tall long alert seat but still with some ease and softness in your posture.
And then your hands can rest on your thighs,
In your lap with your palms facing up as a gesture of receptivity and openness.
Allow your eyelids to close or find a soft gaze towards the floor in front of you.
And then first just take a few deep long breaths in through your nose and out through the mouth.
Just as a way to arrive,
To settle in,
To let go of your day,
To connect with your body and this moment in time.
So I've been thinking a lot about this constant search for happiness that we are all or most of us in our lives.
And how we can create happiness instead of just feeling like a victim in a constant endless chase or wait for its arrival.
And for me I found that the key to happiness is gratitude.
So the really great thing about gratitude is that just like with disappointment the more gratitude I feel the more good things I find to be grateful for.
So it is like strengthening a muscle.
The more you practice,
You train and you use that muscle the stronger it gets.
So the more we are focusing our awareness on things that we are grateful for the more things we will find to be grateful for.
So it multiplies itself by simply bringing awareness to it.
And with gratitude joy grows and it awakens our compassionate loving heart.
So gratitude helps us to rejoice on simply being alive.
It is confidence in life itself.
One of my favorite quotes about gratitude comes from Meister Eckhart and he said,
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you,
It will be enough.
Alright,
So let's get started.
Let's place both of your hands onto your heart space,
The center of your chest.
And just take a moment to check in and to connect with your heart space by taking a few breaths into that part of your body.
Into that good old friend that is always there,
Always welcoming.
Sending your breath into your heart,
Allowing your heart to expand and to soften.
Inviting a sense of receptivity,
Softness and openness.
You can even imagine your heart breathing in and breathing out.
Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation that we can only access through our heart,
Not through our thinking mind.
So the heart is the gateway to gratitude.
Some even say that gratitude is the language of the heart.
And when we connect to it,
We are connecting with that sweet energy of positivity,
Possibility and pure love.
So we can't think our way into gratitude.
We have to connect to our heart to access gratitude.
So with your hands on your heart,
Maybe you can even hear or feel your own heart beating in your chest.
And just notice any feelings,
Emotions that might be present in your heart at this moment.
Maybe there's something that is challenging you.
Or maybe there is a heavy or tense or tight feeling in your heart.
Or maybe your heart feels light and joyful.
Simply notice and invite a sense of kindness and compassion towards yourself by sending your breath there.
When we are connected to our heart,
When we are in this place of our heart space,
We are usually the best version of ourselves,
Unencumbered by our thoughts,
Worries,
Fears and judgments.
It is the place of all our wisdom,
Pure love and confidence in life itself.
If you want,
You can keep your hands on your heart.
That helps you to stay connected to this part.
Otherwise you can let your hands rest on your thighs again,
Palms facing up.
Now take a moment for appreciation towards yourself,
For all your efforts to carve out this time to show up,
To meditate,
To slow down,
To practice and take care of yourself today.
So that you can connect with a quieter,
Calmer and more peaceful place within yourself.
Now think about one thing about yourself that you are truly grateful for.
A skill or quality of yours that you love and that you want to share with the world and with those around you.
Now take a moment to send gratitude to your body.
This very precious miracle and for everything that your body does for you every single day.
Mostly unrecognized and totally behind the scenes.
We often complain what our bodies cannot do or should do better.
But we rarely take time to marvel at all the things that our body actually can do.
So just take a moment to really deeply connecting with that sense of gratitude towards your body.
Now bring to mind three things in your life that you are grateful for,
Small or big.
Not just finding gratitude for the blessings in your life,
But maybe also for the challenges that have taught you so much and that have shaped you to who you are today.
When things are tough and life gets challenging,
It can be sometimes really hard to connect with gratitude.
Right?
And when that happens,
Remember that there's nothing too small to be grateful for.
So if you have a hard time to find three things in your life to be grateful for,
Rather than touching yourself or beating yourself up for that,
Just be gentle with yourself.
Witness,
Breathe,
And maybe just be grateful for your breath.
Every breath is a gift,
An opportunity,
An invitation to let something go,
To release,
To soften,
To relax,
To become more present.
You can begin again.
One breath at a time.
Now bring to mind a person in your life that you are grateful for,
Someone you love and care about,
Someone that matters to you,
A friend,
Family member,
A pet,
Spiritual figure,
Or a mentor who is dear to you,
Someone that has inspired and helped you on your path in some way.
See this person in front of you,
Having a sense of what you appreciate about them,
Of what they bring to your life,
Their innate goodness.
And let the thought of this person inspire feelings of being nurtured,
Supported,
And loved.
Offer them a smile,
A kind word you might even silently whisper to them,
Thank you.
And allow yourself to sit in this deep sense of appreciation for that connection,
Allowing it to warm and open and soften your heart.
And as you're offering gratitude,
Notice that it equally elevates your own vibration.
So the thought and offering of gratitude itself opens your field,
It opens your heart,
Creates a lightness,
A peace,
Deep confidence in life itself.
And now we expand this feeling of appreciation and gratitude out to other loved ones,
Other people that matter to you,
Taking a moment to appreciate them,
To offer them a smile,
A kind word,
A thank you.
And then extend this energy out into the world to all the other people across the globe,
Across lands and overseas,
Let it radiate out from your heart center and into the universe to everyone who needs it,
Trusting the infinite ability of your heart to expand,
Expanding the warmth of your heart to all beings,
Knowing that just like you,
They all want to be happy and to be loved.
Allow yourself to sit in this feeling of deep connection,
Appreciation and kindness for yourself and others.
Now place both hands again onto your heart center,
The center of your chest,
And come back into your own heart.
Just take a moment to hear,
To feel your own heart beating in your chest and think about how you can and want to take this practice of gratitude with you into your life,
Into the rest of your day or your week.
And remember that there are many,
Many different ways to express gratitude through words,
Through thoughts,
Gestures,
Actions or simply a smile.
And then whenever you are ready,
Very slowly allow your eyes to open again,
Just coming back into your room,
Into your surroundings.
Have a wonderful rest of your day or evening and I'll see you next time.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Namaste.
