Breathing slowly in and out.
Using your breath to ground you in the present moment.
Using your breath to slow down your mind and relax your body.
If you have any pain or discomfort present,
Just spending a few moments sending your breath in and around the painful area.
Breathing into the pain.
Breathing around the pain.
Using your breath to send love,
Compassion and acceptance throughout your body.
Making space for this pain to exist within you.
There's no need to fight it.
Allowing your breathing to soften your body and to clear out any old stuck energy.
In this gratitude meditation you're going to bring to mind the things,
Circumstances and people in your life for which you are grateful.
And allow yourself to experience extended feelings of joy and appreciation.
It only takes 20 seconds of allowing a positive feeling like gratitude to exist in your body for your brain to start rewiring itself to experience that feeling again.
This is why it's important to allow gratitude into your life even if you're struggling with pain or illness.
Feeling clear and peaceful.
Now it's time to begin your gratitude practice.
It's important to remember that it is possible for you to feel grateful regardless of the presence of pain.
Even if your discomfort consumes much of your energy and attention any amount of gratitude practice,
However small,
Will have a big impact in your life.
Let's begin by focusing on your body and its incredible abilities.
Your body may well receive a lot of judgement and criticism from you.
But now is the time to let all that go and focus upon what your body helps you to do.
Bringing to mind all the ways that your body supports you.
Maybe your body finds breathing easy.
Maybe your heart pumps effortlessly.
Feel yourself open to the experience of gratitude as you think about all the things that your body does well.
Thinking about all the functions of your body that go on behind the scenes that you're not even aware of.
Blinking,
Digesting,
Sleeping,
Breathing,
Healing,
Regenerating and moving.
Even if your body struggles with some of these functions,
Focusing now on all the things that your body does well or well enough.
Feeling grateful for this body that you live in despite its imperfections.
Taking a deep breath and now thinking about the things that you have in your life that you are grateful for.
Physical actual things like your bed,
Your kitchen,
Your car,
Technology devices,
Clothing,
Furniture,
Books,
Items that help you to express your creativity,
Your home and everything in it.
Bring all that stuff to the forefront of your mind and allow your gratitude to flow.
These items may not be exactly what you would choose if money were no object.
But it's important to acknowledge the value that they contribute to your life on a daily basis.
Allowing you to feel safe,
Warm,
Connected with others,
Entertained,
Informed,
Fed and protected.
Just spending a few moments now feeling grateful for all of these things.
Now we're going to shift the focus to the circumstances,
Situations and places in your life for which you feel grateful.
You might bring to mind a place in nature where you feel connected and joyous.
Or perhaps you can feel grateful for your circumstances,
The fact that you're alive and able to listen to this recording.
That you have an income,
You have access to clean water and a roof over your head.
You could think about a holiday or an outing that you recently went on.
Or perhaps something that you recently read.
Or visualise something exciting that's scheduled to happen in the future.
Just taking a minute,
Soaking up the gratitude that you have for your circumstances.
Shifting your focus now to your family and community.
Bringing to mind the people in your life who support you,
Love you and improve the quality of your life.
The people whom you are grateful to know.
This can include people who are no longer living.
Thinking about all the people who have influenced you.
Include everyone from your loved ones to people that you only knew briefly.
Even people who made your life difficult.
Those who are grateful to the person,
Visualise them now and let your gratitude flow and expand.
Take a moment to enjoy this feeling and let it grow.
And finally now,
Bringing to mind things that don't necessarily involve you directly.
But for which you can still be grateful.
The development of technology that has no doubt changed significantly in your lifetime already.
Or the network of roads and railways that connects your house with everywhere else in the country you live.
Or thinking about the seasons that change effortlessly as if like perfectly timed magic.
Nature,
Animals,
The stars,
The experience of love.
Feeling grateful for everything that you can think of that exists in the world we live in.
And with gratitude overflowing from your heart,
Reconnect with your breathing once more.
Making some gentle movements and grounding yourself back into your body.
Bringing all of those positive feelings with you back into your day.
Thank you.
