As you make yourself comfortable,
Make sure your back is supported and close your eyes as you take a deep and full inhale through your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth.
Inhale through your nose,
Filling it with fresh new air and exhale releasing any pressure and tension you may feel in your body.
Once more,
Take a deep breath in and exhale.
Follow now your breath as it glides in and out of your body,
Allowing any thoughts and feelings to disappear.
If you get distracted or consumed by a thought,
Simply return to your breath and return to my words.
One day,
A professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test.
They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam.
The professor handed out exams with the text facing down,
As usual.
Once he handed them all out,
He asked the students to turn over the papers.
To everyone's surprise,
There were no questions,
Just a black dot in the center of the paper.
The professor,
Seeing the expression on everyone's faces,
Told them the following,
I want you to write about what you see there.
The students,
Observing just one black dot in the center of the paper,
Were confused,
But got started on the inexplicable task.
At the end of the class,
The professor took all of the exams and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students.
All of them,
With no exception,
Defined the black dot,
Trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet,
Its size,
And its color.
After all had been read,
The classroom was silent.
The professor started to explain.
No one wrote about the white part of the paper.
Everyone focused on the small black dot,
And the same thing happens in our lives.
If we insist on focusing only on the black dots in our lives,
Whether that's the health issues that bother us,
Trouble with money,
Frustrations at work,
Complicated relationships,
We fall into the trap of illusion,
Failing to see all the blessings already around us.
Often times,
When we take a moment to observe,
We see the dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives,
But all too often,
We give them much power,
Allowing them to rust and poison the well of gratitude.
Let us now take our eyes away from the black dots in our lives,
The stresses and the anxieties,
And the repetitive and consuming thoughts,
And see the bigger picture,
All that we have and all of the blessings around us,
Let us now inhale,
And as you exhale,
Give thanks for your physical body,
The way in which it does exactly what it needs to do so you can breathe and be here now.
Give thanks for the cells in your body functioning in perfect unison.
As your breath continues to gently rock in and out of your body,
Let us now give thanks to the wealth you have,
Whether that's $10 in a bank account or true wealth in great relationships and community,
Friends and family.
Remember that gratitude can turn what we have into enough,
So let us give thanks for all of the wealth in our lives.
Turning to your breath,
Give thanks to yourself,
All of you,
Just as you are in this exact moment.
As you inhale,
Release any thoughts that have come up,
And as you exhale,
Feel your body relaxing.
Focus on your breath as it effortlessly slides in and out of your body.
Thank you for today.
You have a very meaningful day.
