Welcome to today's guided meditation practice.
This practice is focused around shifting from anxiety into gratitude and the embodiment of gratitude and what that actually feels like in the body.
Although it's very natural and normal for different emotions to coexist within us,
Oftentimes opposing emotions,
Two emotions that struggle to coexist are anxiety and gratitude.
And so this meditation is really helpful for you whenever you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious or as if you're moving into a space of panic and worry.
So go ahead and find yourself in a comfortable seated position.
You can be lying down with your knees bent if that is preferable or you can sit up straight with your back against a wall with your knees and legs crossed or out in front of you.
Minimize your distractions and if it feels safe to do so,
Go ahead and close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Start to sit tall,
Imagining and visualizing your spine is elongating,
That the vertebrae are separating as the crown of the head reaches more towards the sky.
Connecting with the sensation of rooting down through the sit bones and the legs as we create spaciousness within the upper body,
Allowing the heart to open and the breath to deepen.
Bring your attention to your breathing and if you notice that you're holding your breath or that your breath is short and sharp,
Try to lovingly slow it down.
Breathing in nice and slow through the nose,
Not rushing or forcing,
Allowing the breath to fill through the upper chest,
The lower parts of the lungs and maybe even pushing out the belly and then exhaling slow and steady through the nose or the mouth once again,
Not rushing or forcing.
Repeat this a few more times and just once again notice the feeling of spaciousness and expansion in the chest and the belly and in particular how this creates more room around the heart.
Creating more and more space for the heart to feel and for us to connect to the sensations of gratitude.
I invite you now to bring your attention to a person or a thing or a situation that brings you joy,
Brings you a sense of comfort,
Makes your life easier or funner or brighter in some way.
Something or someone that makes you feel grounded and safe and trusting.
When you have this person or thing or situation in your mind's eye,
Don't just offer thanks to it but rather connect with the experience of deep gratitude.
When you connect to how this person or thing makes you feel more joyful or happier or brighter or safer notice what happens in your body.
When you connect to the feeling of joy what happens?
When you connect to the feeling of trust what happens?
The feeling of knowing you can rely on or depend on this person or thing.
What happens?
Observing perhaps that the shoulders might relax,
Maybe the breath is even slower,
Maybe there's tension in the belly that all of a sudden releases.
Now bringing your attention to your heart as you keep this person or situation in your mind and visualize it as a warm glowing light.
Almost like it's a big hug.
Knowing that this makes your life better and we are so thankful for it,
We are so grateful for it,
We are so appreciative that we have the opportunity to experience it and let that warm light grow bigger.
As it engulfs you in warmth it's almost like your heart is growing bigger and you just want to say to this person or this situation thank you,
Thank you so much for being here,
Thank you so much for offering me all of these wonderful things,
Thank you for making my life better.
And notice how that warmth floods your body.
Notice how it puts your nervous system at ease.
Maybe it even brings a smile to your face and then notice what it feels like to smile.
Stay with this feeling,
This true embodiment of gratitude and allow it to encompass and engulf your body.
Allow the warmth to trickle down into your toes and your fingers.
Allow it to unlock your jaw to release the tension in your shoulders and to expand your heart.
When we have a connection to gratitude and it becomes easier to access,
We can shift it to even the smallest of things.
The gratitude we feel for the warmth of the sunshine on our skin when we're cold.
The gratitude we have for our warm cozy bed at the end of a big day or the embrace of a loved one when we feel sad.
There are so many moments in our lives where we have the opportunity to pause and to really recognize,
Wow this thing makes my life better.
This thing makes my life easier and I'm so lucky to have it.
I'm so grateful to have it and I notice it and I see it and I don't just tick it off in my mind as something I'm thankful for but I really hold on to that feeling of how it expands me and how it enables me to be more resilient to the other parts of life that may be more challenging.
Continue staying in this space for as long as you like and the invitation is that each and every day try to notice something no matter how small that you're thankful for.
It could even be your own breath.
Just notice it and spend an extra moment with it to really feel how thankful you are for its support and love and how it makes you more joyful and carry this with you into each and every day.
The meditation practice is now complete.
Feel free to visit this space as often and as frequently as you would like.
