This class is for anyone in need of a dose of gratitude,
A pick me up,
Or is working on living more from a place of gratitude.
We'll be doing a short meditation in the beginning,
Followed by a few postures to gently open up the body and move some energy while holding a vibration of gratitude.
Thanks for joining me on this journey.
Begin in a seated position.
Closing your eyes with your hands on your knees.
Being to become aware of the breath coming in and out of your nose.
Relaxing the body and the shoulders.
Maybe some of the tension you're holding around your eyes.
Just find any spot within the body where you might be holding me.
Any stress or tension.
And just allow it to.
.
.
And relax and float away.
Coming back to a centered space.
For the next few minutes,
I'm going to guide you through a gratitude meditation.
So to start,
We're going to visualize sending gratitude to one person in your life.
Someone you deeply care about,
Or maybe even someone you're struggling to love or forgive in this moment in time.
So take a moment to decide who that is.
Trust what pops into your mind,
Whether it makes sense to you or not.
And when you've decided on that person,
Hold in your mind an image of them standing in front of you.
Imagine that you're sending them a beam of loving light.
And envision them getting everything they want out of life.
So spend a few moments and get very detailed,
Seeing them with their deepest dreams fulfilled.
Whether it's a house or family or just simply peace.
And once you've envisioned this,
Just continue to send gratitude and love and deep appreciation for the impact that they have had on your life.
And throughout class,
Remember to come back to a place of gratitude whether for this person,
Your breath,
Or your body.
And just focus on that gratitude and lightness.
Throughout practice today.
Taking a big inhale in.
And a big exhale out.
Big inhale in.
And exhale out.
Finding more softness and joy in this moment.
Allowing that gratitude to sink in.
And slowly bring your hands to your heart center and take all of those thoughts and gratitude you gave to that person and direct it towards yourself.
A gentle reminder that what you give out is what you are also giving to yourself at all times.
Slowly release your left hand to your side.
And bring your right hand to the side of your head.
Slowly lowering your head down,
Rocking forward and back.
Starting off with a gentle neck stretch.
And coming back to your breath.
Through all of this.
Back to that gratitude.
Releasing that hand down.
And switching sides.
Right hand down and left hand to your head.
Starting with this gentle neck stretch.
Maybe rocking the head forward and back.
Allowing the mind to slow down.
And the body and the heart to.
.
.
Take this time.
Throughout the rest of practice today.
Now take both of your hands to the back of your head.
Bring your elbows together and drop your chin to your chest.
Maybe gently rocking your head from side to side and just allow gravity to create a deeper stretch in the back of your neck.
Releasing your hands down,
Going to make our way onto our hands and our knees.
Bring your knees apart and your feet together.
And drop your hips onto your heels.
Extending your arms forward,
Coming into child's pose.
Allowing the hips to slowly sink back.
And just gently relaxing the forehead on your mat.
Start to walk your hands over to the left.
Placing the right hand on top of the left.
Feeling that side stretch.
As you inhale and feel the lungs expand,
And exhale,
Letting it all go.
And gently walk your hands over to your right.
Placing that left hand on top of the right,
Taking a big inhale here.
Feeling.
The ribs and the side body expanding on the inhale.
And exhale,
Letting it all go.
Finding a gentleness within the stretch.
Silly,
Walk your hands back to center.
And make your way back into tabletop.
Walk your hands forward and come onto your belly.
And just slowly push up into a little cobra or an upward facing dog for a gentle belly stretch.
And push back onto your hands and knees.
And make your way all the way onto a seated position.
You're going to take your hands behind you with your fingertips facing your hips.
Bending your knees,
And then lifting your hips up.
And dropping your head back.
Coming into a reverse tabletop.
Feeling that stretch in the front body and the shoulders.
Slowly dropping the hips down.
And bending the left knee and dropping it out to the side.
Keeping that right leg straight,
Maybe slightly bending it,
And then reaching for the toes coming into Janusra Shasana.
And just folding over that front leg.
Can keep the knee bent or straight.
Relaxing your head and your neck.
Finding your breath here.
Sending that gratitude.
To that person,
And also to your body.
As you stretch deeply in this posture.
Really make your way up.
Bring your right leg out to the side a little bit more.
You're going to reach the right arm over to your toes and lift the left arm up and over to the side.
Getting a deeper side body stretch.
You can look to the ground or up towards the sky.
Rotating that left shoulder up and back a little bit more,
Feeling that openness in the side body.
Slowly making your way out,
We're just gonna switch sides.
So this time,
Extending that left leg out,
Bending the right knee and dropping it out to the side.
And taking out slight bend in that left leg,
Reaching over.
Your leg to your toes,
Relaxing your head and your neck.
And feeling that deep stretch in the lower back and the hamstrings.
Finding grace for where you are at right now in this posture.
Feeling that deep love and gratitude.
As it moves throughout your body.
And gently begin to come up.
Make your stance a little bit wider here.
And extend your left arm over to your left foot.
And reach your right arm up and over.
Breathing deeply into your side body,
Feeling that deep stretch.
Reaching higher and a little bit deeper here.
Allowing the breath to continue to move this energy through your body.
Slowly making your way out.
And.
.
.
Come all the way back to a seated position with your knees bent and slowly lower all the way down to your back.
Hug your right knee into your chest.
Maybe take it in some circles.
Feeling the opening of that hip.
In both directions.
And then squeezing it deeply into the chest.
And then lifting the toes up towards the sky.
Ruling the ankle around,
Feeling that deep stretch.
In the front of the foot,
In the ankle.
And reach behind your calf or your hamstring and then hug your knee into your chest.
And gently guide your right knee over to the left.
Extending your right arm out.
And turning your head over to the right.
Feeling that deep stretch in that outer hip.
Finding that deeper connection within your body.
And coming back to that person that you thought of at the beginning of class.
And just feeling that gratitude just emanating from your body.
Slowly come back to center.
Bring your right knee into your chest.
Extending that right leg out and hugging the left knee in.
Rolling the hip around in both directions and then squeezing it back into the chest.
Slowly extend your left leg up towards the sky.
Reaching behind the calf or the hamstring.
And roll the ankle around in both directions Maybe you feel a little tension or tightness here.
Just take note.
And breathe a little bit deeper here,
Allowing those areas of your body to.
.
.
Open up.
And hug your left knee into your chest.
And this time,
Guide your left knee over to the right,
Extending your left arm out.
And taking your gaze over your left shoulder.
Allowing yourself to sink in and melt a little bit deeper into the ground.
Relaxing any tension you may feel in your face.
Or your body.
And slowly begin to come back to center,
Hugging your left knee into your chest.
Bring your other knee to meet.
Gently rock from side to side.
And release your feet down.
And extend your legs all the way out and your arms over your head,
Getting a full body stretch,
Rolling the ankles and the wrists.
And slowly begin to make your way up to a seated position.
Ending just like we began,
Coming back into the body.
And take your hands to your head and start to give yourself a little bit of a self-massage.
Going all the way through the tops and the sides.
In the back of your head.
And then move over to your arms all the way down to your hands.
Just giving thanks and gratitude to your body.
For being able to stretch and move in the way.
That it did today.
Moving to the other arm if you haven't done so yet.
And then down to your legs.
Giving them some final squeezes and massages.
Remembering that when you're feeling in a lower mood,
Just take a few minutes.
To send love and gratitude to someone else.
Doing this throughout the day helps lift your mood and be in a higher state.
Take a big inhale in.
And exhale out.
Thank you so much for joining me in this meditation.
Namaste.
