Hello everyone It is today is November 12th We are in the middle of middle of November.
We're we're in fall autumn is off to a good start Starting to think about Thanksgiving starting to think about the holidays a little bit November and December full of holidays and with the holidays all the good stuff that we associated with the holidays family and Warmth food and all kinds of all kinds of good stuff that we have as the touchstone of our holiday experiences Holidays also can come with some stress and I don't think this is a surprise really to anyone But there's some expectation.
There's always family gatherings a lot of the times for folks.
There's There's things to do there's we're coming up on the end of a year.
How do you want the year to end?
All kind of things sort of sort of come together in this November December and as much as we want it to be a joyous experience all around Even even something as wonderful as the holiday season coming up can come with its own bit of bit of struggle sometimes And so the first one as we know is Thanksgiving coming up and then after that we have all sorts of all sorts of holidays so this month I wanted to offer a little bit of a meditation on Giving thanks,
Even though Things can be a little bit stressful and even though things cannot always go exactly the way that we want them to even though there's some expectation that builds into it whether it's travel or the stresses of getting family together or Feeling the expectation of gift giving or feeling the weight of gift receiving whatever it might be here's a good grounding meditation about thanks and And We can use this as a reminder to come back together To our own awareness into our own breath to take some breaks in the middle and if we need to So this meditation has a little bit of both it has a little bit of gratitude in it has a little bit of thanks and it also has a little bit of regrounding and pause and a little bit of consideration for the daily experience that we might want to reconnect with when things get kind of kind of funny kind of crazy kind of hectic so as As we do right to get started I will ask folks to find themselves in whatever position they would like to be in for this Nice dignified posture.
Of course,
You can do this while lying down.
Of course,
You can do this while walking or standing I am sitting and You may as well if that feels right to you So to get started here,
I would ask us to gently Close the eyes if that feels like something that you would like to do you may also leave them open gazing downward cast downward or off into a Spot on the ground a few feet in front of you not really focusing on anything Taking a couple of breaths Establishing within ourselves that sense of pausing We're just gonna stop for a moment Pause what we're doing pause what we feel like we need to do Take a couple of minutes to sit and breathe Reminding ourselves that this is the basis of our existence This pausing this breathing The sensations of breath Moving in And moving in And moving in And moving in And moving in And moving in And moving in And moving out Finding where we most strongly connect with that sense of breath Perhaps in the nose Perhaps in the chest maybe in the chest rising and falling Maybe it's in the sound of your breathing as it moves in and out Relaxing the breath Not forcing Just paying attention as it moves in and out Settling into our breathing As we settle into our breathing We bring to mind Those that we have who are our supporters Who is on your team Can be a family member can be friends be pets Those around us We are who we have as supporters Who we have as friends Friends free of expectation Who connect with us in our existence here What is that sense of friendliness that we have when we bring these friends to mind?
Maybe warmth it may be comfort It may be imperfect Not all relationships are easy They can still be supportive And we can be thankful For our supporters when they're here for us Relaxing into that sense of thankfulness for the support that we have While we're here Reminding ourselves that our supporters are our supporters Because of those connections that we have As they support us may we too support them And be thankful for that as well Be thankful for the opportunities to be in the support network For those around us who we celebrate in these holidays Thankful for the supporters that we have Thankful for all they do for us and with us Thankful for the food that we eat,
The water that we drink,
The bed we lie in The place where we rest our head Wherever that may be Thankful for all that we have and all that we can do for ourselves and for others Taking a few more breaths Opening the eyes if they are closed and it feels right Finding ourselves back in our awareness Ready to support and be supported again So my hope is that this can be a practice that you can use whenever you need to Five minutes here,
Five minutes there We can take breaks during the day as things get stressful Or as things become difficult during this holiday season And it's always good just to take a break Just sit quietly,
Regroup,
Regather,
Find ourselves again So we can show up as best we can for ourselves and for those around us So thank you for joining me,
I really appreciate it All the love this holiday season,
All the love this Thanksgiving And have a great day,
Peace Thank you guys,
Beautiful,
Thank you
