Meditation For Gratitude

Ground down and get centered in this meditation focused on gratitude. A 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 has so many benefits for your overall well-being. It helps shift your energy into an abundant place rooted in love. Be grateful for every moment.

Transcript

Just begin by getting comfortable wherever you are.

Make yourself comfortable.

It can help to have a blanket under your head so that your chin and forehead are in line,

Or if you're sitting upright,

Just feel a little bit of space in your ribs as you gently rise towards the sky.

And now close your eyes.

Begin to visualize the four walls of the room,

The ceiling and the floor,

And your body lying there.

Feel into your body from the inside.

Feel the clothes touching your skin.

Have a sense of the space around you.

Feel the support of the ground.

The gravity from above giving your weight to the earth.

You are being held.

Feel alert but at ease.

Start to pay attention to your exhales.

Are they long or short?

Long or long?

Long or long?

Long or long or jagged?

Do they leave your body in a rush?

Your body.

In meditation,

We are not trying to control or to fix anything,

Just to observe.

So remember,

With your exhales,

You are not trying to control or fix the exhale,

You are just observing it.

Keep paying attention to the exhale.

Now start to pay attention to the spaces between the breath.

Are they vacuous?

Or short?

Are you rushing to the inhale?

Do they seem nonexistent or spread out over time?

Just keep your attention on the spaces between the breath.

Now shift your attention to the inhales.

Where do they enter your body?

Are they at the tips of your nostrils?

Or at the top of the nose?

Are they warm?

Or are they cool?

Are you grasping for them?

Or do they appear out of nowhere?

Just observe the inhales.

There is no need to change anything.

As you interfere less,

Or stop trying to change the natural flow of your breath,

The breath will move of its own accord.

Watch the four parts of the breath now.

The inhale,

The space before the exhale,

The exhale,

And the pause before you inhale again.

The inhale,

The space before the exhale,

The exhale,

And the pause before you release.

And now let go of the awareness behind the breathing and feel your whole body start to relax.

There is nothing to do,

Nowhere to go.

Just be here.

Now feel that energy dropping down into your heart center as you open to set your sankalpa.

What is your heart's greatest desire?

Maybe you wish for health,

Happiness,

Or less stress in your life.

Take a moment to think about this.

To bask in the gratitude for your heart's desires.

See it and picture it as having already happened.

And feel into the gratitude of that moment as well.

Just as easily as you can inhale or exhale,

You let that all go and shift your awareness.

Listen to the sounds.

Listen for distant sounds.

Sounds radiating outward.

Sound to sound.

Not labeling or judging.

The closer sounds.

The sounds just outside.

No need to analyze.

Simply be a witness to them.

You are the witness,

Still and calm.

Observing your body breathing and observing the different sounds.

Now observe the mind,

The thoughts and images.

Let them all happen and flow through you.

Let go of the past thoughts of the day.

They drift away along with your attention.

Be aware of your body breathing.

And begin to shape your breath.

Really smooth,

No pauses.

Let your breath flow effortlessly.

Let your awareness sweep from the top of your head to your toes.

A wave of relaxation.

And now begin to count backwards on each exhale from 10.

And as you count back,

Imagine you were walking down a staircase.

And with each step,

You get heavier and more relaxed.

Making your way down this staircase.

You allow that to flow and to go.

And you visualize in front of you at the bottom of this staircase,

A door.

Place your hand on the doorknob and open the door and you are immediately transported to a beach.

Begin to really see,

Sense and feel yourself at this beach.

From where you are,

Feel into the different sensations that you can feel in this place.

Where is your body touching the earth?

Can you feel the sand between your toes?

Tap into what you can feel.

How does your skin feel?

Perhaps you can feel the warmth of the sun.

Or maybe your skin just feels heavy on your bones.

Feel into how you feel.

And then shift your awareness into what you can see.

How is the water on this beach?

What color is it?

Begin to visualize what the water looks like.

Have a sense of the quality and the clarity.

Is it very clear blue water?

Perhaps you can even see the waves if there are any.

Visualize what this water looks like to you from this beautiful beach.

As you're visualizing this water,

Begin to sink your breath with its current.

As the waves roll in,

You inhale.

As they retreat back,

You exhale.

Another wave of relaxation comes in as you inhale.

And you can move your breath along with the waves as you exhale.

Visualize those waves and your breathing with them on your own.

Inhaling with the waves,

Exhaling and releasing whatever needs to go.

Feeling the anchor in your body of the sand between your toes.

Feeling yourself breathing in with those waves.

Releasing and breathing out with the waves.

And just feeling the connection to the earth on the beach.

This ocean has the power to cleanse and clear your energy.

So allow your exhales to release any heavy energy.

As your inhales,

Bring in more gratitude.

From where you are on the beach,

Bring your awareness now to your physical body.

Feel your body as you gently lay down on the sand.

You bring your attention to your mouth,

Your lips,

Your tongue,

The roof of the mouth,

The floor of the mouth.

Feel your teeth as if they are floating in your gums.

Bring awareness to the inside of your cheeks and the taste in your mouth.

Feel your left and right temples,

Both of your ears.

Take your attention down into your ear canals and feel them deepen.

Bring consciousness to your ear lobes and the skin around your ears.

Your forehead softens and smoothens as do the lines between your eyes.

And you can feel the warmth of the sun from this beach,

Gently beaming on your forehead,

Allowing your inner vision to become brighter.

Now take your attention to your nostrils,

The right and left nostril and the bridge of your nose.

Sense aroma and movement into the nasal passages.

What can you smell from the beach?

Perhaps it's the salty air.

Or maybe it's the smell of burning wood from a bonfire.

Bring awareness to the different scents at the beach.

And now take your attention to the front of the body.

The soft spot at the base of the throat,

The chest,

Solar plexus and belly.

Feel your pelvis.

The whole front of the body is light and spacious.

Take your attention to the back of the body.

The base of the neck,

Upper back,

Mid back,

Low back,

Sacrum and tailbone.

The entire back of the body is at ease.

Feel your whole body lying there on that beach and become a witness to your body as if you were looking at it from above.

As you relax effort,

You feel the breath rise and fall at its own accord.

Take one last moment to feel into your grateful heart space.

From here,

In this time,

In this place,

Find three things that you are grateful for.

And just allow that energy to circulate within your heart.

Radiating inward,

As well as feeling this gratitude radiating outward.

Then begin to bring small movements back to your body.

Very gently wiggling fingers and toes.

The slightest,

Tiniest bit of movement to just say welcome back.

And eventually,

The tiny wiggles of fingers and toes can get a little bit bigger.

Feeling a little bit more movement in your hands and your feet.

Eventually,

Making your way to the rolling of wrists and ankles and really fully coming back into your body.

We will close the practice with three deep breaths.

United we inhale.

Let it all go as you exhale.

Another deep cleansing breath in.

Let it all go.

A third deep rejuvenating breath in.

And exhale.

Thank you for sharing your grateful hearts with me today.

Namaste.