Practice makes everything easier and more accessible,
And this doesn't apply only to yoga asana.
It also applies to your thoughts,
Feelings,
And emotions.
If you're used to thinking a certain kind of thoughts,
No matter how disempowering they might be for you,
It will be easier for you to think that kind of thoughts instead of those that uplift you.
And if you're used to feeling a certain way and you practice that feeling multiple times a day,
It will be quite easy for you to feel that way because it is so familiar.
The good news is that it is in your power to practice feeling how you want to feel and have the mindset as you want to have,
So that those thoughts and feelings become a regular part of your everyday experience.
In this class we are going to focus on practicing the feeling of gratitude.
Please find a comfortable seat,
Root down through your sits bones,
Lengthen your spine,
Relax your jaw and shoulders,
And gently close your eyes.
Begin to arrive in the present moment with all of your attention.
To anchor your awareness in the present moment,
We'll take a couple of deep breaths.
We'll be inhaling through the nose,
Creating space in the body,
And then with the exhale we release anything that needs to be released from the system.
Meet me at the bottom of your next exhale.
And as your inhale comes,
Begin to draw in the freshness of this new breath,
Filling up your body,
Creating a sense of spaciousness.
Pause at the top for a brief moment,
And then open your mouth and let go.
Release your breath,
Releasing any tension from the body.
Two more times like that,
Taking a deep breath in.
Full breath out.
Inhale and exhale.
Continue to breathe through your nose and allow your breath to settle into its natural rhythm,
Creating space for each one of the four parts of every breath cycle.
The inhale,
The pause,
Exhale,
Pause,
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
This will be your practice for the next couple of moments,
Allowing your breath to come and go naturally,
And allowing your breath to work its magic on your system,
On your body,
On your mind,
On your soul.
With every breath in,
You feel expansion as if you inhaled through every pore of your skin.
With every exhale,
You feel softening as if something flushed out of your system,
That which doesn't serve you.
Inhale brings more spaciousness in the mind.
Exhale releases the grip around thoughts.
Inhale helps you to connect.
Exhale allows you to relax into that connection.
A few more times,
Just like that.
Now I would like to invite you to gently think about the events of your day.
Notice the moments that brought you joy,
Warmth or a sense of well-being.
And these can be small or large moments,
From a kind gesture to a beautiful surprise.
Take a moment to express gratitude for these little blessings,
And see if it's possible to feel the feeling of gratitude in your body.
And with every breath you take,
You'll let this feeling expand.
Gratitude reaching from your heart,
Towards the peripheries of your body,
Flooding your entire being with this warm and fuzzy feeling of a grateful heart.
Inhale helps you to expand this feeling.
Exhale allows you to soften into this feeling.
Inhale to feel it grow larger.
And with exhale,
This feeling takes root in your body,
So that you get so familiar with it,
So that feeling grateful in your everyday life is as easy as taking a breath.
Now expand your awareness to the people,
Opportunities and circumstances in your life that you are grateful for.
And again,
Allow a sense of appreciation to fill your heart until it overflows,
And deepen your feelings of gratitude.
So if this feeling of gratitude was a color,
It would be getting brighter and brighter and brighter.
And if it was a music,
It would be getting louder and louder and louder.
Filling up your entire being from the inside.
Inhale to expand into this feeling.
And exhale to root into it.
This will be your practice for the next couple of moments.
Bask in the feelings of gratitude and with each breath let them grow.
Imagine this positive energy of gratitude expanding from your heart and spreading throughout the body.
Visualize it extending beyond you,
Touching the people and situations that you are grateful for.
Taking a couple more moments in your practice of gratitude.
Inhale to expand into this feeling.
And perhaps you visualize that this feeling has a color.
And this color fills up your entire body,
Glowing and bright,
Radiating positive energy of a grateful heart.
And this energy is healing.
It is healing for your body.
It is healing for your soul.
It is healing for the people and beings in your life.
So for a couple more moments continue to visualize this energy radiating from you.
Having a positive impact on the world around you.
Now start to become aware of your breath again.
Take a deep breath in and a full exhale out.
Notice how different you feel now that your entire body is filled with gratitude.
Find a smile on your face and say a quiet thank you to life.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly,
Very slowly open your eyes again.
I thank you for sharing your practice with me and wish you a beautiful day.
