In this practice,
We'll be using the power of gratitude to bring our mind and our bodies into a more peaceful and relaxed space.
So to start,
Make sure you're sitting comfortably,
Whether it's in a chair with the soles of the feet flat on the ground or sitting cross-legged on the floor.
You want your spine as straight as possible,
Shoulders back and relaxed,
Head facing forward,
Neck relaxed.
If you need to,
Roll the shoulders back a few times,
Move the neck gently from side to side,
Just to make sure the body is well supported for our practice.
If the eyes are not already closed,
I invite you to close them.
And then we'll start just by turning our attention inwards,
Starting to release and detach from the sounds around us,
Any sensations in the space around you,
And bring your focus towards your body.
First,
It's weight in your seat,
The feeling of the air on the skin,
And also notice if there's any areas of tension in the body.
Keeping your breath slow and natural,
And just take a few moments here,
If there's any areas of tension or tightness in your body,
Maybe in the shoulders,
Maybe in the hips,
To just breathe into that area.
And we breathe into an area by recalling that part of the body in our minds,
And we continue with our slow,
Normal,
Natural breath.
And if your natural breathing is a little more shallow,
A little more rapid,
Take a little extra time here to slow it down,
Thinking of the waves on the beach,
Rhythmic,
Smooth,
Long.
And if the mind begins to wander,
A thought or even an emotion pulls the mind away,
Be gentle,
Be kind to yourself,
And gently bring the mind and the focus back to the breath,
Allowing it to be natural,
But slow,
Rhythmic,
And gentle.
And if you find there's no tension in any part of the body,
Keep the awareness on the breath,
Slow and gentle,
Feeling it move seamlessly in through the nose,
Filling up the lungs,
And then exhale out through the nose,
Releasing and relaxing.
And then slowly in your own time,
I invite you to join me in the heart space,
So the center of the chest.
And first just bring the center of the chest into your awareness,
And with your slow and gentle breath,
As if you're breathing in to the chest,
Directly into the chest,
And as you exhale,
Out through the chest.
And then with the awareness in the chest,
Bring to mind something that generates a feeling of gratitude in you.
Maybe it's a loved one,
Maybe it's a place in nature,
A pet,
Recall that image of this thing that generates gratitude in your being.
And then allow yourself,
Your mind,
Your body,
To recall that feeling of gratitude when you're with the loved one,
When you're in that space in nature,
A beautiful sunrise.
Recall the feeling,
Maybe it starts in the center of the chest,
But then maybe as that feeling grows,
It starts to spread from the heart throughout the entire body,
All the way to the tips of the toes,
To the top of the head,
Like warm sunshine,
Gently warming the entire body,
The mind,
Every cell of your being.
And if the mind pulls you away,
Or an emotion pulls you away,
Be kind to yourself,
And slowly bring yourself back to the awareness of the chest,
To the gentle,
Slow rhythm of the breath,
And to that feeling of gratitude,
How it feels in your being,
In your mind,
In your heart.
In your own time,
Just release the image of that thing,
That person,
That loved one,
That pet,
That place in nature.
Just release it from the mind,
Keeping your breath slow and gentle,
And just sit with the feeling of gratitude,
Allowing those rays of sunshine to just linger in your entire being,
Feeling warmth all over.
And then as we end our practice,
We take a moment here to be in gratitude for ourselves,
For choosing to practice,
Gratitude as well to all the wonderful beings in our lives,
All that we've been blessed with,
Graced with in our lives,
For all the teachers in our lives,
And all the support we receive.
And then as we take our next breath,
We start to deepen our breath,
Making the breath more full,
More gross,
If it has become a little subtle in our practice.
And we are beginning to prepare ourselves for the next part of our day.
So with deeper breaths,
We begin to turn our attention back outwards,
Broadening our awareness so we still keep that lingering awareness of our inner space,
While we start to prepare ourselves for what comes next,
Beginning to notice the sensations in the space around you,
Any sounds,
Any feelings on the skin,
The weight of the body in the seat.
And then when you're ready,
In your own time,
Gently opening the eyes.
Thank you.
