Greetings.
This is Dr.
Shelley Harrell,
And I'd like to share a meditation practice called the Gratitude Scan.
Let's start by just coming into your breath.
The inhale and the exhale.
On each inhale,
You're filling up your lungs with an awareness that you're receiving all you need to sustain life.
And then a nice,
Clearing exhale,
Breathing out what is no longer needed.
As you inhale each life-giving breath,
Opening your awareness to the experience of gratitude.
Inhaling thankfulness.
Inhaling appreciation.
Inhaling blessings.
Inhaling abundance.
In this practice,
I'm going to invite you to scan your life through the lens of gratitude for what you are deeply and authentically grateful for.
What has touched you and made your soul smile?
What has moved you,
Lifted you up?
Maybe something you have felt very connected to,
Or maybe something that's brought you true joy,
Or peace,
Or comfort,
Or enlightenment,
Or liberation,
Freedom.
It could be a seemingly little thing,
Or something big.
It could be a person,
An experience,
A place,
An object,
A color,
A part of nature,
A book,
A poem,
A song.
Anything that has touched a deep place inside,
Anything that brings you into that experience of gratitude.
Take a breath and begin our gratitude scan.
Starting with your early childhood,
Imagine yourself in your mind's eye and see what comes to mind,
Something for which you feel grateful.
A person,
A place,
An object,
An experience.
It could be something that might be considered small,
Like a favorite cereal,
Or a swing in the park,
Or it could be a significant memory of an experience for which you feel grateful.
If more than one comes to you,
Just choose one to hold in awareness.
As you focus on it in your mind,
Just say,
Thank you,
Naming what you are grateful for.
For example,
Say,
Thank you,
Cheerios,
Or thank you,
Mrs.
Paz,
My kindergarten teacher.
With your next inhale,
Really breathe in that gratitude and let that breath of gratitude move through your being and feed your soul.
Breathe gratitude.
Now moving on to your later childhood,
Bringing to mind anything at all that was special to you for which you feel grateful.
As you focus on it in your mind,
Bringing it into your awareness,
Maybe even visualizing that's available to you.
Say thank you,
Naming what you are grateful for.
And with your next inhale,
Again,
Breathe in gratitude and let that breath of gratitude move through your being and feed your soul.
Breathe gratitude.
And continuing our scan,
Coming into adolescence,
Your teenage years,
There's often a lot going on then.
Just allow something to come to mind for which you feel gratitude.
Anything at all,
Small or large,
Person or object,
Place.
As you allow that to come into awareness and focus on it in your mind,
Say thank you,
Naming what you are grateful for.
Now take a deep breath of gratitude,
Breathing in,
Breathing in gratitude and letting that breath move through your being and feed your soul.
Breathe gratitude.
Now let's scan any time in your adulthood,
Any time in your adulthood and just see what arises,
Allow something to just come to mind for which in this moment you're connected to that deep feeling of gratitude.
As you allow it to come into awareness,
Maybe visualizing,
Focusing on it in your mind,
Say thank you,
Naming what you are grateful for.
And let's again take that deep breath of gratitude,
Inhaling,
Breathing in that gratitude,
Letting it move through you,
Move through your being and feed your soul.
Breathing gratitude.
And we'll continue to scan more into the present and bringing into awareness the past week,
Just scanning the past week of your life,
Allowing something to come into awareness for which you feel gratitude.
And as you focus on it in your mind,
Say thank you,
Naming what you are grateful for.
And we take that deep breath of gratitude,
Breathing it in,
Letting it move through you and feed and nourish your soul.
Breathing gratitude.
And finally,
Let's scan the last 24 hours of your life and allow something to come into awareness for which you feel gratitude.
Focusing on it in your mind,
You say thank you,
Naming it,
Naming what you are grateful for.
And we take that deep breath,
Breathing in that gratitude and letting it move through your being and feed your soul.
Let's take a few gratitude breaths together,
Breathing in the energy of gratitude,
Thankfulness,
Appreciation,
Blessing,
Abundance,
Breathing that in on the inhale and on the exhale,
Just settling in to embodying gratitude.
And one more,
Breathing in that energy,
That powerful,
Powerful energy of gratitude on your inhale,
Receiving it.
And on the exhale,
Settling in,
Letting it move through you,
Embodying gratitude.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
