Cultivating Gratitude In All Areas Of Our Body, Mind And Life

This guided practice helps to cultivate gratitude in all areas of one's life: beginning with the mind, then scanning each area of the body with appreciation, and finally, offering gratitude to those who are known to us, those who are unknown and to ourselves. This practice will leave you feeling thankful, relaxed and joyful, with an entirely open heart. Note: This practice was recorded live on the beach so contains a minor noise of the breeze in the background.

Transcript

Settling into a comfortable position.

Let your body relax and soften.

Bring your attention to your breath.

And breathe deeply into your belly.

Your body is beginning to settle.

If you become uncomfortable,

You can quietly adjust your posture.

Breathing deeply in through your nose,

Bring your awareness to your body.

Remind yourself of its inherent awareness,

Ease,

And vitality.

Invite yourself to relax into these elements.

And let your body feel open and safe.

Bringing your attention and your breath,

Directing it to the top part of your head,

To your skull and your scalp.

Breathing into your scalp.

And as thoughts arise,

Just let them be.

Be aware of any tension in your scalp.

And on every exhalation,

Breathe out gratitude.

Moving your attention now to your forehead.

Being aware of your forehead,

Accepting whatever tension might be there.

Breathing into your temples.

Let your temples feel cool and relaxed.

And accept any tension or pain in your temples.

And each time you breathe in,

Let your temples feel open and soft.

Putting your hand over your eyes as you breathe into them.

See if you can soften your eyes each time you breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

Let go of all hardness in and around your eyes.

Breathe openness and awareness into your eyes.

Breathe out gratitude for your clear,

Bright,

And relaxed eyes.

Breathing your awareness to your ears and the muscles around and in your ears.

Breathing in fully,

Opening your ears and exhaling,

Feeling grateful for being able to listen and bear witness.

Breathing in through your nose.

Feel air passing in and out of your nostrils.

Breathing in,

Imagine that the air you are inhaling is full of vital energy.

Breathing out with gratitude.

On your next inhalation,

Bring your awareness to the place in your nostrils where you can feel air entering.

And feel the exhalation passing out of your nostrils,

Letting your concentration deepen further as you are aware of where the air enters and leaves your nose.

Bringing your awareness to your mouth,

Feel your lips,

Your gums,

Your teeth and tongue,

And let your mouth feel warm and open.

Relax your whole mouth,

Letting your jaw soften.

And on your inhalation,

Bring a slight smile to your mouth.

And on your exhalation,

Feel yourself letting go of tension in your jaw,

Your cheeks,

Your lips,

Your tongue,

And then your throat.

Gently moving your awareness to your throat and your neck.

And letting your awareness rest lightly in this area.

Feel your neck and your throat.

Breathe into your neck and throat and accept whatever tightness might be in this area.

Breathing out gratitude.

And with your awareness now on your shoulders,

Begin to breathe into your shoulders.

And let all the tension melt from your shoulders as you exhale.

Letting your shoulders drop as you relax them.

Giving away any sense of heaviness in your shoulders.

Letting go of your burdens.

On your in-breath,

Give your shoulders space.

And on your out-breath,

Drop your shoulders even farther.

And let your awareness be in your arms.

Inhaling and exhaling.

Breathing into your arms.

Be aware of any tightness in your arms.

There is nothing that you need to hold.

With your attention lightly on your arms,

Breathe spaciousness into them.

And breathe out relief and release.

Get your hands with your awareness and let them open.

Your palms are facing upward.

And you are breathing into the palms of your hands.

Inhaling feel simple generosity in your hands.

And exhaling imagine the tension in your arms and hands flowing out through the ends of your fingers.

And letting your hands feel light and alive.

Your awareness is in your spine.

Breathing into your spine,

Letting it stretch with your in-breath.

Feel the strength of your spine on your out-breath.

On your inhalation be aware of your rib cage expanding.

And as you exhale,

Feel the aliveness of your spine.

And come to appreciate the strength of your spine.

Bringing your attention now to your chest and lungs.

Breathing deeply into your lungs and filling them so that your chest rises after your belly does.

Leaving your chest space in which to breathe deeply.

Breathing in you feel your chest opening.

Your lungs are expanding.

And be aware of any tightness or feelings of loss or sorrow.

This is a very deep breath in.

And breathing out.

Appreciate your lungs.

And now breathe into your heart and be aware of any tightness in and around your heart.

Feel your heart open as it trusts your attention and your breath.

Bring your attention to the tissue around your heart.

And feel your heart being supported by healthy tissue and cells.

Bring your attention to the veins and the arteries leading to and from your heart.

And visualize your arteries as clear and open.

And see your veins carrying healthy blood into your heart.

And as you breathe in,

Appreciate your heart.

And breathing out,

Feeling gratitude for your good heart.

Moving your attention to your stomach.

Breathing in you are aware of your stomach.

And breathing out,

Appreciate your stomach.

And when you breathe in,

Be aware of the digestive functions of your stomach.

And as you exhale,

Let yourself feel grateful for it.

And moving awareness now.

Moving awareness to your reproductive organs.

On your in-breath,

Be aware of how your reproductive organs feel.

And on your out-breath,

Give these feelings space.

Breathing in,

Appreciate your reproductive organs.

And exhaling,

Give your entire pelvic area a feeling of space and ease.

Becoming aware of your thighs.

And breathing into your thighs as you settle your attention into them.

Breathing out,

Letting your thighs soften.

And on your inhalation,

Feel gratitude for support of your thighs.

Breathing out,

Appreciate your thighs.

And your awareness now is on your knees.

Breathing into your knees.

On the out-breath,

Be aware of the small muscles around your knees.

And feel grateful for your knees.

Breathing in,

Healing to your knees.

Breathing out any tension and pain in them.

Bring your attention to your calves and shins.

Breathing into your calves and shins.

Exhaling be aware of any tension in your calves.

And breathing in spaciousness to this area.

And when you breathe out,

Breathe out gratitude that your legs have taken you so far in your life.

And now breathing into your feet.

Bringing all your attention to your feet.

And on your out-breath,

Be aware of any tension in your feet.

And on your in-breath,

That you are breathing all the way through from the top of your head through your body into your feet.

Your mind is touching your feet.

And on your out-breath,

Appreciate your feet.

To complete this practice slowly,

Gently and smoothly,

Bring your awareness from your feet to your legs to your pelvic area up to your stomach,

Your chest and heart,

Your lungs and then your spine,

Up to your shoulders,

Then your arms and hands,

Your neck,

Your face and to the top of your head,

Your crown.

Breathing in and out smoothly as your awareness travels up and through your body.

And when you've reached the top of your head,

Return your awareness to the breath.

And then let it gently spread to your whole body.

And so now,

Picturing someone in your mind's eye who is close to you,

Someone that you feel a great amount of love towards and that you want to offer your gratitude to.

Notice how this love feels in your heart.

Notice the sensations around your heart.

Notice you feel a sensation of warmth and openness and tenderness.

Notice the sensations around thinking of this person.

And use this opportunity to let this individual know how grateful you are for what they mean to you,

For what they have given you and let them know,

I am grateful for your presence in my life and this is why.

And take a moment to list the reasons why you are so grateful for them.

And now embrace this person and feel the joy in your heart as they have accepted your gratitude and wish them safety and joy and happiness as you depart from them.

And now turn your attention to a person you don't know at all.

Perhaps it was the woman who checked out your groceries at the supermarket or the man who works at the dry cleaners or the waiter or waitress that served you this morning.

Use this opportunity to let this individual know why you are grateful for them and let them know,

I am grateful for your presence in my life and this is why.

And take a moment to list the reasons.

And now embrace this person and feel the joy in your heart as they have accepted your gratitude and you can wish them safety and joy and happiness as you depart from them.

And now turning your attention to yourself,

Find yourself standing in front of yourself and say to yourself,

I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.

And I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for this life I have been given.

And let yourself know,

I am grateful for who I am and for this life and this is why.

And now offer yourself gratitude and love,

Wishing yourself safety and joy and happiness and feeling that your energy has been revitalized and that your spirit is fresh and your mind is clear and you are looking forward to what is to come.

And feel that no matter what or who you have to face in your life,

You can do so with love in your heart and with gratitude for every day you wake up and are given another day on this planet.

Becoming conscious of your breath,

You have now been cleansed and feeling invigorated and you can wiggle your toes and your fingers and adjust your position and slowly open your eyes and you are free to sit in this space for a while and you are free to just be.