Today's practice is about tapping into gratitude.
As Tamara Leavitt puts it,
Gratitude is like a love letter to yourself.
We need to write every day.
It is a practice of waking up to seeing all the good around us.
Our tendency is wired towards negative information.
So when we strengthen the habit of feeling grateful,
We are re-emphasizing our brain to emphasize positive thoughts and emotions.
Gratitude is a practice and a skill that we can deliberately cultivate over and over.
If you have struggles,
Those struggles might be really heavy right now.
There is a bigger story also happening.
If you are here,
You are listening to this session and you are taking this breath,
That something,
The more you focus on that something,
It starts to feel like a lot,
Emotions or struggles.
Instead,
Returning our attention in a different direction to the good.
Take the parable of the two wolves.
An elderly man was teaching his grandson about life.
A fight is going on inside me,
He said to the boy.
It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil,
He is anger,
Envy,
Regret,
Greed,
Self-pity and ego,
Continued.
The other is good,
He is peace,
Humility,
Kindness,
Compassion and faith.
The same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked the grandfather,
Which wolf will win?
One simply replied,
You feed.
So the challenge is to feed the right wolf,
The positive one,
Gratitude.
Okay,
So let's begin our practice.
Find a relaxed yet alert position,
Lying down or sitting in a chair.
I invite you to close your eyes or if you prefer,
You can keep them open.
Relax your shoulders and let your hands rest comfortably.
Start by setting your focus on the breath,
Noticing the inhale,
Noticing the exhale.
Take a few moments to notice and connect with the natural rhythm of your breath,
Just as it is,
Without forcing anything.
Shift your focus away from the breath and towards a time where you felt gratitude.
Who are you grateful for?
It could be anything.
It could be from your past or present.
It could be an opportunity or an event.
You are appreciative for your health,
A delicious meal,
The breeze on your face,
The sound of the ocean.
It could be something in nature,
Like an old tree or a beautiful park in your neighborhood.
Perhaps it was a moment you enjoyed a celebration or being with a loved one.
Invite an image of that person or thing and bring to mind as many details as possible.
Take your time in feeling to each of these moments.
Okay,
Now let go of all those thoughts,
Images and feelings.
Let them gently fade away into the background and see if you can focus on the physical sensation in your body.
You might be feeling warm or tingling.
Perhaps you can feel sensations of joy and ease around the chest area.
Sometimes there might be a sense of softening,
Opening,
Releasing of tension.
Keeping the body relaxed and allowing whatever sensation that arises to be there.
If you can't feel anything in particular and if you find yourself getting distracted by thoughts,
That too is also okay.
With kindness and compassion,
Gently bring your awareness back to the body.
Take a moment to silently send a note of appreciation to that person or life for that thing with a simple thank you.
Gratitude has the power to bring us into the present and to infuse us with contentment.
We focus on what we lack,
What the feeling becomes.
Practice gratitude,
How abundant we feel.
Now,
In the final moments of this practice,
Slowly bring your attention back to the room and gently open your eyes,
If they were closed.
Feel into your body while taking in everything around you with an attitude of appreciation and gratitude.
Contemplate on a few ways that you can pause to practice gratitude in your everyday life.
For example,
Setting an alarm,
Journaling a daily gratitude list,
Sending a thank you note to a friend or it could be as simple as saying thank you to the person who delivers your meal.
Taking one last full breath in,
A slow deep breath out.
Send some gratitude to yourself for taking this time to practice.
You can take this deep wisdom from your practice today into your life.
