Stay With Yourself Series | Part 4: Gratitude & Joy

This Gratitude & Joy meditation helps you become fully present in your life, and your body. May you feel deeply connected to your body, yourself, and your life with gratitude and joy. May you find soft places in your life where you can rest and be restored. Increasing your gratitude and joy will reroute your neurological pathways and create new personal narratives that bring an overall sense of peace, wellbeing and expansion to everything you do. :: This 8-part Stay with Yourself Meditation Series leads you through mindfulness practices & exercises to promote deep healing, wholeness, wisdom, and self-acceptance, all while establishing a sustainable meditation practice. NOTE :: This guided meditation is for all experience levels and leaves 5 minutes at the end for you to meditate on your own, where you can create your own visions for yourself, and your life.

Transcript

Welcome to part 4 in this 8 part Stay with yourself meditation series on the practice of being who you are,

Where you are.

Part 4 is about gratitude and joy.

Feel free to listen to each part in this series on its own or listen to each part consecutively.

Each meditation builds off the last so that after you've listened to all 8 meditations you will have a toolbox of practices you can use and implement in whatever way feels best to you.

Let's start with posture and breath today,

Bringing awareness into our bodies.

You can do this meditation sitting in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor and your spine tall and upright or if you would prefer you can do this meditation lying down on your back using blankets and pillows under your knees for optimal comfort.

Whatever you decide,

You're welcome to pause this recording to get comfortable and when you're ready,

Start up again.

We will spend some time releasing tension from the body and preparing ourselves for breath practice and meditation.

Feel the back of your body supported by your chair or the floor.

Feel where your body is being held by your spine and the ground.

Because the back of your body is supported,

You are now able to relax and soften the front of your body.

Drop your shoulders down,

Tuck your chin slightly.

Allow your heart space to soften and open.

Relax your hips,

Your thighs,

Your lower leg.

Relax your arms and your face.

Feel your body supported,

Present and safe in this space.

And bring awareness to your breath.

Take a deep breath in through your nose,

Out through your mouth,

Again in through your nose all the way into your belly.

Hold and exhale out through your mouth.

Continue breathing deeply like this into your belly.

You can imagine your tummy as an empty balloon being filled with air.

On each inhale,

Your tummy expands.

You can hold that.

With each exhale,

Your tummy softens.

Breathe deeply into any part of your body you carry tension,

Your jaw,

Your shoulders,

Your hips,

Back,

Feet,

Arms.

Feel your body relaxing,

Softening,

Melting where it can and being supported.

And continue to breathe in whatever way feels best for you.

You find yourself getting distracted,

Just come back to breath and releasing tension in the body.

This body of yours has been with you your whole life.

This heart has been beating for you your whole life.

These internal organs working on your behalf your whole life.

These bones and muscles and skin and flesh.

They are yours and yours alone.

This body has always been yours and always will be.

This is the body that allows you to hug and hold the people you love.

These arms,

How many times have you wrapped them around yourself when you've curled into a ball in pain?

How often have you pulled these knees tight?

Hugged yourself close and felt soothed and supported by this body.

Think of your legs,

How they carried you when you were young,

Learning to walk,

Crawl,

Run,

Jump,

Skip.

These hips,

How much motion you can experience in your body because of these hips and these knees and ankles and shoulders,

Elbows and wrists and fingers.

Take a moment to acknowledge that this body of yours is on your side.

That this body is always here for you.

Your body loves you.

Your body is loyal.

Your body speaks up when it needs something,

When it needs to be fed or when it's in pain or when it's tired.

The body cannot hide and it carries your feelings,

Your joys,

Your sorrows and it reflects back to you your mental and emotional state of being.

What a gift.

Say thank you to this body of yours.

Thank you eyes.

Thank you nose.

Thank you mouth.

Thank you ears.

Thank you neck and throat.

Thank you shoulders.

Thank you spine and back.

Thank you arms.

Thank you hands.

Thank you tummy,

Heart,

Lungs,

Big intestine,

Small intestine,

Liver,

Colon,

Stomach,

Stomach,

Stomach.

Thank you to all the unseen parts of yourself that are operating automatically on your behalf.

Thank you hips,

Thighs,

Feet,

Legs.

Thank you body.

If you would like to,

Even in this moment,

Give yourself a hug,

Wrap your arms around yourself or pull your knees close.

Give yourself a big hug.

Give your body a hug and say thank you body.

I love you body.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your body is made up of 50 trillion cells.

That's more cells in your body than stars that have been located in our galaxy and the galaxies beyond.

These 50 trillion cells,

They house every memory,

Every emotion,

Every feeling,

Every pain,

Every joy.

You have 50 trillion witnesses to your life.

You have never been alone.

You have always had yourself.

Say thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

With each breath,

Thank you like a mantra.

Thank you.

Fill your 50 trillion cells with gratitude and thanks and feel the miracle of your being.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You are exact.

You came together in exactly this way.

Your body is neutral in how it feels about itself.

You get to choose to be grateful in this body as this being with this vehicle that allows you to animate and express and live and experience life.

No,

Your body is not perfect.

No body is perfect and what does that even mean?

You are exactly you.

Your body is exactly your body and it will always be yours.

And your body loves you and cares for you.

Continue to say thank you for this body.

For the joys you've been able to feel and the sorrows and everything in between.

Thank your 50 trillion witnesses to your life who know you by heart,

Who have seen and experienced everything with you.

You complete and whole.

Say thank you body.

Thank you 50 trillion cells.

Thank you life force and breath and heart that beats for me and only for me.

Your body can be nowhere but the present moment and you can come back into your body at any time knowing that this is a safe place that your body is not out to do your harm.

Maybe harm has been done to your body but that is not your body's fault.

You are valuable and worthy of love.

You are worthy of healing and joy and lightness and freedom and delight.

I want you to imagine that these 50 trillion cells are full to the brim with gratitude.

Infuse them with gratitude on each breath.

Take breath in through the nose,

Out through the mouth.

Thank you.

Gratitude in.

Thank you.

Hold gratitude in your body.

Infuse your body with thank you.

Exhale.

Thank you.

Now bring awareness into your heart space.

This heart,

This sun within the body that is fueled and invigorated and revitalized by sweet breath just as fire needs oxygen so your heart needs your breath.

Feel it now.

Feel your heart beating for you and only for you.

And now remember a time and it might be recent and it might be a very long time ago when you were a young child.

Remember a time when you were filled with joy,

Filled with excitement,

Filled with desire bursting from you,

The anticipation.

Feel that now in your body.

Remember what that was like,

The circumstances,

The way your body felt,

The way your heart pounded.

And now call upon these 50 trillion cells in your body to all remember the same memory.

To feel it now as if you're already there.

Feel 50 trillion cells in your body full of joy.

Feeling the joy,

Giggling,

Laughing,

Doing flips.

Deep breath in,

Breathe in to the cells in your body with joy and feel them expand and hold that joy there.

And on the exhale imagine these 50 trillion cells bursting forth with joy and light.

Here you are in the present moment with every chance,

Every moment,

An opportunity for gratitude and joy no matter what is going on in your life,

No matter the circumstances.

You can take a deep breath in,

Hold it there to exhale and say thank you.

Thank you for this life force within me.

Thank you to this body for even though I may be in pain or I may suffer.

Thank you to this body for literally holding me together and being here with me now as always.

Thank you.

And thank you heart for all your desire and all your joy.

Thank you to these 50 trillion cells for being a witness that I am never alone.

I've never been alone in all of my experiences.

I am seen,

I am heard,

I am understood.

Thank you.

What a gift.

What joy.

And there's always something to delight in and give thanks for and even if you don't feel like it on any given day,

Going through the motions can make a world of difference.

Thank you for running water.

Thank you for a bed to sleep in.

Thank you for this cup of coffee.

Thank you for this seat to sit in,

These clothes.

It can be simple.

Thank you for this breath.

Thank you that right now in this moment all is still and I am okay.

And finding joy in small things,

Small pleasures,

A favorite sweater.

Getting outside finally today,

Not having to go outside.

Finding the joy in the smallest of things to bring you back to yourself and all the abundance within you.

I am going to leave you here with several minutes of soft music so that you can sit and whisper your gratitudes and remember joy.

Practicing this on your own is something you can carry into the world and call upon any given moment,

Any given day,

No matter what's happening.

Thank you for sharing your meditation practice with me.

May you stay with yourself today and always.

May you feel good.

You You You You You You You

Reviews

Such a positive meditation to start the day of right. Thank you very much for sharing Jessica 🙏

Thank you a beautiful way to start the day in joy and gratitude! So loving this series! Namaste 🙏 🙏🙏

🙏🏻🧘🏼‍♀️🌿🌻🌸🌈

Again a beautiful meditation; love this serie💜
A 50 trillion thank you 😉🙏🏽🙌🏽

Great meditation for befriending your body. I have a chronic illness. Sometimes my body frustrates me. It still has much i can be grateful for. I now practice smiling with compassion and acceptance at the parts of my body that are struggling. Just a thought to consider in body meditations.

Feeling grateful!!

50 trillion amazing cells - grateful 🙏🏻

Thanks Jessica for an amazing practice #Gratitude🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Namaste 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Thank you for that really wonderful Meditation Thank you so much. :-)

Thank you. Namaste🙏

I'm coming off a sleep medication right now and am knackered. I thought 25 minutes might be a struggle, but it really wasnt--the highly affirming and life-giving attitude of this meditation gave me strength for the day. Will repeat!

Thank you for this meditation 🙏

Thank you for this amazing meditation. It is a wonderful tool to add to my Wellness journey. I love My body it is amazing, strong, beautiful and a miracle! 50 trillion cells say so. I am worthy and loved.💜🙏🕉

Wow... never been aware that I had this many Friends.. this close.. and the things that We went through Together... Never (hardly ever) said thanks to (all of) them.. Until today.. Thank you Jessica for this Amazing practice 🌟

Wonderful Jessica thank you

This is awesome too! Thank you 🙏

Passed ooouuut!!! Mornin'!

Beautifully powerful!!! I loved this practice. ❤️🙏❤️🙏

So insightful! I ended the practice feeling incredible gratitude for my body and for myself. Thank you!