Hello and welcome to your 10 minute gratitude meditation.
Now gratitude is a skill just like any other.
We've got to practice at it to get better at it.
So join me in this practice as we do exactly that.
Start in a comfortable seat.
Sorting yourself out,
Making sure there's no distractions,
And you can sit comfortably for the next 10 minutes.
Build up your posture as you inhale,
Sit up nice and tall and dignified,
Proud and not slouched.
Remain with a gentle feeling of ease,
So you're not rigid in this position.
You're alert but relaxed.
And being alert is going to be an important part of today's meditation.
Begin to close your eyes or bring that soft gaze to something unmoving.
Begin by noticing your breath,
Noticing where you feel it and how you feel it.
You may pinpoint the nose,
The chest,
Or maybe even the belly as the place you feel the breath.
So in a very physical way we notice where the breath occurs.
But I want you to take this observation even deeper.
And notice how it feels to breathe.
How does your body feel as you inhale?
And as you exhale?
Now to breathe is to be alive.
And certainly to be alive is something to rejoice.
But sometimes we can forget about all the great things that happen in our life.
All the great things that happen every day.
The tiny miracles that exist just to keep you alive.
Like your breathing.
So can we start this gratitude practice with something basic?
By thanking your body,
Or if you prefer,
The deity you believe in for your breath.
Thank you for this complex structure,
This complex system that happens in the background and keeps you alive.
Now to do that you can literally say the words out loud,
Thank you.
Or you can just think them in your head.
And this act of thanking is us practicing gratitude.
We can extend this practice of gratitude to the rest of our body.
And no matter what state your body is in,
There are certainly parts of it that are working,
And working well enough for you to be grateful and appreciative.
Think of all the incredible things your body can do.
The incredible ways it can move.
The way it can interact with the world around you.
Through sight,
Through sound,
Through smell,
Through taste,
And through touch.
Through these things we have a dialogue with the world.
So think of some of the joys that come with using those five senses.
Start to bring those into your mind.
Just choose one that brings you pleasure.
Maybe it's the feeling of that hot shower in the morning,
Or if you're like me,
A hot bath.
Maybe it's the taste of that fresh cup of coffee.
It could even be the smell of the food cooking in the morning,
Or at night.
Whatever it is,
Choose something basic,
Something everyday.
And just bring it into your mind's eye as you relive the experience.
Imagine it as vividly as possible,
Noting all the details.
As you relive the experience,
You start to extract the feeling that comes with it,
That joy.
Notice how this makes you feel.
And now give thanks,
Either out loud or in your head.
Direct it to the object or the experience.
Or again,
If you're spiritual,
To the deity you believe in.
You can now choose another everyday experience.
This may take a while for you to rack your brain to find them,
But the easiest metric is to just think of something that makes you smile.
And as you do,
Bring this experience into your mind.
Build it up vividly.
Imagine all the details.
How it looks,
How it smells,
How it feels.
And as you do,
Once again,
Notice the joy it brings to your life.
Notice the privilege that it is to have this thing,
To experience this thing.
As you do,
Extracting that joy out once again,
Recycling this experience.
And once again,
You give thanks,
Practicing this art of gratitude.
Now the trick here is to think of everyday things,
Things you take for granted,
Or maybe things that originally brought us joy but now we've forgotten all about.
We want to bring these back into our mind,
Re-experience the joy of them.
Once again,
It's not about having new things,
But rather seeing the same things through new eyes.
So practice one more time,
Bring something,
An experience,
An object,
A person,
Anything that brings a smile to your face into your mind.
Relive the experience and give thanks,
The simple act of cultivating gratitude.
When you're ready,
You can start to notice the room around you,
Slowly blink the eyes open,
And end this meditation.
But now that you've practiced gratitude,
Try bringing it into your experiences,
Not only after you've done them,
But during them too.
Namaste.
