Essence Of Gratitude
This breathwork + meditation focuses on the Essence of Gratitute. Most of the time, we practice gratitude through our gratitude towards objects and situations (both outside of us and within). However, Gratitude is one of those innate qualities, like Joy, Bliss, and Love, we all possess and is already within. This practice will help you to connect to the Essence of Gratitude present within and allow it to shine and illuminate through the essence of your authentic self and being.
Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome.
My name is Alfie and for today's practice we will get started in a comfortable seat.
So sit up nice and tall.
If you were sitting on the floor or your yoga mat,
You can place a bolster,
A couple of blankets,
Or a pillow underneath your hips.
You can also sit on the side of your bed,
A chair,
Or your couch.
And just take your time getting your environment set up for your practice today,
Making sure that you are comfortable and that your environment is comfortable.
Once you arrive in your seats,
Just take a moment to acknowledge and observe your general surroundings.
Scan through your five senses of sight,
Smell,
Touch,
Taste,
And hearing.
And as you notice your external environment,
Notice if the thoughts start to move towards the direction of creating a storyline or analyzing or identifying.
And see if instead you can shift your mindset to observing with a sense of absoluteness or fact or what is.
And then after you've acknowledged the external surroundings that you are in,
Allow yourself to close your eyes or soften your gaze for the first step to turning inwards.
And as your attention and awareness shifts from the external to the internal,
Start by noticing your breath.
Noticing the breath in its natural state,
Not trying to change or manipulate it just yet,
But accepting and allowing the breath to be as it is in this very moment in time.
Notice the texture of the breath,
The sound,
The temperature.
Notice where you're feeling the breath physically.
And then move your attention and awareness to your physical body,
Not so much the external surface,
But more internally within the bones,
The joints,
The ligaments,
The muscles,
And all the tissues.
And starting at your feet,
Working your way up,
Just take a full body scan,
Noticing any points of tension,
Holding,
Tightness,
Soreness,
Maybe even noticing any points of softness,
Expansion,
Lightness.
And whatever you notice,
Once more,
Turn your attention and your mindset to simply noticing and observing.
Observing fact and absoluteness,
Not trying to change or make sense or identify.
And wherever you are in that scan,
Move your attention to the space of your mind.
Notice the traffic of thoughts.
Notice what thoughts are coming in and out of focus in this moment.
And see if your attention and your awareness can stick to the present moment.
So not following the thoughts as they come in and out of view,
But simply noticing when they come in view and allowing them to pass,
Making space for the next one.
And then lastly,
Checking in with the heart space,
The emotional mind.
Notice what feelings or emotions you may be carrying today.
Maybe they're still lingering from the previous day,
Or maybe they're feelings that are anticipating what has not yet happened yet.
And again,
Notice with a sense of absoluteness,
A fact of seeing as is,
Not trying to make sense of it,
Not trying to identify with it.
Almost seeing it from a third-person point of view.
And then allow your attention and awareness to move to the bigger picture,
The external space,
And all the facets of the internal space,
The physical body,
The breath,
The thoughts and the emotions.
See it all as one entity in time and space in this present moment.
And taking all into consideration,
Ask yourself and answer as honestly as you can,
How am I feeling in this moment in time?
Not how is I feeling yesterday or what I would like to feel in the future,
But how am I feeling right now?
And once you have answered the question,
Acknowledge your answer,
Honor that sense of presence and of inner knowing,
And then allow yourself to give gratitude.
Give gratitude for the externals and all that is internal.
And give gratitude for the present moment and where you are in this life,
In this moment right now.
From here,
Turn your attention to your physical body.
If your feet are flat,
Feel them press lightly down into the floor.
Feel your legs,
Your thighs become heavier.
Press your sitting bones down into their seat.
And from the base of your spine,
Feel your spine lift up and away from your pelvis.
As your collar bones rise up towards your chin,
Notice the rising action of your front ribs and your chest towards your chin.
Feel the back of your neck grow tall as the crown of your head reaches up.
Tag weight into your elbows and your forearms and notice how that weight allows your triceps,
Your shoulder blades,
And all the skin along your back to slide down like a cascading waterfall.
Keeping this tallness of your spine and grounding of your hips,
Please invite a slow inhale into your nose and then an exhale out through your mouth.
Slow inhale into your nose and then slow exhale out through your nose.
Once more,
An inhale into your nose.
Hold at the top.
As you feel your chest rise feel your waist draw down towards your hips.
As you slowly exhale through your nose,
Keep your spine lifting up towards the heavens.
At the bottom,
Pause and slow inhale for the count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold at the top lightly.
Slow exhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold.
Spine remains tall.
Inhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold at the top.
Chest remains lifted as you exhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold at the bottom.
Legs are heavy.
Sitting bones reach down.
Inhale for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold.
Exhale for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause.
As your spine grows taller,
Feel the space along your torso.
Breathe into that space for the count of five.
Hold at the top.
As your rib cage rises,
Feel your pelvis draw down.
Keep lifting for your ribs as you exhale for five.
Pause at the bottom.
And inhale for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold.
Crown of your head stays lifted.
Exhale for six.
Pause.
Inhale for six.
Pause at the top.
Feel the breath spill down your back as you exhale for six.
Hold at the bottom.
You know,
Thinking three sections within your body,
Belly,
Ribs,
And chest.
Inhale about a third of the breath in into belly.
Hold there.
Then inhale a second third into ribs.
Hold.
See if you can feel not just the sides but the front and backs of your ribs.
Last third,
Breathe them into chest.
Hold at the top.
If your shoulders lifted,
Drop them down.
Neck grows tall.
Now exhale just a third and then hold.
Exhale another third.
Pause.
Last third.
Hold at the bottom.
And inhale a third.
Hold.
Inhale a second third.
Pause.
Last third.
Hold at the top.
Exhale a third.
Hold.
Second third.
Pause.
Last third.
Hold at the bottom.
Ground through your hips,
Your legs.
Ribcage rises away from your pelvis.
Then inhale a third.
Pause.
Second third.
Hold.
Last third.
Pause.
In your pauses,
Notice if the physical body starts to react or tense.
See if you can soften and observe instead.
Exhale a third.
Second third.
Last third.
Pause at the bottom.
Two more rounds of the loma.
Inhale a third.
Second third.
Last third.
Pause at the top.
As you feel the physical body ascend,
Can you still ground down?
Exhale a third.
Hold.
Second third.
Hold.
Even as the breath goes downwards,
Can you still feel the lifting of your spine?
Exhale the last third.
Hold at the bottom.
One more.
Inhale a third.
Pause.
Second third.
Pause.
Last third.
Hold here.
Exhale a third.
Hold.
Be the witness.
Exhale a second third.
Hold.
Last third.
Pause at the bottom.
Now slowly breathe in all the way to the top.
At the top,
Hold.
Soften your shoulders,
Your neck,
And your jaw.
Feel the crown of your head lift,
The back of your neck grow tall.
Slowly breathe out all the way to the bottom.
Pause at the bottom and hold.
And then slow breath in all the way to the top.
Hold at the top.
Stay here or tilt your chin slightly down and feel your collarbones rise up towards your chin.
Slowly release the breath.
As you reach the bottom,
Lift your head back to level.
Navel draws in and slightly up.
If you are pregnant or dealing with any abdominal discomfort,
Feel free to just let your belly relax as you hold.
Relax your belly.
Slow breath into the top.
Hold at the top.
Chin tilts down.
Collarbones rise.
As we're retaining the breaths,
Notice how your body,
Your thoughts,
Your emotions may be responding and be the witness.
Slowly release the breath.
At the bottom,
Hold.
If it is safe for you,
Navel draws in and up.
Uddiyana Bandha.
Ground down from your sitting bones as you feel your navel lift.
Relax your belly.
Inhale all the way to the top.
Hold at the top.
Chin tilts down.
Jalandhara Bandha.
Slowly release the breath.
At the bottom,
Hold.
Navel draws in and up.
Feel a sense of grounding,
Stability.
Relax your belly.
Slow breath into the top.
At the top,
Hold.
Jalandhara Bandha engages.
As energy may be rising and building,
Know that your body is a safe and strong container for that body and energy to build.
Slowly release the breath.
At the bottom,
Hold.
Navel draws in and up.
Uddiyana Bandha.
Even in the empty space,
Know that you are still whole.
Release your belly.
Slow breath in all the way to the top.
At the top,
Hold.
Chin tilts down.
Allow the energy to build so that way it may soften you from the inside out.
Release the breath all the way to the bottom.
Pause at the bottom.
Uddiyana Bandha engages if that is safe and appropriate for you today.
Feel a sense of gratitude for this body,
For this life.
Release your belly.
Slow breath in all the way to the top.
Hold at the top one last time.
Chin tilts down.
Jalandhara Bandha.
Bring in a sense of gratitude.
Lift your head.
Release the breath out through your mouth.
Take a moment just to observe how you feel.
Any shifts in body sensation,
In thoughts,
In emotions,
Energy.
And as you allow the breath to remain subtle in its natural state,
Bring your attention and awareness back to your heart space once more.
And try to feel or maybe even just simply imagine a point of light resting at the very center of your energetic heart.
And maybe know or just consider that this light represents the unchanging,
Untethered gratitude that always lies within.
As you allow the natural breath to come in and out with subtleness and ease,
Every inhale maybe feel or even imagine the light glow just a little bit brighter within the heart space.
With every exhale,
Allow the light to just simply soften deeply within.
As if the breath in brings in energy to that light of gratitude.
And the exhales imprint that light deeper within the psyche,
Deeper within the spaces and the walls of the heart space.
And allow yourself to simply focus on just gratitude.
Maybe your mind brings you to thoughts of things that you were grateful for.
And if that is the case,
Recognize those things that may come up.
Then come back to the essence of gratitude on its own.
The simple fact that gratitude rests deeply within no matter what you are grateful for.
And as the subtle breath comes in,
Feel that sense of gratitude grow brighter,
Stronger.
And as you exhale,
Feel that essence of gratitude imprint and ground further within.
If thoughts start to create stories of gratitude,
Things you were grateful for,
Keep coming back to the very essence of gratitude alone.
You Continue to let your body be soft,
Your breath subtle,
And keep your attention focused on just the essence of gratitude alone.
If the thoughts bring you to places,
People,
Things that you may feel gratitude towards,
Recognize them like you would recognize the external space.
But then let them go and come back to just the very essence of gratitude.
A recognition that gratitude alone exists,
Even without the externals.
Keeping your attention on this light resting within,
As you take your next inhale,
Feel the light move down,
Down,
Down to your pelvic floor.
And then as you exhale,
Imagine the light splits off into two,
Travels down your legs and out through your feet into the earth.
So as you inhale,
The light travels from the heart center down to your pelvic floor.
Exhale down your legs and out through your feet.
Try to keep the breath as subtle as you can,
And try to let your body experience the movements of that energy of that essence of gratitude.
Keep the attention on that essence of gratitude.
Keep your breath as subtle as you can,
And as you take your next inhale,
Imagine that light of gratitude filling the space of your belly.
And as you exhale,
Imagine or even feel that light recede down to a single point just behind your navel.
Inhaling the entire space of your belly and your abdomen.
Exhale to a single point,
A flame that rests deeply within.
Breathing in that essence and light of gratitude into the seat of your internal power,
An internal sense of self and will.
And then as you take your next inhale,
Feel energy move from your feet up your legs through your torso to the very base of your neck.
And as you exhale,
Feel the light of gratitude move into your neck,
Space of your head,
And all the way up to the crown of your head.
Inhaling the essence of gratitude from your roots all the way up your body to the base of your neck.
Exhaling into your throat,
Into your third eye,
And into the crown.
Breathing that essence of gratitude into the spaces of your truth,
Your inner wisdom,
Inner knowledge,
And your highest sense of self.
Then look deeply within and find a point,
A point that is not easy to locate physically,
But something that you must feel,
That you alone can feel.
A deep space where lies the essence of your very being,
The joy,
The bliss,
The love,
And divinity within.
And as you take your next inhale,
Breathe that light of gratitude to that center point.
And as you exhale,
Feel the essence of gratitude spread throughout your entire body.
Inhaling the light of gratitude down to your center,
And exhale spreading that light throughout.
Keep your attention on moving the energy from your center outwards.
And with every exhale,
Imagine the lights spreading further outwards,
Feeling or even just imagining that light not only going to the borders of your body,
But outside of the borders of your body.
And as you continue to move this energy from that inner being to the outer space,
See if the energy can move onwards.
So not just the direct external space around you,
But even outside of that space.
See if you can imagine or even feel that light travel to those who you share your home with.
Even spreading so far that it touches those who are within your neighborhood or your apartment complex.
Even going out into those within your town or your city.
Continue to let the light of your being carry that essence of gratitude outwards and onwards.
See,
Feel or even just imagine that light of your being traveling outside of your town into neighboring cities and towns and those that inhabit there.
Continue to let the light of your being carry gratitude outwards and onwards,
So far that it even touches the entire world and maybe even outside of the atmosphere of our world.
Imagine that power of your inner light and the power of the essence of gratitude traveling so far out,
Touches outer space and illuminates all the way to the heavens.
You you you Allow all the visualization to go and allow your attention to return back to that essence and light of gratitude that rests deeply within your heart space.
Draw your hands together in Anjali Mudra,
Thumbs pressing lightly up against your heart.
One last gesture of gratitude.
Bow your head down towards yourself,
Acknowledging your effort,
Your energy,
Giving yourself gratitude for showing up for yourself today.
Thank you for sharing your practice.
Namaste.
