A warm welcome back,
Well here we are together on day six,
Making meditation a regular habit even amidst our busy and unpredictable lives.
It's so easy to move through our days on the lookout for micro threats,
People letting us down,
Heavy traffic,
Things not going to plan and awkward conversations.
Taking the time to focus on what we are grateful for is a powerful practice to circuit break these negative cycles and instead enjoy a real opportunity to feel satisfied and safe within our lives.
So before you close down your eyes,
Can you cast your eye around the space you are in and identify some elements that afford you a feeling of safety.
The door,
The roof over your head,
A window.
Taking a deep breath into this physical experience of safety.
The possibility that right here,
Right now,
You are safe,
You are free from harm.
Doing this to soften your nervous system.
And now scanning your eye around your room and noticing elements of your environment that allow you to feel emotionally safe and at ease.
Of your room that help you to feel like you belong.
And again,
Enjoying a few deep breaths into this emotional aspect of safety and belonging.
Noticing it weaving its way into your nervous system like warm sunlight through a window.
And from this place,
Closing down your eyes and allowing your awareness to land on your breath.
And just noticing if with each cycle of breath,
You can continue to deepen this experience of safety,
Belonging and presence.
And from this place,
I ask you,
What is one thing you are grateful for?
No right or wrong.
Allowing whatever emerged to be exactly right.
Seeing,
Sensing or feeling this thing you are grateful for.
And now as you inhale,
Imagine that you are inviting this into your body through your breath.
And as you exhale,
Imagining this aspect of your life you are grateful for,
Moving down your body and exiting via the soles of your feet into the earth below.
Breathing in gratitude,
Breathing out down your body into the earth.
When we identify things we are grateful for,
And then intentionally breathe them in,
We are moving gratitude from an intellectual exercise into an embodied experience.
In so doing,
Rewiring our brains and sending this experience of gratitude deep into our nervous system.
Let's try it again.
Here in this moment,
Calling one thing you are grateful for to mind.
And on the tide of your in breath,
Breathing this aspect of your life into your chest.
And on the exhale,
Imagining it traveling down your body into the earth below.
Noticing any sensation building within your body,
Any nervous system response to this embodied experience of gratitude.
And one final time,
Here in this moment,
What is one thing you are grateful for?
In your own way,
Breathing this into your chest,
And on the exhale,
Imagining it traveling down your body into the earth below.
Breathing here in this grounded and embodied experience of gratitude.
Noticing how it feels for you,
Peaceful,
Relaxing.
Is there a sense of energy or vitality?
Taking a deep breath in,
A long smooth exhale.
Awareness returning to the space you are in.
Well done.
You just strengthened your neural pathways for gratitude and also gave your nervous system a felt experience of thankfulness.
May this create a positive ripple in your day.
I hope to see you again tomorrow.
