Welcome to this guided audio experience.
My name is James and I will be guiding you through today's session.
In this session,
We will be cultivating appreciation for something we come in contact with every day,
Water.
If you are new here,
Please refer to the listener instructions before beginning this session.
To begin,
Take a moment to stop what you are doing and minimize any distractions in your environment,
Then find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and gently close your eyes.
I'll give you a moment to do this now.
Feel free to pause this recording if you need more time.
Okay,
Let us begin by calming ourselves with the breath.
Take a deep breath in through the nose for a count of four,
Hold it gently for six counts,
Then exhale slowly through the mouth for eight counts.
Now bring your focus onto what you can hear in this moment.
Notice the sounds in your environment.
It could be something close,
Like the sound of the background music,
Or maybe the sound of your breathing,
Or perhaps something a bit further away,
Like the sounds of birds in the distance.
Okay,
Take another deep breath like we practiced before.
Now,
Bring your attention to what you can feel with your touch.
It could be the clothing against your skin,
Or maybe a light breeze passing by you,
Perhaps the points of contact to the surface beneath you.
Alright,
Take another long and slow breath just as before.
Now,
Bring your awareness to anything you can smell in the space you are in.
Perhaps it's a perfume,
Or the smell of a garden,
Or maybe the subtle smell of the room you are in.
Okay,
Now that you are in a relaxed state,
Let us spend some time reflecting on our appreciation for something that is so important in our lives,
Water.
Isn't it nice how water can cleanse anything it comes in contact with?
It has the unique ability to wash away the debris from our clothes,
Our plates,
Our cars,
And our bodies.
Our streets and buildings all can remain clean and refreshed after a day of rain.
The cleansing ability of water is so integral to our everyday lives.
Without it,
Life would be much more difficult.
I invite you to spend a moment now reflecting on a time where water helped you cleanse something.
It could be feeling refreshed from taking a cleansing shower after a day of work,
Or maybe the feeling of pride after giving your car a good wash.
Spend a moment of silence now feeling appreciation for this.
You may do this internally,
Or again,
You may write it down.
Okay,
To deepen our gratitude in this practice,
We can appreciate the unique sound of water.
Water can have many sounds,
And they all have one thing in common.
The sounds of water tend to calm us.
It could be the sound of the ocean reaching the shore,
Or maybe the sound of a waterfall deep within a forest.
Perhaps it's hearing the light trickle of a fountain in the background,
Or the gentle,
Calm flow of a river on a sunny day.
The sound of water has a unique ability to create a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere.
Spend a moment of silence now appreciating a time where the sound of water made you feel calm,
And again,
You may write it down if you prefer.
Okay,
And to continue on with today's practice,
We can be thankful for water's ability to hold temperature,
Be it hot or cold.
That feeling of drinking a nice,
Cold glass of water on a hot day,
Or after some heated and vigorous exercise,
Or perhaps a nice,
Warm cup of tea on a cold winter's day,
Soothing and warming the body.
Or maybe it is feeling a nice,
Hot shower or bath,
Or maybe jumping into a cool lake or ocean on a hot,
Humid day.
Spend some time now appreciating a time where you felt the pleasures of hot or cold water.
Again,
You may do this internally,
Or you may write it down.
As we bring this session to a close,
Let's expand our focus and cultivate a greater sense of gratitude and love for life.
Consider something you appreciate in your life today.
It could be something related to today's theme of water,
Or it could be a small yet beautiful moment,
Like catching up with a friend or enjoying the beauty of a sunset.
Or perhaps it's something more significant,
Maybe something you received that made your life easier and better,
Or perhaps a specific trait about you and your personality that you love.
Think of something specific and spend some time contemplating it now.
Do this until that inner smile starts to surface within.
Okay,
I will leave you here,
Wishing you a day filled with gratitude and love for life.
