Present Moment Gratitude Practice

This meditation offers an opportunity to come quietly into the present moment and give thanks for the many benefits which are there for us to experience but which can only be found in moments of quiet reflection. After the formal meditation ends the background music continues for a little while to enable those who have the time to do so to continue this quiet Present Moment Gratitude Practice. Music: Kindness speaks Narek Mirzaei of Music of Wisdom.

Transcript

Dear friends,

I'm sure all of us have heard of the book by the best-selling author Eckhart Tolle.

Eckhart tells us,

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have.

Make the now the primary focus of your life.

Most of us will have heard repeated urgings about the importance of living in the now,

But yet we find it hard to do this.

According to a Harvard study carried out in 2010,

It seems that 47% of our time is spent out of the present moment.

Which means that 53% of our time we are in one place,

Doing one thing,

But our minds are somewhere else.

We find ourselves playing and replaying videos of the past,

Some of them exciting but others not very pleasant.

Or we are concerned about the future,

Rehearsing what we might say in such and such a situation.

And sometimes producing and directing horror videos for ourselves and playing them over and over.

The Harvard study demonstrates just how difficult it is for us to be present.

Much as I believe in the principle,

To the point of encouraging the practice of living in the now,

I find it difficult and I'm sure you do too.

So this meditation is designed to give us all an opportunity to become present in gratitude,

For at least as long as this recording lasts.

Maybe,

And hopefully as a result of this practice undertaken regularly,

We might find ourselves in a better position to practice mindful presence even without the aid of a recording.

But as the saying goes,

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

So at least let us now take that one step on the little worn path of mindful presence.

Let's begin by closing our eyes and opening our ears.

We may be able to detect sounds around us,

Perhaps near sounds,

Maybe more distant sounds.

We'll also be able to notice the sound of our own breathing,

Our breathing out and our breathing in.

We can feel our chest and our belly rising on the in-breath and falling on the out-breath.

Let us be thankful for the fact that we are here,

As we hold this state of awareness for,

Let's say,

One minute.

Even in that short time,

Distractions can arise.

Just notice the distractions.

Don't go off singing and dancing with them.

Just notice them and let them be.

Noticing these distractions is an example of mindful presence.

Well done if that happens.

So let's begin now our one minute pause.

Welcome back.

Everything that happens to us happens in a time that is,

At that very moment,

The present,

The now.

Life comes to us one moment at a time.

So let us try to enjoy these precious moments,

Be with them.

We don't invite visitors to our house and then walk out the door opposite.

We don't invite visitors to our house and then have them see us glued to a mobile phone.

Each of these precious moments is a visitor.

So we are to pay attention to them and not neglect them.

An example.

You are at a party or a meeting.

You are introduced to someone new.

You exchange names.

You are physically present but your mind is just around the corner in another room.

Your mind is busy thinking of what impression you might give to this new person.

What will this new person think of you?

If in a situation like this,

You can manage to prevent your mind from conducting that internal dialogue,

You will experience the joy of the present moment and you'll experience the present moment happiness of meeting this new person.

Otherwise,

As happens to all of us,

It happens to me and I'm sure it happens to you,

We finally drag our minds back into the room and we find that we cannot recall the name of this new person.

It is so important to work at the task of being present to life as it unfolds.

Being present to people as we meet them.

How much better it will be for us if we forget our pre-recorded commentary and simply be present to the people around us.

So now for our exercise,

Our first exercise.

For the next 60 seconds,

Just one minute,

I'd like you to be present,

To be thankfully present in this special minute as it passes and during that minute,

To recall one person for whom you feel a sense of gratitude just now.

A one minute pause for this.

Welcome back.

Next,

We'll have another exercise along the same lines.

This time for one minute,

Being present and recalling with gratitude some aspect of the world around you for which you are thankful.

Another one minute pause.

Welcome back.

It's time now for another exercise.

This time,

Again,

One minute being present but looking around you and seeing something in the room for which you are really happy,

Really grateful,

Something that you're happy to have.

Welcome back again.

Time for a final exercise.

This time,

Recalling an act of kindness for which you are grateful.

It might have been performed in the last year.

It might have been performed long ago but just call it to mind.

Keep it in mind for one minute.

You can continue in this vein in your own time.

In your own time,

You can practice mindful,

Present moment awareness of the benefits of your life.

So many benefits.

And when this meditation is over,

I'll allow the music to continue for a little time in case you'd like to try this today.

But if time is short,

This can be done another time.

If during the course of our busy lives we can make the time to stop,

Pause and notice,

We will realise that our lives are a magical experience.

We wake up each day and we find ourselves experiencing another day in paradise.

Now there are times,

There are days when we are in a state of mindlessness and there are times,

There are days when things appear to go against us.

We can suffer loss of one kind or another.

We can experience physical and mental suffering.

There are days when life is anything but rosy.

But life is life.

If we can manage to stop and think,

We will be reminded of the extraordinary gift that is this life of ours.

This unique life that each of us has.

Arising from stardust after billions of years and experiencing a time of conscious awareness in this wonderful world.

This is given to us freely,

Without any input on our part.

Isn't it just as well that we receive this gift free?

Because it is a gift beyond price.

It's a gift that is really impossible to fathom.

A gift that has been the subject of religious and philosophical thought from the moment that our most distant ancestors became self-aware.

This amazing gift that is the life of each one of us.

It's given to us in our first moment of existence and it's offered to us again day after day after day until we take our final breath.

The present moment gives us an opportunity to do something that will leave this world a little better than we found it.

As Stephen Grelit reminds us,

I shall pass through this world but once.

Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being.

Let me do it now.

Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.

Not a bad reminder on which to end this meditation.

May you be blessed with an awareness of the value of each present moment.

And don't forget that when this meditation ends the music will continue for a little while in case you'd like to experiment further with these minutes of present moment gratitude.

Namaste

Reviews

A most wonderful way to start the day...thank you so very much for slowing down my life and noticing all that are precious gifts..as indeed you have become.

Beautiful practice! I hope to carry this throughout my day! Blessings to you Tony! 🙏🏻

Tony, you knocked it out of the park again! Thank you!

A wonderful way to start my day. The minutes immersed in gratitude were very pleasurable. So much to be thankful for, including the lovely guidance, thank you. 🙏

As always, a reminder to make space for gratitude. Thank you Tony. 🙏

Very nice moment of gratitude. Thanks for sharing this practice with us this morning. Namaste

A grounded way to start my day. (My cat 🐈‍⬛ also purred and enjoyed it.) Thank you.

As always a beautiful reminder of the good things in our lives. Always grateful to you Tony Namaste.

Thank you Tony for this gentle reminder to be grateful for every moment of my life. 🙏

Thank you for another beautiful, and grounding reminder of how much we have 🙏🏻🌺

Thank you, Tony! 🙏
Your mention of ‘going off singing and dancing’ with distracting thoughts made me chuckle, as it was such an arresting image. 💕

What beautiful reminders about being grateful. Namaste. 🌸🌺

We could all use more presence and gratitude thank you Tony!

🙏🏻Thank you so much Tony 🙏🏻 very beautiful!
So good to see you back. I hope your travels were exciting and fun and that the weather wasn’t to cold so you stayed warm.

I especially appreciate the one-minute reflections within the overall meditation. And the music is a sweet lullaby… I feel cradled. Thank you, Tony.

What a beautiful way to begin the day. You have a way of bringing life into gratitude in a most meaningful way. Thank you for sharing your gift. Namaste 🙏🏼

Thank you, Tony! Found myself laughing out loud when you said “You don’t have to go off dancing with them.”
Stop. Listen. Be. Present. Grateful.
Most enjoyable. Namaste

Tony's loving kindness lifts my heart. Beautiful meditation. 🕊

Thank you, Tony, for another wonderful inspirational meditation!

Always a pleasure Tony, terrific Tuesday blessings to you