Embracing Gratitude

This meditation is a way to remember that being grateful makes us feel good inside. It is one of the fastest ways to happiness and joy. It opens the door for more goodness to enter our life experience. The world becomes our friend, our ally, and our support system. Sit back and enjoy.

Transcript

Greetings and welcome.

This is a meditation on gratitude.

Being grateful makes us feel good inside.

It is one of the fastest ways to happiness and joy.

It is an attitude of being thankful for what we have versus longing for what we don't have.

It opens the door for more goodness to enter into our life experience.

And with gratitude,

The world becomes our friend,

Our ally,

And our supporter.

And we become participants in life as opposed to spectators.

And let us begin.

Settle in to a comfortable sitting position with your back straight and dignified.

And when you are ready,

You may close or cap your eyes and gently move your awareness to the breath.

Become aware of your breathing in and out all by itself.

And now,

Take in a long,

Slow,

Deep breath and a slow breath out as you settle into a place of comfort.

And return to your normal breathing.

Breathing in and out through your nose at your own rhythm,

At your own pace.

Right here,

Right now.

As you become aware of the sounds around you,

Welcome them and make them part of your practice.

Allow them to fade into the background.

Allow the body to soften,

Releasing any tightness or tension from your head to your toes.

Notice your face and your facial muscles.

Allow them to soften.

Allow your jaw to drop down,

Your shoulders to loosen,

Your arms,

Your chest and your belly and your hips.

Moving to your back,

Allowing your spine and all those muscles and nerves to settle down.

Moving down to your hips and your legs.

Allow the whole body to loosen,

Releasing any tightness,

Any tension.

And right here,

Right now,

All is well.

And gently bring your awareness to your breath.

And become aware of your breath,

Breathing all by itself,

In and out of the body.

There's nothing for you to do,

Nothing to control.

Simply allowing the breath to breathe all by itself as you rest your attention there.

And notice where you feel it most prominently.

And now,

Expand that awareness out and feel the space around you.

Feel your body breathing.

Notice how your body moves with the breath.

Allowing this rhythm,

This pace of movement,

Allowing you to settle in even more as you become aware of the present moment.

And when you are ready,

Gently move your attention to the center of your chest,

Taking a deeper breath and rest your awareness in this area at the center of your chest.

This is your heart center.

It is the home of kindness and compassion,

Of love and gratitude.

Imagine a beam of light filling this entire area with a golden warmth as you breathe in and out.

And with this awareness on your heart center,

Feel the interconnectedness of all things,

Of all beings,

Of nature,

Of everyone and everything.

And within this heart space,

Bring into your awareness something for which you are grateful.

What is it that you are most grateful for?

Perhaps you are grateful to be alive or grateful for your health or the organs of your body that work endlessly on your behalf.

Perhaps you are grateful for your heart beating or the ability to breathe or all the trillions of cells in your body that replenish themselves without you having to do anything.

Perhaps you are grateful for your legs and your feet that keep you upright and allow you to move around and navigate this world.

Or your hands that do so much for you,

Allow you to take care of yourself,

To dress and eat,

To hold,

To touch,

To create and even to help others.

You may be thankful for your senses that give you the ability to taste delicious foods or smell the sweetness in the air,

To see the beauty that surrounds you or the ability to touch a loved one or hear their voices and the melodies of life.

Perhaps you are grateful for the abundance and the harmony of nature,

Mother Earth,

Which provides nourishment for your mind,

Your body and your soul.

And bring your attention to the nature that surrounds you with water and space and air and light and fire.

The sky above you,

The sun,

The moon,

The stars and the planets,

The trees and the flowers,

It is all there for you to receive.

Now bring your awareness to the people in your life,

The people that truly nourish your life and how they bless you with their presence.

Breathe in through your heart center and feel this from the inside out.

And bring awareness into your own life.

Consider the difficulties that you have faced and overcome.

Perhaps you are thankful for the challenges,

For it is the challenges that we face that bring a depth of awareness of our own strength.

And it is the challenges that create who we become.

And bring your awareness to the most gentle nature,

The softest,

The most peaceful side of you.

Breathe this gentle nature in with each breath and radiate it outward with each out breath.

And in your mind's eye,

See your loved ones before you.

Wrap them in a blanket of your love.

Feel the love that you have for them,

The love that they have for you and the love that you are.

Allow your love to expand and move it out to include all of the people that you know and even those that you do not know.

Expand this out to cover the entire earth and all of the creatures who share this planet with you.

Continue to breathe in and out of this heart space.

And with your next breath,

Offer gratitude for your own life and the opportunity to experience all of life in each and every present moment.

And bring to your awareness more for which you are grateful.

Perhaps it is the freedom to make your own choices,

To think,

To dream,

To speak your truth.

Or perhaps it is the freedom to live life the way you choose.

And be aware of anything else that you are grateful for and notice the sensation that that feeling of gratitude creates within your own body.

And silently repeat,

Thank you,

Thank you.

And now rest with your breath and enjoy the silence.

And thank you for listening.

You You You And without opening your eyes gently Moving out of meditation back to activity Take some deeper breaths Begin to feel the space around you as you move your body and stretch and ever so slowly When you are ready you may open your eyes And take a moment to thank yourself for taking this time for meditation For meditation is a gift that only you can give yourself And carry this feeling of gratitude with you as you move through life Namaste You Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you so much for that wonderful gratitude meditation. It filled me with Hope. You are a healer.

Thanks so much for your lovely meditation. May the joy be with you. Námaste

Lovely and gentle. I fell asleep for a bit of it 😴🩵

Wonderful! Thank you Virginia Ray. <3

Really enjoyed this 💓

About halfway through this meditation the tears started flowing. It was a controlled release that kept me focused on the meditation; yet tears flowed. Thank you.

Fantastic! Thank you 🌷

A lovely way to pause and reflect

Beautiful. Ty 🙏🏻

Thank you for that really wonderful Meditation....😉🙏 Namaste

I loved the end, when you can sit in silence & let the guided meditation sink in.

A wonderful relaxing start to my day. Thank you. 🙏

Beautiful- namaste 🙏

Beautiful guidance.
Thank you 🙏🏽

Thankyou! Beautifully done. 🦋🙏🏻🦋

Nice words & background music, but when I notice the noise the recorded voice makes, like an on & off switch, it was slightly distracting. I still love the gratitude affirmations & feelings of connectedness. Thank u! Namaste 🙏

Sometimes we have to be reminded that there is much to be Greatful for, TY 💚🙏

🔥
♥️

That was the most fun,
illuminating meditation
I have enjoyed in recent times.

I look forward to hearing
your thoughts put to voice again.

Beautiful! Thank you 🙏

Wonderful! Will do this meditation again!