Welcome.
My name is Gayler Large.
I'm a yoga and meditation teacher based in California and thank you for joining me for this practice of gratitude.
So we're gonna begin in a comfortable seat.
Just settling in.
Just getting out any last fidgets or movements.
And as you begin to deepen the breath,
Turning your awareness inward.
So just gently shifting things from the external landscape what happened earlier,
What's to come to the internal landscape,
To this moment.
On the inhale,
See if you can find that expansion through the body.
Through the heart space.
And on the exhales,
Finding that release,
Finding that softening.
As we begin this practice of gratitude,
I just wanna emphasize that I am not saying that any feelings that are negative.
Or anything along those lines that those aren't valid or shouldn't be acknowledged if you're feeling sad or afraid or you have regret or shame.
Not only should they not be acknowledged,
They absolutely need to be acknowledged and felt fully.
What I am saying is that there are times when we can tend to focus on what isn't working.
When we can compare ourselves to others.
When we can begin to fixate or ruminate on obstacles.
And when we do that,
Those things tend to amplify,
Right?
We get into this scarcity mentality.
And so while we can and should and must acknowledge what we're feeling,
Experience it,
Cry if you need to cry,
Scream if you need to scream,
Look right at those things that are causing pain.
Once we do that,
They will pass.
And our only way to shift to an abundance mentality is to actively and at the same time practice gratitude.
So building that muscle of gratitude.
And the more and more we look at the things in our life that are going right,
Big and small,
The more and more beauty we will notice.
Take another deep,
Deep breath here.
Filling up the body,
Finding that three-dimensional expansion through the belly,
Through the rib cage.
So the front body and the back body.
And then just letting it go.
I invite you to consider now what is going right in your life.
From the littlest,
Simplest things that bring you happiness,
Like a starry sky or a cup of hot tea,
To the big things that maybe you sometimes take for granted.
The relationships,
Romantic and otherwise.
The places you've been.
The education you've received,
The skills that you have.
Whether learned formally or whether you're self-taught.
The groups and communities that you're a part of or that have lifted you up.
Just breathing into what those things mean to you.
And if you're having trouble accessing gratitude for this moment,
Maybe it's something in the past.
Maybe you're not feeling like you're in a wonderful,
Supportive relationship right now.
Romantic or friendship or family relationship.
Can you access gratitude for love you've received in the past and what that's given to you?
Just breathing into it.
I just invite you now to think of a few areas where maybe you can shift the shoulds or the have tos to get tos.
Do you have to go to the gym?
Or do you get to go to the gym because your body allows you to move?
Do you have to do this work project or do you get to do this work project?
Because you have this career,
This job.
I believe everything is a gift.
And the obstacles that come our way help show us the direction that we're meant to go.
And at the end of the day,
Life is just a long string of these beautiful present moments.
The more we can access gratitude,
Even in moments where it's harder,
Where it doesn't feel like there's much to be thankful for,
The more we're able to access it,
The more we will build that abundance.
The more we will fill up with that warmth,
That energy of all the things that we do have,
All the things that are going right.
Let's bring one hand to the chest and one hand to the belly.
Just noticing how you feel.
I invite you to take a moment of gratitude for yourself.
For this incredible being that you are.
Not your body,
Not your mind,
Your thoughts,
Those things are not you.
That inexplicable life force,
That whatever you want to call it,
That soul,
That divinity within you,
Gratitude for that.
And gratitude for those who have loved you,
Those who have given to you.
And gratitude for all living things.
With a wish that all living things be free from suffering.
Hope to see you again soon.
