Hello and welcome to the session.
I invite you to take a seat or lie down and get yourself comfortable.
You can close down the eyes if you wish.
Just begin by taking some slow,
Deep,
Sighing breaths in through the nose.
Just taking a moment to check into the body.
Noting the general sensations arising.
Points of movement.
Anything you're holding on to.
Just allowing whatever can release to release.
And moving to your mind space.
Taking a moment to check into your thoughts.
Moods,
Memories,
And other phenomena arising in the mind.
Just approaching and accepting it all with compassionate curiosity and calm confidence.
Allowing whatever to fall away to fall away.
Whatever to remain to remain.
Placing a hand upon your heart space.
Upon the chest.
Another one upon the belly.
Just feeling the warmth of the hand upon your skin.
Today we're going to be doing a basic gratitude practice.
Sitting with,
Bringing forth,
And perhaps becoming the feeling of gratitude.
It's all too easy for our minds to fall into anxiety,
Or worry,
Or craving,
Or other less than ideal emotions.
It keeps us safe.
It helps us to continue moving forward.
It helps us to not stagnate.
At least when those feelings are working for us.
But all too often we spiral.
And we dwell.
And we ruminate.
But a counterpoint to all of those feelings is a feeling of gratitude.
And the feelings of gratitude can be fostered.
We can pull forth the feelings of gratitude from our memories,
From our body,
And from the present moment.
And fall into those feelings.
Become those feelings.
And embrace those feelings.
This practice not only provides a counterpoint against the rumination,
But also something that can be done to help open us up and integrate us.
It's just once again returning your attention back to the sensations of the hand upon the heart space in the belly.
Feeling the sensations of the hand upon the heart space.
Feeling the feelings and being grateful for the warmth that a simple self-touch can provide.
Isn't it beautiful that you can take a slow calm breath,
Place your hands upon your body,
And begin to soothe.
I am grateful for my hand upon my belly.
I am grateful for this next breath.
The fact I'm able to take the time to do this very practice.
Taking a moment to bring to mind a person,
Pet,
Or plant in your life.
Someone or something that you are grateful for.
Someone that you can focus upon that is an easy target for this practice.
Someone that on balance is tremendously positive in your life.
Someone that brings you joy,
That you're grateful for.
Hold them in your heart space,
Or in your belly,
Or in your mind's eye,
And offer them love and compassion.
Breathe in gratitude.
Feel how they add.
If you notice any thoughts or feelings arising,
Perhaps coming as a counterpoint to gratitude,
Negativity,
Or what-ifs,
Or examples,
Or ruminations,
Or anxieties,
Or any of that.
You acknowledge it.
You accept it.
With an attitude of compassionate curiosity,
Calm confidence.
You can even say to them internally,
I hear you.
Nothing's ever perfect.
I will come back and we can contemplate you after this session.
But for the moment,
I'm going to sit with a feeling of gratitude.
Sit with an inner acknowledgment of gratitude to this person,
Pet,
Or plant in my life.
Nothing's perfect.
It doesn't have to be.
And that's okay.
I have the breath.
I have my hands behind me.
I have my body.
I have this person,
This pet,
This plant in my life to be grateful for.
I also have this moment,
Myself in this moment.
Taking the time,
Doing an act of self-care,
Self-love,
Self-improvement.
I'm grateful for myself,
For working on gratitude.
It's a little bit meta,
Perhaps a little bit circular.
But in every moment that you're moving towards a goal,
And that goal could be just to improve basic functionality,
To heal,
To even simply be present in this moment.
In a session like this one,
Be grateful for that.
It's an act of self-love.
It is you healing,
Embracing,
Loving yourself.
That's a beautiful thing.
Taking this sensation,
These feelings,
These thoughts,
And extending them outwards to your family,
To your house,
To your friends and community,
To your workspace,
To your town,
To your country.
To the world.
Yes,
It's not perfect.
But within that imperfection lies much gold,
Much opportunity,
Much love.
There are aspects of all of those things to be grateful for.
Hold them in your heart.
And foster more gratitude into those spaces.
I'm grateful for the waves at the beach,
The sound and the smell of the salt water.
I'm grateful for the trees at the park and the nature reserve.
I'm grateful for the sound of the bird call.
I'm grateful for the taste of coffee in the morning.
I'm grateful for the welcoming smile of my co-workers.
I'm grateful for the fact that there is a road to drive upon.
I'm grateful for the fact that the technology exists to be able to have this meditation with you right now.
I'm grateful for the fact that I have access to food,
To water,
To shelter.
I'm grateful for the aspects of myself that are healthy.
And I'm grateful that I can get the support that I need to help myself in the aspects that are not.
I'm grateful for the support to help me get through this.
I'm grateful for the fact that I can help others through their hard times.
For the times of connection.
Be it a once-off or a lifetime.
I'm grateful.
Breath.
And this breath.
And the next breath.
I am grateful for presence in this moment.
Except perhaps releasing your hand from your heart and your belly.
Taking another slow,
Deep,
Sighing breath.
Returning back to the moment.
Back to yourself.
Back to your day.
Gratitude practice is interesting.
It is us.
Choosing to look to the positive.
It is so easy to focus on the negative and what we want and what we need.
Understandable.
It's a survival mechanism.
It's something that is hardwired in to help keep us safe and alive.
But it can become the cause of tremendous distress and rumination if we don't take a moment to connect.
Some people choose to do a daily gratitude practice in the morning or night.
Actively thinking about things they're grateful for.
Perhaps journaling it.
Or just adding the question or the contemplation of gratitude to the end of the day.
What are you grateful for?
That's enough.
I'd like to leave you with this question as a form of contemplation.
What if you gave thanks in advance for the wonderful things that are going to happen?
What if you gave thanks in advance for the wonderful things that are going to happen?
I.
E.
A gratitude practice into the future.
Good things will happen.
True,
Bad things will as well.
It's easy to focus on that.
But what do you have to be grateful for that you know will come?
It's a beautiful contemplation.
It's almost like a gratitude practice into the future.
A sort of manifestation of sorts.
I'll sit with that and I'll see you in the next session.
