Reset Your Frame of Mind With A Guided Gratitude Meditation

TRANSCRIPT

In today’s meditation we are going to journey and rest within a space of gratitude where we will take a moment to honour and give thanks for our body, our breath and ultimately our life. 

Meditation combined with the practice of gratitude connects you to your deepest ability to rest and rejuvenate yourself. It reminds you of the things that are important in this life and is a tool that can be used to help you drop worry, stress and negative thought patterns that revolve around the superficial and external things in life.

To begin todays Gratitude practice, first get yourself set up in a comfortable position either sitting up or laying down. You may like to burn a candle, wrap yourself in a blanket, put a bolster under your knees or hold your favourite crystal in your hand. Set yourself up in a way that feels grounding and nourishing.

I will give you a moment to settle in….

Close your eyes

Take a long slow deep breath in – feeling the weight of your body make contact with the ground below you. 

Take a moment to connect and slow down your breath.

Relax the forehead, jaw, and neck

Take another breathe in

As you exhale let the shoulders drop and relax.

Breathing into your heart space. Allow the chest, belly, thighs, and calves to soften and relax

Inhaling deeply – exhaling completely

Notice how the body feels as it makes contact with the ground below you.

Bring your awareness to any tension or stress you may be feeling. Notice any tension, pain, or discomfort in the body.  If you find spaces of discomfort, tension, or pain, direct your breath into those areas, inviting them to soften and release.

Inhale into the tense areas and as you exhale, imaging them softening and melting into the ground below you.

Listen to the subtle sounds around you as you are resting. You may hear noises from the areas that surround you. These sounds will not disturb your relaxation. Focus here for a few more moments. 

Connecting with your breath, now allow your thoughts to soften. Allow your mind to soften. It is only natural that thoughts will come and go. When they arise simply do your best to bring your attention back on to the breath.

Inhale deeply

Exhale completely

We are going to spend the next 15-20 minutes breathing and connecting with gratitude

Invite yourself to surrender and relax. There is nothing you need to do – nowhere you need to be right now – you have dedicated these next 15 minutes to your own well-being. All you need to do is follow the sound of my voice and the words I speak

When we welcome the practice of gratitude into our own life it turns everything we have into enough. But we must also be easy on ourselves when we fail to see the beauty – as there will be days that are hard.  

The practice of gratitude literally shifts our perspective on the world and how we view ourselves.  We learn to see ourselves and the world with new eyes and grow a new appreciation for what truly matters in this life. 

We learn to drop all that no longer serves us, allowing us to free up space within our own mind for inner peace, calm and contentment to grow. 

When uncertainty arises or life falls apart, as it sometimes does. Having a grateful heart will make it much easier to navigate the tough times. 

Gratitude doesn’t happen overnight. It must be practiced daily, and as our practice grows over time so does our base level of overall contentment, inner calm, and self-resilience. Gratitude transforms our lives as we start to turn failures into learning opportunities, our pain into compassion and our hardships into wisdom. 

A daily practice of gratitude helps us discover and unearth what truly matters to us, it removes the distractions so that we can see the ordinary as extra-ordinary. 

Take a few more moments now to deepen your level of relaxation. Sink into the sensations of the body as you rest in meditation. Feel the breath flow in and out of your nose. Slowly breathe in and slowly breathe out. Can you feel the flow of the breath throughout the entire body?

Notice the breath. Feel the breath move through you.

Breathing in deeply – exhaling completely

Becoming more relaxed – moment by moment 

Bring your full awareness to your breath 

Notice how the breath moves in and out of the body, giving life to the body. Take a moment to appreciate the breath. 

Draw your attention to your heart.

Feel your heartbeat.

Perhaps within the quietness, you can hear your heartbeat.

Aware of your breath, while tuning into the rhythm of your heartbeat take a moment to give thanks for life itself.

Aware of your breath and tuned in to your heartbeat, draw your awareness to the form of your human body. Have an appreciation for your body – for it is your temple – supporting and carrying you through-out your days.

Take a deep breathe in. Give thanks for the life that is present within your body - within this moment.

Here in this human body, you have everything you need.

You have everything you need to find happiness, contentment, and joy within.

There is infinite capacity within you.

Infinite capacity for awareness, kindness, and gratitude.

Connect with your breath. Feel your heart beating. Have an appreciation for your body and what it does for you.

Take a moment to give thanks to your mind. Your mind is your portal to the world that surrounds you – in this life you choose how you want to use your mind. What you think and believe within your mind becomes your reality within the outside world.

You have a mind that is capable of new ideas, new inventions, new ways of being. You have a mind that can deepen its awareness allowing you to expand and experience infinite growth.

You have a mind that knows it’s true nature. 

Breathe. Feel your heart opening and expanding

Give thanks to your breath.

Give thanks to your heartbeat.

Have an appreciation for your body.

Direct loving-kindness towards your mind.

Show self-compassion and gratitude for yourself – for everything you have been, everything you are and everything you will become. You are perfect just as you are. 

Rest here remembering you have everything you need.

Rest in gratitude

When we live with a grateful heart, life becomes a little easier, our minds become a little calmer and our bodies begin to relax.. 

What we choose to do with this gift of life is ultimately up to us - we can choose to reconnect back to our own authentic selves and do our best to greet each day with wonder, gratitude, excitement, and an open heart. Or we can waste away the hours, days and years lost in worry, pressure, people-pleasing, the need for external validation and the inauthenticity of chasing another’s dream

To live within a state of gratitude is to recognise that life itself is the miracle.

Take a final moment to thank your breathe, your heartbeat, your body, your mind, and your life.

Let us seal today’s practice with an intention of gratitude. Think of something about your breath, heart, body, mind, or life that you are grateful for right now. Silently say thank you.

Rest in this ocean of gratitude.

Breathing in…. Invite your heart and mind to open a little deeper to the beauty and miracle of life itself – the beauty of being fully you in this present moment.

Bring a gentle awareness to the noises around you

Bring a gentle awareness to your surrounding environment

Wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes

Open your eyes