For today’s Mindfulness practice we are going to practice connecting to the heart space to maximize our ability to benefit from the powerful practice of gratitude. Before I share the practice I encourage you to ask yourself these questions…
What if you spent a month thinking you might not live much longer, and then found out that you won’t die and that the physical pain and symptoms you had been experiencing are actually treatable??? Would that change how you live out your days? Would you maybe take fewer things for granted? Would you finally be able to powerfully and wholeheartedly connect to gratitude? Gratitude for the mere fact that you are breathing, gratitude for the clean water to shower in, the food in your fridge, and that you will live to see your children grow up.
Would possibly all the little things that used to bother you, and drive you up the wall cease to be important? Would they simply fade into the background and become a reminder that, for example, you have dishes to eat from and maybe family or friends to eat with?
Would you wake up and say thank you instead of waking up dreading the day, and all you had to do?
I hope so, and I believe most of you would.… but I ask…why wait? Why wait until something like that happens to wake you up to what you have to be thankful for? Why not have that deep heartfelt gratitude now?
I have many clients and students that come to me because something devastating happened or the pain in their body became too much to bear or their relationships fell apart because they were not present enough to see that it was in trouble long before it fell apart. I am glad that they decide to look for and find help. I am grateful they have the strength to make that choice and I know it is human nature to do this. There is nothing wrong with them, they are honestly doing what most of us do… I am often inspired by them and their new dedication and resolve to do things differently…but if I am completely honest, when I think of this scenario that is played over and over in our society… a piece of me is sad, a piece of me wishes life didn’t have to get so hard for us before we find the strength or motivation to make the change. Before we can truly see how blessed we are…
My wish is that you have not had to be brought to your knees to finally see how beautiful and magical this life can be…and whether you have or haven’t had this experience I hope you decide NOW is the time to take the step that can help you live fully, with joy and gratitude for all that you have….
When I was in my teens and 20s, I was very determined and focused on somehow doing something big to make this world a better place, for us and for our environment. It was overwhelming because there were and still are so many things that need to be done, could be done and yet each of us is only one person…I would always be inspired by the people that started amazing movements or foundations that focused on making some of the most challenging situations better, but I also started to notice that many of these movements were started AFTER a great loss, a horrific act that happened to their child, or loved on OR by a disease that was painful and long to witness…these inspiring activists were driven by the pain… and don’t get me wrong, I do think it is amazing and beautiful and courageous when someone can find the strength to make this world a better place. Do things that will hopefully lessen or even eliminate the suffering of those that follow.
It is admirable AND my secret prayer became, “please don’t make me go through something horribly painful so I can figure out what my purpose in this world is.” And my promise became, “I promise I will figure out something I can do to have a positive impact in this world” This coupled with my fear of dying with regrets has driven me to give, to help where I can, to figure out where I can positively influence this world. And side-note, this is a good example of fear being used as a motivator, versus something that holds you back.
It took a while to figure out, the path to me finding what I felt was my true calling or purpose was far from linear, but the motivation was always there AND it drove me to remind myself frequently that there is a lot, more than we typically acknowledge, to be grateful for.
Now, unfortunately, this prayer and wish didn’t keep me from going through some pretty tough experiences. But luckily because of my drive to figure out how to leave this world a better place which led me to pursue personal development while I was trying to figure it all out, it helped me tremendously, when those things happened that brought me literally to my knees in anguish and pain, Because of the tools I acquired and am now sharing throughout this podcast, I was able to sit with my pain and move through it so I could get up and live life, so I could get up and be a Mom to my kids, be there for those that were counting on me and live life to the fullest…within all these experiences the constant refocusing on what I did have to be grateful for carried me through. It has allowed me to thrive, not just survive through the ups and downs of life.
If you want to hear about the numerous benefits of gratitude and ways to practice it, check out the previous episode, number 7 but for today, I would like to share a guided meditation that will help you connect to that deep gratitude that is often reserved for special moments.
Gratitude can be accessed deeply, without the external big event or a devastating event to ignite it. It is there, in your heart, silently waiting…
So I encourage you to join me if you can in this mediation. If you are driving or listening at a time it isn’t possible, note the time and plan to come back to it, you won’t regret it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Meditation Notes:
Settle in…(breath, body cues)
Bring to mind someone you love dearly…(person or even animal)
Focusing on the heart (allowing love to wash over you) Maybe you can even feel the heart expand as you breathe into the heart space.
Give this feeling a color and continue to breathe in the love you feel for them…
A favorite memory…
Then bring in some things you are grateful for…
If at any time you start to struggle with gratitude go back to focusing on the person you love, the favorite memory and then back to what you are thankful for….
Spending just a few more moments here, noticing where you feel the gratitude in your body.
Then imagine yourself carrying this gratitude into your day…
What would that look like, ….what would you say,.... do differently
Open your eyes, come back to your space and I hope you have a wonderful day filled with moments to be grateful for.
What if you spent a month thinking you might not live much longer, and then found out that you won’t die and that the physical pain and symptoms you had been experiencing are actually treatable??? Would that change how you live out your days? Would you maybe take fewer things for granted? Would you finally be able to powerfully and wholeheartedly connect to gratitude? Gratitude for the mere fact that you are breathing, gratitude for the clean water to shower in, the food in your fridge, and that you will live to see your children grow up.
Would possibly all the little things that used to bother you, and drive you up the wall cease to be important? Would they simply fade into the background and become a reminder that, for example, you have dishes to eat from and maybe family or friends to eat with?
Would you wake up and say thank you instead of waking up dreading the day, and all you had to do?
I hope so, and I believe most of you would.… but I ask…why wait? Why wait until something like that happens to wake you up to what you have to be thankful for? Why not have that deep heartfelt gratitude now?
I have many clients and students that come to me because something devastating happened or the pain in their body became too much to bear or their relationships fell apart because they were not present enough to see that it was in trouble long before it fell apart. I am glad that they decide to look for and find help. I am grateful they have the strength to make that choice and I know it is human nature to do this. There is nothing wrong with them, they are honestly doing what most of us do… I am often inspired by them and their new dedication and resolve to do things differently…but if I am completely honest, when I think of this scenario that is played over and over in our society… a piece of me is sad, a piece of me wishes life didn’t have to get so hard for us before we find the strength or motivation to make the change. Before we can truly see how blessed we are…
My wish is that you have not had to be brought to your knees to finally see how beautiful and magical this life can be…and whether you have or haven’t had this experience I hope you decide NOW is the time to take the step that can help you live fully, with joy and gratitude for all that you have….
When I was in my teens and 20s, I was very determined and focused on somehow doing something big to make this world a better place, for us and for our environment. It was overwhelming because there were and still are so many things that need to be done, could be done and yet each of us is only one person…I would always be inspired by the people that started amazing movements or foundations that focused on making some of the most challenging situations better, but I also started to notice that many of these movements were started AFTER a great loss, a horrific act that happened to their child, or loved on OR by a disease that was painful and long to witness…these inspiring activists were driven by the pain… and don’t get me wrong, I do think it is amazing and beautiful and courageous when someone can find the strength to make this world a better place. Do things that will hopefully lessen or even eliminate the suffering of those that follow.
It is admirable AND my secret prayer became, “please don’t make me go through something horribly painful so I can figure out what my purpose in this world is.” And my promise became, “I promise I will figure out something I can do to have a positive impact in this world” This coupled with my fear of dying with regrets has driven me to give, to help where I can, to figure out where I can positively influence this world. And side-note, this is a good example of fear being used as a motivator, versus something that holds you back.
It took a while to figure out, the path to me finding what I felt was my true calling or purpose was far from linear, but the motivation was always there AND it drove me to remind myself frequently that there is a lot, more than we typically acknowledge, to be grateful for.
Now, unfortunately, this prayer and wish didn’t keep me from going through some pretty tough experiences. But luckily because of my drive to figure out how to leave this world a better place which led me to pursue personal development while I was trying to figure it all out, it helped me tremendously, when those things happened that brought me literally to my knees in anguish and pain, Because of the tools I acquired and am now sharing throughout this podcast, I was able to sit with my pain and move through it so I could get up and live life, so I could get up and be a Mom to my kids, be there for those that were counting on me and live life to the fullest…within all these experiences the constant refocusing on what I did have to be grateful for carried me through. It has allowed me to thrive, not just survive through the ups and downs of life.
If you want to hear about the numerous benefits of gratitude and ways to practice it, check out the previous episode, number 7 but for today, I would like to share a guided meditation that will help you connect to that deep gratitude that is often reserved for special moments.
Gratitude can be accessed deeply, without the external big event or a devastating event to ignite it. It is there, in your heart, silently waiting…
So I encourage you to join me if you can in this mediation. If you are driving or listening at a time it isn’t possible, note the time and plan to come back to it, you won’t regret it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Meditation Notes:
Settle in…(breath, body cues)
Bring to mind someone you love dearly…(person or even animal)
Focusing on the heart (allowing love to wash over you) Maybe you can even feel the heart expand as you breathe into the heart space.
Give this feeling a color and continue to breathe in the love you feel for them…
A favorite memory…
Then bring in some things you are grateful for…
If at any time you start to struggle with gratitude go back to focusing on the person you love, the favorite memory and then back to what you are thankful for….
Spending just a few more moments here, noticing where you feel the gratitude in your body.
Then imagine yourself carrying this gratitude into your day…
What would that look like, ….what would you say,.... do differently
Open your eyes, come back to your space and I hope you have a wonderful day filled with moments to be grateful for.
