Meditation: Fostering Love, Compassion and Gratitude

Ever wished you could press 'pause' on life and revel in a moment of peace, clarity and gratitude? This episode is your ticket to do just that. As your guide on this journey of meditation, I will steer us through a soothing narrative, focusing on the inhalation of energy and the exhalation of tension, allowing us to truly appreciate and express gratitude for the amazing abilities of our bodies. Picture it as an opportunity to reboot your perspective, shedding preconceptions and celebrating a fresh understanding of love and gratitude.

We will navigate through the profound pleasures of life, from our senses that enable us to experience the world, to the beauty of nature and the love we share with those around us. As we float through this journey, we will engage in expressing gratitude for things that we hold dear, including personal attributes that we are thankful for. By the end of our mediation, it's my hope that you will be filled with a sense of love, compassion, and gratitude, ready to share these feelings with the world. Whether you're new to meditation or an experienced practitioner, this episode is your sanctuary, a peaceful break in your eventful day. Let's embark on this journey together and absorb the profound impact of mindfulness and appreciation. Namaste.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hey there, today we're going to do a meditation on gratitude and love and as you're starting to get yourself into a comfortable position where you won't be disturbed, either sitting or lying down, I just want you to let go of any associations you have with either of those words gratitude and love and I want you to kind of step into a beginner's mind, as if you've never heard these concepts before, and then simply allow yourself to be guided by my voice. So again, when you're ready, in your comfortable position, either sitting or lying down I want you just to recognize and feel your body supported yet relaxed, and once you settle into your position, allow your eyes to gently close, feeling into the darkness behind your eyes, just feeling yourself slow down a little bit. Maybe, as we slowly bring awareness to our breath, you might notice that you're breathing quickly or deeply, or perhaps slowly and calmly. There's no right or wrong Just feel the breath traveling in through your nostrils and your chest gently rising. I want you now to begin to take a deeper inhale and, as we breathe in, visualize that we're breathing in a beautiful pink or golden light, nourishing and filling ourselves with compassion, love and comfort. And, as we exhale, feel the breath leaving your body and detoxing and ridding the body of any tension, slowly and deeply breathing, inhaling for four, three, two, one and exhaling on four, three, two and one, feeling your body relaxed and surrender with each breath. Inhaling energy and openness, expansion and exhaling tension or any old, stale thoughts or anything you want to get rid of. Focusing on releasing, feel your body relax and surrender with each breath, you're doing great. As any thoughts come in, just let them drift on past. It's perfectly normal. Now just begin to allow your breath to gently return to its natural state, not forced or controlled, just gently flowing in and out.

Speaker 1: 5:01

As you're breathing, just bring gratitude to mind for your heart beating and your lungs working to fill your body with beautiful oxygen. The awareness alone is enough to evoke the true meaning of gratitude for something that unconditionally keeps you alive. Feel thanks to your amazing body. Our body is incredible and supports us so much. It is there, always working in our favor. Give gratitude freely to your body, who has always had your best interests at heart, despite how you treat it. Give thanks to our muscles and our bones and our brain and our organs. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1: 6:39

We're now going to bring our awareness to our senses and give thanks to our mouth that lets us taste so that we can enjoy and save our life. Give thanks to our eyes that allow us to see nature and those who love us dearly, giving thanks now to our ears, our ears who allow us to tune in to beautiful bird song and to music and the laughter of children. And let's give thanks to our hands, for our hands allow us to hug and feel and touch and learn and comfort. Take a few more deep breaths here. Then we're going to draw our awareness externally to nature, to the wondrous and amazing wonders the planet has offered us, being to mind an image or a part of nature that you feel grateful for. Maybe it's somewhere you've been or something you've seen. Maybe it's a flower that is so spectacularly beautiful and perfect and almost unreal in its artistry. Maybe you're grateful for trees or oceans, rivers or stones, animals or mountains or sky. Whatever comes to your mind, breathe it in and soak that image. Soak it in along with the sounds and smells and feels. Breathe it right in into your heart, allow the beauty to fill now and flood your mind, to flood your body from head to toe and fingertips to toe tips and the tips of your nose, see how it feels to be in gratitude, then slowly allowing that image to leave and then bringing to mind someone that you love, a friend or a family member, a cherished pet or a child. See this person, see this thing that you care for, in front of you, with you. How do they make you feel? What qualities within them are you grateful for? Are they fun? Do they make you laugh? Maybe they're caring or loving or kind. Maybe they're quietly supportive, ever loving. Allow yourself to tune into all that you love about this person. No judgment, just being and thanks for this amazing living creature that you have had the pleasure of being in your life journey. Allowing now that image to move away slowly, but keeping the feelings of love and gratitude within your heart.

Speaker 1: 11:43

And now we're going to bring to mind any things that you're grateful for. Could be anything you want, could be a favorite pen or a pillow, or a home or your bed, maybe your car or a comfortable sofa to sit on. Whatever items come to mind. Allow gratitude for them all to flow into you and out from you. You see, when we have gratitude for what we have, we become happy, no longer constantly seeking, but just being present with what we have, with a full heart. When we are constantly seeking, we become discontent. And lastly, bring yourself to mind. What attributes are you grateful for within yourself? Are you grateful for your loving nature, for your ability to forgive? Maybe for your ability to follow through and stand strong in your beliefs? Allow yourself to truly feel what you are thankful for that you possess within yourself, within your soul and your personality, your essence. You are incredible. In your mind repeat thank you, thank you, thank you. And as we reach the final part of our meditation, imagine, with every breath in that, your heart fills with love, compassion and gratitude for life. And now, as we exhale, we send that love, compassion and gratitude into the world and to those around us.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Tune into how you're feeling right now. Bring a gentle smile to your mouth and feel the corners gently raise and breathing deeply and joyously. We're going to bring these peaceful sensations back with us. So, slowly and gently, let's start to bring our awareness back into the room, slowly becoming more aware of the sounds around you. Bring your focus back to your breath for a moment. Start to energize your body, notice how different you feel now than when you started and know that you did this for yourself and I'm proud of you Gently wriggling your fingers and toes now bringing small, gentle movements back into your body, maybe a big stretch if you like, maybe a sigh. Just take a few deep breaths in and out, grounding yourself back into this moment, and I'm going to count backwards from five. When I get to one, you're going to gently blink your eyes, open Five, four, three, two and one. Draw the palms of your hand together, bow your head slightly. May your heart be filled with gratitude and love. Namaste.