As we approach Thanksgiving, we may be considering our relationship with gratitude more closely.
This Gratitude Meditation is a great practice all year round, especially when you are feeling down or in a challenging moment in your life. Remembering our gratitude is often the key to maintaining lasting happiness and contentment that comes from within. Regardless of what happens to us in life, no one can take away our gratitude.
Instructions:
1. Find a comfortable seat. You can sit up tall in a chair, sit against the wall, or sit on enough blankets so that with your legs crossed, your hips are slightly higher than your knees. This allows the hip flexors to relax so that your body isn’t a distraction while you’re meditating.
2. Take some time to get situated and begin to even out the breath, making each round of breath a little longer and smoother. Breathe in and out through the nose if possible. Pay special attention to where the breath is most noticeable in the body and allow the breath to become more expansive from that point.
3. When you’re ready, begin to repeat this mantra in your mind:
Inhale, “For _________,”
Exhale, “I am grateful.”
You can fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind– a name, something in nature, a circumstance in your life for which you are very grateful– you can repeat the same words over and over again or change it up with each breath, filling in the blank as you would a gratitude journal.
I am reluctant to tell you how or when to finish this meditation. You may be left feeling overwhelmingly grateful and will intuitively sense when it’s time to end.
Enjoy! And thank you for reading! ~ The Writing Yogini
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