I'm going to lead us in a short guided gratitude meditation.
Sit in a comfortable position and when you’re ready, close your eyes.
Bring your attention to your breath, following the inhalation and the exhalation as the air moves in and out of your body.
Be aware of your belly rising and falling.
Send your breath into the places of your body experiencing tiredness or tension and let them melt away with each out breath.
As thoughts surface in the mind, just notice and let them drift away.
Become aware of the physical abilities you have. The gifts that you have learned to walk in since your youth.
Imagine your breath flowing into each muscle associated with these physical abilities, one at a time, sending gratitude and appreciation into these parts of your body.
Breathe into your feet and legs gratitude for their shape, their sensation, their abilities that you so often take for granted.
Breathe into your hands. Become aware of all they do each day.
Breathe into the places in your body that give you pleasure. The places that allow you to feel your surroundings or the human next to you. The places that offer you taste, smell, or sight. Breathe gratitude into these places, one at a time.
Breathe into the internal organs that keep you alive. The heart that beats steadily inside your chest. The lungs that replenish your body, breathing out toxins, breathing in life giving oxygen.
Remember your digestive organs that nourish and strengthen your body without any thought on your part. Send these parts of you your breath of gratitude.
Breathe into your face, becoming aware of the bones, the muscles, the skin, feeling the shape of your face by which you are known. Let yourself appreciate the beauty that is there; take in the stories of life that are told in the lines and shape and texture and color of your face.
Now let your mind remember the parts of your body that are injured, ill or disabled.
Breathe them into your heart with appreciation for how they are also a part of who you are.
As you remain in a meditative posture, allow your eyes to open and move your attention to your immediate surroundings. Breathe in whatever beauty is around you and breathe out your gratitude for this beauty.
Breathe in the color you see, the temperature you feel.
Move your attention to the people in your life, both past and present. Breathe in the gifts of love that they have offered to you. Breathe out your gratitude for them.
And as we bring this time to close, breathe in deep gratitude for you, for the life you have lived, are living, and the life still to come.
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