GRATITUDE
NOVEMBER 9, 2009: I wake up each day and begin with a gratitude meditation. The meditation follows my breath and goes like this:
Inhale: I welcome happiness,
Exhale: I am so grateful
Inhale: I welcome inspiration
Exhale: I am so grateful
Inhale: I welcome love
Exhale: I am so grateful
Inhale: I welcome clarity
Exhale: I am so grateful
"Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life." Says Christiane Northrup. So begin now, ask yourself as you breath what you are grateful for and if you experience any struggle with this then hold close these words of the Buddha:
Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so, let us be thankful.
You see gratitude changes our attitude and helps us to stop feeling victimized by life. This is Yoga Sutras Chapter 2.33 “When presented with negative thoughts or feelings cultivate an opposite, elevated attitude. This is Pratipaksha Bhavana.” If feeling down, hopeless, worried, doubtful then to bring the glow of positivity back all you have to do is practice gratitude. And watch for those habits that detract from a gratitude habit such as:
· Reverse any tendency you have to make comparisons.
· Quit talking about what you don't have compared to what you have;
· Stop complaining about how you are doing career-wise, relationship-wise, or any other-wise.
· Instead, concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, saying to yourself from morning to night “I am grateful for…”
And I promise you will discover a life filled with gratitude wakes up and nurtures your soul and brings quiet happiness to even the most challenging days. And know I am grateful to each of you deeply and truly. Love, Silvia
From the Book A Year to Live by Stephen Levine – Essential Gratitude Meditation
“How very fortunate we are to have this moment in this body. Even with the difficulties, even with the confusion, how blessed we are to be here. Grateful for the kindness of loved ones. Grateful for the moments of joy. Grateful for the clarity that arises even during pain. Grateful for the blessings, great and small. Grateful that our pain is no greater than it is. Grateful for our inheritance of happiness, that joy is our birthright. Grateful for the sense of presence. Gratitude for simply being. Gratitude for the process.”
GRATITUDE
AUGUST 23, 2009:
Gratitude is the state of mind of thankfulness.
Every day I practice some form of gratitude meditation. I just start off saying to myself inside my breath I am grateful for…and then as part of a stream of consciousness I let it flow from my heart. It has taken years to find the ease in this flow. For a long time I would over think it, or rank some things as less or more meaningful than others. Finally I realized through spiritual practice Gratitude is a constant state of being. It is a way of seeing the world and there is no ranking necessary, all things big and small matter equally when practicing gratitude.
Gratitude increases our appreciation for life.
So many days it starts by being grateful for my life, for my breath. This awareness that just be breathing we won the lotto today! That not everyone in the world was chosen to breath on this day. That’s pretty powerful eye opener. When I was at the
Gratitude is a form of acceptance.
Just as we are grateful for our families the more gratitude we experience for others happiness the more our gratitude grows. Stephen Levine says “As gratitude is cultivated, we experience an increase in our sympathetic joy, our happiness at another’s happiness (this growing sense of gratitude for whatever happiness, great or small, that comes to those around us.)” Through gratitude we accept the good in all.
Gratitude is a return to balance
It brings balance to those parts of ourselves that are disconnected, or attached to suffering. Gratitude changes our attitude and helps us to stop feeling victimized by life. This is Yoga Sutras Chapter 2.33 “When presented with negative thoughts or feelings cultivate an opposite, elevated attitude. This is Pratipaksha Bhavana.” If feeling down, hopeless, worried, doubtful then to bring the see saw of our life back into balance we practice gratitude.
Gratitude is love. Try this easy to remember breath meditation
Inhale: I welcome happiness,
Exhale: I am grateful
Inhale: I welcome inspiration
Exhale: I am grateful
Inhale: I welcome love
Exhale: I am grateful
From the Book A Year to Live by Stephen Levine – Essential Gratitude Meditation
“How very fortunate we are to have this moment in this body with some intuitive acknowledgement of that which goes beyond our understanding.
Even with the difficulties, even with the confusion, how blessed we are to be here.
Grateful for the kindness of loved ones. Grateful for the moments of joy. Grateful for the clarity that arises even during pain. Grateful for the blessings, great and small. Grateful that our pain is no greater than it is.
Thankful for our Great Heart and the capacity to become whole.
Thankful to be living in a world and time, in which the value of compassion cannot be overlooked.
Grateful that among the billions now on this planet our hearts are so drawn by the possibility of liberation. Grateful for the path that has brought us each so far. Grateful for the love and the grace the spontaneously emerge from our true heart.
Grateful for our inheritance of happiness, that joy is our birthright.
Grateful for the sense of presence.
Gratitude for simply being.
Gratitude for the beneficent process.”