Becoming Heart-full

Can GRATITUDE change our mind, body and wellbeing?  

Feeling grateful enables all of our cells and senses to resonate together, all aligned with the deeper heart and soul , to whatever we  call our spiritual source.

The first time I gave this guided gratitude meditation to a large group was post 911.  Months before, I had been scheduled to teach health professionals stress management – the science and strategies.  Now we really needed it, like in this current Covid 19 crisis and what I witnessed was how this meditation took people into a deep healing place within.  These were people on the front lines post 911 and I was very moved by the experience and felt blessed to be able to offer something so easy and so useful.  

Gratitude Meditation . Enjoy guided sensory experience

ON GRATITUDE:  The Greater Good

Research how gratitude changes your brain.

WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR ?

sea and fog1After my kids and grandkids,  the ocean is something I feel very grateful for and appreciate.  The ocean brings me home when I’m frightened or angry or sad… the ocean waves bring my parts together.  Standing in vineyards, too, brought me to feeling at home.

SANCTUARIES –  by the ocean shore, vaulted forests, summer vineyards

The ocean and nature always bring me home to my self. Any place in Nature – the forest, the vineyard, gardens, wherever there is green and growth.  My garden.  Garden altar. My living space

What are they for you?

INNER ILLUMINATIONS

Nurturing Gratefulness

  1. Every day: Reflect on Three Good Things
  2. Want What You Have appreciate more of what you already have
  3. Communicate Gratitude, appreciate others

The AUDIO track above is a guided journey into GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION  into your cells and feelings body sensations being influenced by what you think and FEEL.Let’s remember to be grateful and appreciate something, others and our selves every day.  join in fun and laughter.

How Do You Measure Up on the Gratitude Scale? Ask yourself-

(Answer on a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being the highest)

How intensely do I show my gratitude?

How frequently do I express gratitude?

For how many circumstances in my life do I feel grateful?

Toward how many people do I feel grateful for a specific positive circumstance in my life?

  Are you satisfied with your score? IF NOT, TRY THESE OUT IN ADDITION TO THE GUIDED MEDITATION ABOVE

Ten tips for preventing or managing stress

  1. Greet each day with Gratitude
  2. Take time to breathe and connect with your source- Meditate
  3. Engage body with moving meditation, like Tai chi, dance or QiGong
  4. Connect with someone else
  5. Smile and send loving smiles throughout your body, to all your cells
  6. Get up and move your body for 15 minutes every hour
  7.  Nourish your body with vital alive food
  8. Spice up your life – use ginger, turmeric, garlic, rosemary for flavor and immune balance 
  9. Be in Nature

 

WHY Gratitude?  Years ago,  I began using guided visualizations in my groups to have people create a state of ‘remembered wellness’ as recommended by Dr. Herb Benson.  At first I would ask them to remember being loved – many people could NOT remember being loved, or being peaceful. Ultimately I came up with remembering feeling grateful – whether it was for something as simple as being grateful for sunshine or a warm cup of coffee.  I’d also offer up the possibility that they might remember someone being grateful for something they had done. Over the years, I discovered for most people being grateful can be easily conjured up.  Here’s an audio guided visualization to access that part of you.  In the worst of times, when no relaxation practice worked for me to get more centered and less worried, seeking to recall gratitude always did/does it for me.[/learn_more] What could be happening at a cellular level when you experience gratitude?   Your cells align and begin to resonate with each other, they, and you are in tune  with a positive state.

What are you grateful for today?  I am always grateful when I can spend some time at the beach. When I can’t do it ‘in person’ I can certainly  enjoy the beach virtually, in my imagination.  I am grateful for LIFE, for you, for being connected.

Appreciate: Two Meanings |  by Brian Johnson

The word appreciate has two meanings. The first meaning is ‘to be thankful,’ the opposite of taking something for granted. The second meaning is ‘to increase in value’ (as money appreciates in the bank). Combined, these two meanings point to a truth that has been proved repeatedly in research on gratitude: when we appreciate the good in our lives, the good grows and we have more of it. The opposite, sadly, is also true: when we fail to appreciate the good—when we take the good in our lives for granted—the good depreciates.” ~ Tal Ben-Shahar from The Pursuit of Perfect

 

If one cannot change a situation that causes his suffering, he can still choose his attitude.  We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

~Victor Frankl

Gratitude research 2011 articles