Banner photo credit: Dewang Gupta

This gratitude meditation was given by Freeman Wicklund at the Boundless Love Project’s weekly group meditation on 11-24-2020. It is suitable for beginners. Enjoy!

Using the Meditation Script

We make this meditation script available so practitioners may review the content of the meditation, and so experienced meditators may offer this meditation to their meditation groups. If you want to offer this meditation to others, please read the article Twelve Tips to Peer-Leading Guided Meditations. For a printable copy, download and print this PDF of the Gratitude Meditation Script. Enjoy!

Gratitude Meditation • Trauma-Informed • 30 min

Ring Bell

We do this practice for the benefit and welfare of all beings and all life everywhere, including our own.

May we know the peace of accepting the truth of reality as it is.

May we know the security of having our intentions arise from unconditional, boundlesslove.

May we know the freedom of renunciation which liberates us from greed.

May we know the joy of living skillfully for the benefit and welfare of all beings and all life everywhere.

May all beings and all life everywhere be free of delusion, suffering, and dissatisfaction.

May all beings and all life everywhere be loving, peaceful, compassionate, and joyful.

Maintain Freedom

This meditation is your time to practice, and we create this experience together.

(2:20)

Please maintain a full sense of freedom during this meditation.

Consider my instructions to be gentle invitations. Only follow those instructions that feel safe, seem helpful, and align with your inner wisdom.

If an instruction or comment is un-helpful, or does not apply to you, then compassionately leave it to the side.

Cleansing Breaths

We begin by taking several deep, cleansing breaths.

You may find it helpful to sign audibly on the outbreath.

Again.

Once more.

Good now, allow the breath to breathe itself.

Sitting Posture

If it feels safe enough to do so, close your eyes to help you focus your attention inward. Otherwise, keep your eyes partly opened and gently gazing downward.

Lovingly bring your attention to your posture.

Gently find a posture that is both energizing and soothing that you can hold comfortably for thirty minutes.

Breath Meditation

Kindly bring a loving attention to the sensations of breath. (4:40)

Allow your breathing to be slow, deep, and effortless.

If able to comfortably do so, breathe through the nose deep into the abdomen.

Calmly notice where you feel the breath in your body.

Lovingly allow your awareness to feel the sensations of breath as the breath moves in and out of the body.

With kindness, gently focus all attention on the sensations of breathing.

Gently scan the body to notice any areas where stress or tension reside and lovingly invite those areas to relax and soften....

Letting Go of Greed

During this meditation, let go of the need to do, achieve, or accomplish anything, including the need to do this meditation correctly.

Gently do your best to follow the instructions, while also allowing whatever arises to simply arise.

If distractions arise, let them come, let them be, and let them go. Don't engage them, or identify with them, or try to push them away. Just allow them to arise, be, and go away on their own.

Balancing Alertness and Relaxation

Peacefully notice your degree of mental alertness.

(7:00)

Skillfully do what you can so the body and mind are both calm and alert; relaxed and mindful; peaceful and energized...

Body Scan

Next we will do a body scan by lovingly moving our awareness through every part of the body, part by part. As we move our awareness to each part, we will feel the sensations in it, offer it our love, and invite it to relax.

If any thought arises that blocks your love, or steals your attention away, simply notice it, set it to the side, and gently return your attention to lovingly feeling the sensations in the body.

Starting at the top of the head, lovingly rest your awareness on your scalp. Soften and relax the scalp, offer the scalp your love and feel the love in the scalp.

Now love, relax, and feel the forehead…

The muscles in and around the eyes…

Love, relax, and feel the nose and cheeks…

The muscles in and around the mouth, in the jaw, the tongue, and chin.

Lovingly feel the left side of your head including the left ear…

The back side of your head…

And now the right side of your head including the right ear…

Offer love to the neck muscles and allow them to relax.

(9:20)

If you find pain, stress, tightness, or difficulty in any part of the body, give that part an extra dose of kindness and invite it to relax.

Breathe your love into that area of the body and just fill it with kindness, compassion, peace, and joy.

Offer love to your shoulders. Let them drop into, a comfortable, relaxed position.

Feel the love in your upper arms…

Lower arms…

And hands. Feel the life, energy, and joy in every cell in your hands.

Love, relax, and feel the muscles in the chest and around the heart. Let the area surrounding your heart be open, calm, expansive, relaxed, and warm.

Offer love to the belly, stomach, and intestines. Relax the belly and allow it to move freely with the breath.

Let the back muscles be loved. Release the muscles in and around the spine, and throughout your back. Let the back be soft and relaxed. Offer the entire back your energetic love and feel how the back responds to it.

Offer love to the entire pelvis…

the upper legs…

the lower legs…

(11:40)

And the feet… Again feel the life, energy, and joy in every cell in your feet.

Anchor Awareness on Heart

Having scanned and relaxed the body, gently anchor your awareness now on the heart area. Feel all of the subtle sensations you feel in the heart area.

There may be warmth or coolness, pulsing, tingling, energetic flow, pressure or spaciousness. Just notice whatever sensations are present.

Lightly rest your awareness on the heart area for the rest of this meditation as we transition into a gratitude practice.

Credit

The gratitude portion of this meditation is based on the Gratitude Meditation created by Jess' from Live the Life You Love.

Offering Thanks

We now offer gratitude to the source of all that is and shall be, the animating spirit found in all life, or to the higher power of your understanding.

As we do this, kindly keep your attention gently anchored on your heart space and feel the meaning behind the words.

Thank you.

(14:00)

Thank you.

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank You for Basic Necessities

Thank you for providing me with the basic necessities of life.

Thank you for healthy food.

Thank you for clean water to drink and wash in.

Thank you for shelter.

Thank you for clothing.

Thank you for restful sleep.

Thank you for friends.

Thank you for community.

Thank you for providing me with gifts, talents, and time that allow me to contribute to the wellbeing of others.

Thank you for the healthy soils that grow fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds.

Thank you for the warmth and light of the sun.

(15:50)

Thank you for the life-giving rains.

Refrain

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you.

Appreciation for Health

Thank you for this body, just as it is.

Thank you for the body's ability to heal and repair itself.

Thank you for the body's illnesses and afflictions that helps me cultivate empathy for others, helps me go deeper spiritually, and helps me appreciate the health I do have.

Thank you for the health in the body.

Thank you for the body's sensitivity.

Thank you for the body and mind's abilities to rest and rejuvenate.

(17:35)

Refrain

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you.

Appreciation for Nature

Thank you for the beauty and wisdom of nature.

Thank you for the splendor of flowers.

Thank you for showy lady's slippers.

Thank you for other orchids.

Thank you for goldenrods.

Thank you for peonies.

Thank you for sunflowers.

Thank you for the magnificence of trees.

Thank you for maples.

Thank you for oaks.

(19:00)

Thank you for elms.

Thank you for juneberry trees.

Thank you for the elegance of clouds.

Thank you for the puffy, joyful cumulous clouds.

Thank you for the sun-blocking cumulonimbus clouds.

Thank you for the wispy cirrostratus clouds.

Thank you for the peace of still waters.

Thank you for the joy of babbling brooks.

Thank you for the animals of the world, and the beauty, wisdom, joy, playfulness, and love of life they exhibit.

Thank you for bluebirds.

Thank you for woodchucks.

Thank you for cardinals.

Thank you for woodpeckers.

Thank you for dogs.

Thank you for turkeys.

Thank you for cats.

Thank you for deer.

(20:30)

Thank you for bats.

Thank you for the grandeur of starry skies.

Thank you for the graceful moon.

Thank you for the twinkling stars.

Thank you for the gentle snows.

Thank you for the driving rains.

Thank you for the cooling breezes.

Thank you for the strong winds that power windmills.

Thank you for silence.

Thank you for the oceans and the seas.

Thank you for forests.

Thank you for the mountains.

Thank you for beaches.

Refrain

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

(22:00)

Thank you.

Thank you for my problems.

Thank you for giving me problems that help me grow spiritually.

Thank you for giving me problems that help me deepen my self-compassion.

Thank you for giving me problems that help me deepen my compassion for others.

Thank you for problems that help me identify where I still cling to judgment, greed, and falsehoods.

Thank you for helping me shed my ego and live from more truth and love.

Refrain

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you.

(23:30)

Thank you.

Appreciation for Qualities

Thank you for giving me all that I need to learn, grow, love, and enjoy life.

Thank you for all the gifts, skills, and talents you have blessed me with.

Thank you for kindness.

Thank you for compassion.

Thank you for forgiveness.

Thank you for peace.

Thank you for joy.

Thank you for appreciation.

Thank you for love.

Thank you for freedom.

Thank you for inner silence, stillness, and spaciousness.

Thank you for helping me shed my ego and live from more truth, love, and service.

Thank you for the courage to live with authenticity.

(25:00)

Thank you for my capacity to love myself and others unconditionally.

Refrain

Thank you for the gift of air that sustains us.

Thank you for blessing us with another day of life.

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you.

Final Thanks

Thank you for vibrant energy.

Thank you for inner wisdom.

Thank you for healthy boundaries.

Thank you for all the many blessings.

Thank you the capacity to love and be loved.

Thank you for our connection with all that is.

Thank you for loving me unconditionally.

(26:30)

Offer Your Own Gratitude

Continue to offer genuine, heart-felt thanks silently using your own words now, and feeling free to be grateful for things already mentioned.

(27:30)

Sharing of the Merits

As I chant, continue to feel your heart space, and try to feel the meaning behind the chanted words as you send these kind wishes to all humans, animals, and life forms.

We share any merits gained from this practice with all beings and all life everywhere.

May all beings and all life everywhere be free from suffering and misery.

May all beings and all life everywhere abide in a deep and lasting peace.

May all beings and all life everywhere know the highest forms of happiness and be at ease.

May all beings and all life everywhere know their deepest essence to be: joy, peace, compassion, and unconditional, boundless love.

May all beings and all life everywhere be liberated, fully liberated, permanently liberated.

Ring Bell

(30:00)