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THE FOUR A’S OF GRATITUDE · The Karen Kenney Show

0:01
Hey you guys, welcome to the Karen Kenney Show. Today is
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actually Thanksgiving 2025 I don't really expect anybody to
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be listening to this sucker
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on Thanksgiving morning, but if you are, thank you so much for
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being here. And before I dive into the show for real. I just
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want to say how grateful I am for you for being one of my
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listeners, for First of all, for you being you, for you showing
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up, for you pressing play again and again and again, and for
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reminding me that we are all just trying to figure this whole
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being human stuff.
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This whole being human experience, all this shit, we're
0:48
just trying to figure it out together. So like, whether you
0:51
listen in your car, whether you listen when you take your pups
0:54
for a walk, when you're doing laundry, when you're working
0:58
out, like what you're doing shit around the house, like however
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you are here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, seriously,
1:05
for being here and for being a part of my little like podcast,
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family
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and community, I really, really, really appreciate you so much.
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Okay, now today's episode, you might have already seen the
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title. I'm just gonna dive right into this whole thing, right?
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The four. I call it the four A's of gratitude. Now, if you've
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ever been in one of my programs, like the nest, or you've worked
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with me one to one in the quest, I always love to framework, like
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things in a really simple way. I have a bunch of other things
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like the big three and the four season, A's of lasting change.
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Like, I really love to simplify things, because that's how my
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brain learns as well. So hopefully you're going to find
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this helpful too. And I made myself a bunch of notes so I
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wouldn't, I wouldn't, my squirrely little brain wouldn't
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forget. Okay, number one, when we talk about gratitude, I think
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it's wicked easy to like, roll our eyes and to think of this as
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being some super duper, like, fluffy or performative or
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mundane morning practice, right? Like so many people in the past,
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however, many years as quote, unquote, morning practices,
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although morning practices have been around in the spiritual
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community like forever, right? But a lot of people are like bio
2:22
hacking their way into being their best selves, you know what
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I mean? So it's really easy to start to think about gratitude
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as being just something you have to do. You got to check off the
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list or whatever. And that's not what this is about.
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Gratitude, to me, is not fluffy, it's not performative, and it's
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not some mundane morning practice gratitude actually has
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more power and impact than we might think. And there's even
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scientific evidence you guys to show that gratitude isn't like
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like, as I again, as I say, fluffy and fairy like and feels
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kind of like this fantasy thing. When we practice gratitude
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consistently, it actually changes us. It changes how our
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brain works. It changes how we perceive the world, ourselves
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and each other. It also changes how we go about showing up in
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life, how we go about living it, and how we are being in the
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world. It's a very powerful practice, so I'm just gonna
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break down what I find really helpful and what I do, and maybe
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it'll help you too. So I know that when I first started
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thinking about gratitude, I did, it was almost like this, like
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gratitude, I'm so great, you know, it can feel just kind of
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like a little, I'm talking like a long, long time ago, right,
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when I had a little bit of an attitude problem.
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Who? Little mass hole. Little mass hole. Me, okay, but here's,
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here's how I think about it now, especially as a wicked, long
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time of Course in Miracles student, right? So I like to do
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what I call number one step one awareness, right? This
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awareness, we have to be actively looking for what A
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Course in Miracles calls the good, the beautiful and the
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holy.
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So when we're looking for the good, the beautiful and the
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holy, we have to remember first and foremost, that our brain is
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wired. It is designed to always. You've heard me talk about this
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on other episodes, that the brain is designed to be looking
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for all the time dangers and threats and stuff like that,
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which, of course, was helpful back in the day when we lived in
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caves and there were like, ginormous creatures roaming
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around our backyards looking for a tasty snack. You know what I
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mean? They were like, Mmm, human. Little, little, little
4:38
snack, bite size snack, right back then, we wanted to be aware
4:43
of the dangers and the threats that existed. Unfortunately, not
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that much time has passed. Our brain hasn't really evolved and
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caught up, right? So it's not always helpful for us and our
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nervous systems to be walking around in fear and scanning our
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environment all the time for problems.
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And jacking up our nervous system with stress hormones like
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that's not that helpful for us. So what we want to be able to do
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now is to consciously, purposefully shift our focus to
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Yes. Of course, the nervous system is always going to be
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asking its number one question, Am I safe? Am I safe? Am I safe?
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It's going to kind of naturally do that anyways. But we also can
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make a proactive choice, to choose to not just be scanning
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all the time for things that we're afraid of, for fear. I'm
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always like, we got to be looking for the love as well,
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right? We can help shift our mind from a thought system of
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fear to one of love. This is one of the things that all the
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Course in Miracles is all about. So one of the ways that we can
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do that is we have to learn, as I so, like, just honestly say,
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we just got to learn to slow the fuck down. Like, you just got to
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slow down a little bit. We got to learn how to hit pause, and
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we have to deliberately start to pay attention. We are such a
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distracted society. Like, let's just leave it there. We all know
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this. We are such a distracted society by the devices and the
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phones and the dings and the pings and the notifications and
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like being, being, I mean, back in the day, advertising was like
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in magazines and on a billboard and TV. Now it is a constant
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fight for our attention, and they're winning, you know what I
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mean? So we have to deliberately choose where we want to place
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our attention. We want to be able to shift our focus to
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actively seek and find, to find and discover the good, the
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beautiful and the holy that's all around us. Now you might
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suck at this at first, right? I made a note to mention this, you
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might suck at this at first.
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You might not be able to find or see the good stuff. So we want
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to practice. I always say, start with the smallest thing. Start
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with the smallest things. And one of the great ways to do
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this, and this is also a great way to how to shift out of
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anxiety, right is to really use your senses and start to notice
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what you notice right now. What is something right now that you
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can notice that might be pleasing to you or pleasant or
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helpful, right? It might be a subtle smell, it might be a
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soothing sound, maybe it's the birds chirping right when the
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birds are singing like singing, not like screaming at each
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other, when the birds are truly doing bird song and singing. It
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allows our nervous system to relax, because birds only sing
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when there's not danger, right, when there's not a predator
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looking to eat them. So even like the smallest little sound,
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it might be a little kid giggling or laughing. It might
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be, you know, your dog like making like little snory sounds
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as they sleep, sleep next to you, right? It might be the soft
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feel of something. One of the things that I always notice is
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the texture of materials, the feel of materials. There's
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certain clothes that I just cannot wear, and you'll see
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right behind me, just it's there, not, I mean, it's there
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on purpose, because I put it there, but not for this purpose.
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But if you look back there, there's a blanket behind me
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that's called a Minky, and that kind of blanket is one of the
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softest blankets I've ever felt in my life. And I have a bunch
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of them because my nervous system really loves the feel of
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really soft things. Maybe it's something that you see that
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makes you smile, right? Maybe it's a little bit of a sweet
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taste of something, or if you prefer a salty taste of
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something, but get in the habit of really starting to pay
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attention, start to notice your environment. Look actively for
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the things that are pleasing and soothing and make your hat
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expand and drop you into your body, somatically, in a helpful
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way, look for the good, the beautiful and the holy in your
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environment. And just by doing that, if you're actively
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looking, it's going to force you to slow down. It's going to
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force you to pay attention. And paying attention is one of the
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greatest ways that we show love to be present is to give
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somebody else and yourself a present, right? The precious
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present. There was a whole book called that, to be present, to
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give somebody your presence is like such a gift. And again,
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it's one of the ways that we show love. We're saying, You
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matter enough that I'm going to be here. I'm going to take my
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phone and put it over there. I'm going to shut it off. I'm going
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to look you in the eye. I'm going to be with you now, like
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be here now, as Ram Dass says, Okay, that's step number one of
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how to practice it, to not only practice gratitude, but reap the
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benefits of practicing gratitude. Number two,
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acknowledgement. I call this the you didn't do it alone. You
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didn't get here all by yourself. Kid, you know what I mean. You
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are not an island unto yourself.
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So in America, and especially Americans, right? But I don't
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know what's going on if you're watching this zoom just started
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doing a thing. Oh, yeah, they keep adjusting where my camera
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is. I.
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Got to find that feature and shut it off. Okay? And we're
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back. So Americans love to go all in on like the rugged and
10:06
individualistic story like that. We got to pull ourselves up by a
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bootstraps, you know, like I did it. I did it. My own American
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hero, it's me. And yes, while we do have to be the hero of our
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own stories. None of us got here by ourselves. None of us got
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here without a little leg up, a little a little help from
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somebody else. And if we're really, really, really being
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honest with ourselves, we can admit that we can allow our ego
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to take a little bit of a back seat. And I think what's really
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interesting is nowadays, especially if you're an
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entrepreneur or a writer or a speaker or somebody with a
10:43
podcast, whatever, right? You got to have, like, this origin
10:46
story. And everybody wants this, like, come back kid, which, me
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too, like, I love a great comeback kid story. I love a
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great underdog story. I love when people talk about, like,
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how, you know this happened, but then I did X, Y and Z, and it's
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like, it's, it's the great hero's journey, right? We see it
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in all the great movies, from Star Wars to Rocky to whatever.
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We all love that. But even all those characters, you know Luke
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had, you know Yoda in the force, you know Rocky, had Mick in his
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corner, right? He had training partners. He had help. We've all
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had help along the way. And if your brain or your memory tries
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to, I said, if your brain or your memory tries to convince
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you that nobody in your family, at school or in your community,
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etc, directly helped you, right, if you just can't, if you're
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just sitting there in your story like nobody helped me. I did it
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all on my own. I'm going to invite you now to get even more
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micro, right, I want you to just start to acknowledge on even the
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tiniest scale, if you can't go big, if you really have
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convinced yourself that it's been you and only you like let's
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go even more micro. Think about the people who like sewed and
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made your clothes. Think about the people who planted and
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picked your food. Think about the people who drove the bus you
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were on, or stock the shelves at the grocery store where you get
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your food. Or, you know, maybe right now, you're going through
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a tough time and you're getting your food at a food kitchen or a
12:14
local shelter or something. Think about those people, right?
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And sometimes we resist this because it requires a certain
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level of humility. It requires us and our ego to kind of like
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dial it down a little bit and acknowledge that it hasn't
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always been the US show, right? I always laugh like the Karen
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Kenney show. It hasn't always been the Karen Kenney show. I
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have had plenty of helpers along the way, and I delight in
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acknowledging them. I delight. I don't always maybe do it
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publicly, right? I might do it behind the scenes or send a note
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or acknowledge them when I see them in person, but I think it's
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something beautiful and very, very healing when we acknowledge
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that we've had helpers along the way. Now maybe those people
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right have been behind the scenes, and this is how I kind
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of say it. This requires a certain level of humility to
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acknowledge that there have always been help is sometimes
13:05
seen and unseen, known and unknown, because maybe they were
13:09
behind the scenes or invisible to you. But it doesn't mean that
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they haven't been there. It doesn't mean that they haven't
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been there. And I was thinking about Mr. Rogers, of course, I
13:20
was because I think about him all the time. But in 1999 Mr.
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Rogers was inducted into the and I've told this story before, but
13:28
he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. And in
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1981 I think it was he had on his show a young man, a young he
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was a little boy at the time, Jeffrey erlinger, and he was in
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a wheelchair. You might remember this episode, and it was a
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beautiful episode. And I remember when as a surprise for
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his induction into the Hall of Fame, Jeffrey Jeff Erling came
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rolling out on the stage, and you can literally see Mr. Rogers
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face. I get emotional every time I watch the video. And you can
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literally see Mr. Rogers mouthing. I think what he's
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mouthing is, oh my God, and he gets right up out of his seat.
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He doesn't even use the stairs like he steps right up onto the
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stage. He hops up with such enthusiasm and such joy to see
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this person who was like, he's like, totally acknowledging him
14:17
and the role that he played on his show, right? So even that,
14:20
but that's not the I mean. So he does acknowledge this, this,
14:23
this being, this beautiful being who is a part of the great
14:27
history of, you know, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. But then he goes
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on during his speech to ask the audience a series of questions,
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and he asked them to meditate on this thing. And I'm going to
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share this with you too. This is a big part of acknowledgement.
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So Mr. Rogers says to them, I quote, who has helped you love
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the good that grows within you, who loved you and wanted what
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was best for you in life, who has encouraged you to become who
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you are.
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Today. I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but this is the essence of
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what he says, who has helped you love the good that grows within
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you. What an incredible question I want you guys at home to like
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ponder this as well, who loved you and wanted what was best for
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you in life, and who has encouraged you to become who you
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are today. This is incredible stuff. When you're trying to
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practice gratitude, to start to think about these beings, it's
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so helpful. It's so healing to acknowledge that you've had
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friends or family or helpers or support all along the way you
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know. And of course, in miracles, is a beautiful line
15:38
that says, if you knew who walks beside you on this way that you
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have chosen. Fear would be impossible if we just knew who
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walked beside us. And this is the whole concept of a spiritual
15:50
team, right? I knew no. I talk about this all the time, S, T,
15:53
o, t, J, spiritual team. In fact, if you go to my website,
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Karen kenney.com, at the top, there's a little freebie if you
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want to learn about how to build your own spiritual team, to
16:03
figure it out, right? Who's on your team, so that you are more
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consciously aware of the seen and unseen helpers of the human
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and divine angels, the helpers who walk along beside you, the
16:15
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, your internal teacher, right? That is
16:18
always with you. So it's so helpful and healing to
16:22
acknowledge that you've had these people, that you're
16:24
connected not only to other humans, you guys, but also to
16:28
our animal friends. Sometimes our animals are the first ones
16:32
that showed us
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that we were seen. They were the first ones to really acknowledge
16:38
us and love us in a safe way. I'm going to do a whole episode
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about that. But we're not only connected to other humans. When
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we start to acknowledge kind of like this web of life, this
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interconnectedness of our species of mother nature and
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humans and all of it the universe,
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we start to realize that we're a part of something much larger.
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And whether you happen to call these larger things God or
17:05
Mother Nature or universe or source or love or divine
17:09
intelligence or higher self or higher power, it doesn't matter.
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We all have spiritual teams. I believe we have all had helpers.
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And to acknowledge that is a huge benefit of gratitude, okay?
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Number three, this is the appreciation pot.
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When we have an appreciation, when we're practicing gratitude.
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This step is about getting out of your head and dropping down
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into your hat, dropping down into your body, into your lived
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and felt experience, right? So it's one thing to have an
17:40
appreciative thought. We're wicked good. Most of us of going
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out of the body and getting up into the head and
17:45
intellectualizing other things, you know, we love to like think,
17:48
where think is. We love to think and problem solve and and again,
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oh yeah, I'm going to think about something I'm grateful
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for, and then you can just regurgitate it and say it, but
17:56
you don't actually feel it. And it's one thing to
18:00
intellectualize gratitude. It's a whole other kit and caboodle
18:05
to drop down into your body and really let you and your nervous
18:09
system feel it, to really feel it. And this can be one of the
18:13
hardest parts for people to practice, is getting out of
18:16
their head and down into their body to shifting from that
18:19
intellectualizing stuff that we love to do, right? It's kind of
18:22
like, well, I should feel grateful for this, right? It's
18:25
moving out of that kind of feeling and getting down into
18:28
the marrow, like really getting down into the hot beat of this
18:33
so that you and your nervous system can have an appreciation,
18:37
truly feel appreciation, and to feel gratitude. And at the very
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end of this episode, stay tuned, because I'm going to do a little
18:45
like gratitude meditation. I was going to do it here, but I don't
18:48
want to interrupt the flow of information. I want to allow
18:50
your brain to shift gears. So stay tuned for that. Okay, so
18:55
Rick Hansen, super duper smarty pants. He says, You practice an
18:59
emotional state until it becomes a neural trait. So you practice
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thinking something, saying something, feeling something
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with enough feeling, with enough emotion, enough times, it starts
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to hard wire in your brain. You practice an emotional state
19:15
until it becomes a neural trait. Well, not all of us have been
19:19
practicing how to feel gratitude. So what we want to do
19:23
is to start to get our brain, our body and our heart, kind of,
19:27
like, into coherence. And some of us call this, if you, if
19:30
you're a practitioner or student of hot math, which I am, we call
19:35
this hot coherence, right? And so what we want to do like, this
19:38
isn't like, fake it until you make it. This isn't like, I'm
19:41
just gonna fake that. I'm feeling this. It's like no. What
19:44
I want you to do is do your best to actually try to conjure up,
19:49
right? And I'll just give you this piece for now. Conjure up
19:51
and feel gratitude and appreciation for someone or
19:54
something or an experience, a human, an animal or whatever.
19:58
And it's also important that I say.
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I get it like I get it sometimes people be peopling and life be
20:04
lifeing. And it is fucking hard. It is so hard to be human
20:09
sometimes. And it can feel like it's all coming at you and it's
20:12
all falling apart, and you're totally in it, and your brain
20:16
just cannot see past the fog, and it will try to tell you that
20:19
there is nothing to be grateful for, and it is lying. It is
20:24
lying to you. Do not believe everything you think. So this
20:29
part is often really hard for people, not just the going into
20:34
the body, like really allowing yourself to feel gratitude
20:37
again. It's one thing to think it. It's another thing to I'm
20:40
hitting my body, right? It's another thing to actually feel
20:43
it. And this pad is difficult for people, because it actually
20:47
means we have to be vulnerable. We have to practice being
20:51
vulnerable. And so the short thing is, and I'll do the
20:54
meditation later, but the short direction is, think upon someone
20:57
or something. It could be a human friend, somebody you love,
21:01
one of your kids, your sweetie, whatever it could be an animal,
21:05
it could be a memory, it could be a space or a place or a time
21:10
when you really felt happy or joyful or safe or seen or
21:15
celebrated, or at peace or at ease, just like something that
21:19
when you Think of this person or this animal or this place like,
21:23
you truly feel grateful in your heart, like, and I want you to
21:27
like, try to remember it in your body, drop into it and engage
21:33
with it and let yourself truly feel it like, feel the impact
21:37
that that person or that animal or that time or that moment had.
21:41
Okay, that's the appreciation step number three. So step
21:44
number one has been awareness. Look for the good, the beautiful
21:46
and the holy. Number two is acknowledge it. Acknowledge that
21:49
you didn't get here all by yourself. You've had some
21:52
helpers. Number three, appreciation. We got to get out
21:55
of our head, drop down into our heart and down into our body.
22:00
And then number four is the action. We got to do something
22:04
about it. This is the express it and share it. Right? Express it
22:08
and share it. And so this is when I always say to people,
22:12
like, if you're somebody who's going to forget this whole
22:15
episode and everything that I'm saying, like, hit pause right
22:17
now and write yourself a little note. Write yourself a note to
22:20
write a note to somebody else about your gratitude. It doesn't
22:24
become real. Gratitude is just kind of like this ethereal thing
22:27
that we think and we feel until we make it real. Action is the
22:30
voice of the hot. Action is the voice of the hot I think I did a
22:34
whole podcast about that. And so right now I want you to make a
22:38
commitment, right to do this practice. I mean, if you want
22:42
to, I'm not your mother. I'm not going to make you right. I'm not
22:44
your boss, obviously, I'm not your boss, your mother or your
22:47
babysitter. I'm not your jail warden. I can't make you do
22:49
shit, okay, but just consider right, taking action on this
22:53
gratitude that you just felt in that act of appreciation, write
22:57
a note, send a text, make a phone call, take a physical
23:01
action, a physical step, to go out and express it. And I always
23:04
say, move it from your head to your heart into your hands and
23:08
then out into the world. You've heard me talk about this a lot
23:11
before, right? Cuz both the giver and the receiver, we
23:14
talked about this with kindness, right? Both the giver and the
23:17
receiver benefit from this, right? It's in giving that we
23:22
receive. So this is the practice of leaving people. You know how
23:25
I always say at the end of the show, I probably won't say it at
23:28
the end of the show, because I just, I'm saying it now, but we
23:31
want to leave the people, the place, the animals, the
23:33
environment, better than how we found it. Express your love,
23:38
express your appreciation, let people know that you're grateful
23:41
for them, that they made a difference, let them feel seen
23:44
and heard and know that that they matter, that what they did
23:48
a small moment where they paid attention or followed up or
23:51
checked on you, right? It's so huge. This is how like the whole
23:56
heartbeat of the show, right? Spreading more love in the world
23:59
through storytelling and spirituality, right? This is a
24:02
beautiful practice. Gratitude is a beautiful and powerful
24:05
spiritual practice. And Number Number four, I want to say this
24:09
action, right? This when we go into the action pot, this isn't
24:13
about just checking things off a list. This isn't about just
24:16
rotely doing something, doing it as a routine, and you just go
24:20
through it. No, it's like, this is really about doing stuff with
24:23
reverence, being really present, right? Almost like a devotional.
24:28
You want to be really present and reverent, so we're not just
24:31
checking shit off. This is a new way,
24:35
right? If you haven't already, some of you might be old hat,
24:38
you might be great at this, but for some of you, this is going
24:41
to be a new way of showing up, not only for yourself, but the
24:43
world around you. Okay, so we're not just checking things off a
24:46
checklist. Okay, I'm going to say them again, the four simple
24:49
steps to reaping and practicing the benefits right of gratitude
24:53
number one, awareness number two, acknowledgement number
24:56
three, appreciation number four, we got to take some action.
24:59
Okay?
25:00
Got to go out into the world and express it and follow up and do
25:02
something. Okay, before we go super fast. Little you guys know
25:08
that, first of all, I've been a yoga teacher for gazillion
25:11
years, like 25 years, I think at this point. So I've been
25:15
leading, you know, guided relaxations, guided meditations
25:18
for forever. But also, I'm a hypnotist, so this is a
25:20
beautiful thing. So I just want to say that if you're listening
25:23
right now, please, if you are driving right, do not do this.
25:27
If you are driving, if you are operating heavy machinery. This
25:30
is the pot where you will hit Pause right, find a cozy place.
25:34
And of course, if you're on your phone, you can listen to it on
25:38
your phone, but turn off your notifications, so that that
25:41
things are just kind of like quiet and so that you are, you
25:46
know, undisturbed, and this is a great way to start your day or
25:50
to end your day. So just free yourself up from distractions or
25:54
any interruptions. Okay? And then, whether you like to lay
25:58
down or you like to sit, just find a place that is super duper
26:02
comfy and close your eyes. Okay? And then I want you to just take
26:07
a nice big, deep breath in through your nose, fill up your
26:11
lungs, and then exhale out twice as long. All right, let your
26:16
eyes be relaxed and soft. Eyes are closed. If you're watching
26:20
this on YouTube, just don't look at me. Close your eyes again,
26:24
another big, long, slow, deep breath in,
26:28
and then nice, long, slow exhale out, twice as long. And as you
26:34
do that, just kind of feel any tension, any stress, start to
26:38
melt away as you gradually relax with every breath, just nice and
26:44
easy, breathing in fully and deeply,
26:48
and then exhaling out one more time. Take another long, slow,
26:52
deep breath in, fill up and then exhaling out, just feel yourself
26:59
drop into an even deeper state of relaxation. Keep breathing
27:05
slowly
27:07
and then gently at the top of your head, right you're going to
27:11
feel the presence of a warm, soft, golden light. And you can
27:18
just picture it. Imagine it. Try to envision it, see it right
27:22
above the top of your head, and imagine that it's going to drop
27:26
down through the crown of your head and radiate out all the way
27:30
down to the tips of your toes.
27:35
And as this light is moving through you, through the crown
27:38
of your head, behind your eyes, down through your jaw, your
27:41
throat, your shoulders, your chest. Just feel your muscles
27:46
relax as this light washes over you, as it surrounds you, as it
27:51
protects you.
27:54
Take another big breath in feel it moving down both your arms,
27:58
into your hands, down into your chest, where your heart beats
28:02
down through your ribs and into your belly and your pelvic bowl
28:07
another big breath in as you exhale, feeling this soft, warm,
28:12
healing light as it moves down through your legs, your glutes,
28:17
your hamstrings stand Around the front of your thighs, your
28:20
knees,
28:22
your calves, your ankles into your feet,
28:26
and in this safe, relaxed state,
28:31
let's allow ourselves to start to reflect on all the things
28:35
that you're grateful for.
28:38
It might be friends or family, your loved ones. It might be the
28:43
sunshine that's outside your window. It might be fresh air.
28:49
It might be something kind or nice that somebody else did for
28:52
you, whatever comes to mind
28:55
and as each person or each moment or each object of your
28:59
gratitude appears
29:03
as they flash into your mind. I want you to visualize yourself
29:07
saying thank you to each thing.
29:12
So maybe you flash in your mind, your dog, your pup, maybe you
29:19
have a special kitty friend, a cat that you love,
29:23
or a human that you love, and as they come into your mind, you
29:26
simply say, thank you.
29:29
As the next thing comes into your mind, I have a roof over my
29:32
head. Thank you.
29:35
Maybe your best friend called you yesterday and you see their
29:39
face in your mind, thank you. You know Meister Eckhart says,
29:43
if the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it would be
29:46
enough.
29:49
So visualize yourself saying thank you to each thing, each
29:53
person, each animal, each furry kid that comes into your mind
29:57
and into your heart, and picture this person.
30:00
Person, or this place, or whatever it is that you're
30:04
grateful for standing in front of you,
30:08
and take a moment to tell them, and it might just be one person,
30:11
right? You might dedicate this to focus on one person and just
30:15
tell them, even if they've already passed, even if they're
30:17
dead, even if they're already on the other side, the veil between
30:21
the worlds is thin. So picture them standing right in front of
30:25
you, and tell them how grateful you are for them and why. And
30:29
try to make this vision of them, this image of them that you see
30:34
as real as you can, try to notice the little details.
30:37
Really pay attention to what is good and beautiful and holy in
30:42
this moment,
30:44
if you are grateful for some something that you have,
30:48
something that you love, try to see all its aspects, the color,
30:51
the shape, the texture, the feel, maybe it's a particular
30:54
smell or the way it sounds,
30:58
just take a moment and say thank you to it. And
31:02
if you're having a hard time conjuring up anything, ask your
31:06
spiritual team, ask your inner teacher, ask God, ask your
31:10
higher power, or your wise advocate, the most wisest part
31:15
of yourself, to reveal it to you.
31:18
And be patient with yourself as you do this, just take your
31:21
time.
31:23
Take another big breath in, exhaling it out twice as long,
31:29
and just allow this feeling of deep gratitude to exist in your
31:34
body, to be in your body, to come into your body and notice
31:37
where you're feeling it.
31:41
Maybe you're feeling it in your belly. Maybe you're feeling it
31:43
in your heart or your throat. Maybe you imagine it or feel it
31:46
behind your eyes, wherever it is. Just allow it now to expand.
31:53
Enjoy the feeling that feeling grateful and appreciative gives
31:59
you feel it wash away any stress or fear or negativity or
32:04
tension,
32:06
any distress, just allow this sweet and loving and pleasant
32:11
presence of feeling
32:15
wash through you and grow and Like that golden light feel it
32:20
expand even beyond you,
32:24
and you can stay here in this relaxed state for as long as
32:26
you'd like,
32:29
but when you're ready,
32:32
we can end this meditation,
32:37
but Don't end your gratitude.
32:41
We're practicing, and every time we practice, our gratitude
32:45
muscle gets stronger.
32:47
So even if we're not actively doing it, we're training our
32:51
brain, we're training our body to get more, to get better at
32:56
giving and receiving appreciation and gratitude and
32:59
love.
33:01
But when you're ready, you can just take a final moment to just
33:05
acknowledge with whether you call this a little prayer or
33:08
acknowledgement or an affirmation, you just say thank
33:11
you for all of the blessings that I have received.
33:15
May these blessings multiply,
33:18
may I continue to be aware and to pay attention to all the
33:24
greatness and the goodness, the good, the beautiful and the holy
33:27
that comes my way. May I have the presence of mind to say
33:31
thank you for them,
33:35
and I thank you now,
33:38
and so it is
33:42
Amen. And
33:44
when you're ready to shift out of this more relaxed Deep State,
33:50
you can just simply wiggle or waggle your toes or your
33:53
fingers. You can stretch your body long or yawn or open your
33:57
eyes and give yourself a few moments to adjust.
34:02
But wherever you go,
34:06
take this gratitude with you, this gratitude that you just
34:10
felt.
34:13
I know today is Thanksgiving, but whenever you're listening to
34:15
this gratitude is a year round it's a year round opportunity,
34:19
right? It's not just a holiday vibe. It's not just oh, it's
34:22
Thanksgiving time to be grateful. No, we get to do this
34:25
all year around. So let your habit, let your gratitude become
34:31
a habit. I always say, like, let it become habitual, not just
34:35
aspirational. Oh, someday I'm going to do that. Yeah, no, no,
34:39
get in the habit of feeling grateful. This is how we start
34:43
to shift our mind. We shift out of fear into more love. We are
34:46
actively looking for the good, the beautiful and the holy in
34:50
others, in the world and in ourselves. This is a powerful,
34:54
powerful practice. I hope you have found it helpful in some
34:57
way, and again, just thank you. I have.
35:00
So much gratitude and appreciation for you being here,
35:03
for listening, for being a part of this family and community. I
35:06
couldn't do it without you. I could not do it without you.
35:10
Wherever you go, you guys leave everybody and everything better
35:13
than how you found it wherever you go. May you and your love,
35:17
right and your gratitude be a blessing. Bye. Bye.