One of the consistent tools I use to shift my energy so that I can feel more joy and peace in my life is to start telling myself what I am grateful for. I can be anxious about money or upset with myself for eating something that keeps me up at night, but if I start naming things that I know to be blessing my life, I start to feel better. I can always find something to begin with – even if it is that I am able to breathe. Once I find one thing to be grateful for, others pop into my mind. Before too long, I realize that the money worry or guilty consciousness no longer feels like the 500 pound gorilla sitting on my heart.

As I shift my attention to the many parts of my life to give thanks for, I can feel the tension ease a bit. I notice that my breath is less labored. I can feel more compassion for myself. By continuing to give thanks, I start to remember how truly blessed I am.

I remember during one workshop I attended, we started by first focusing on our breath and then taking turns around the circle of each one expressing gratitude for something. Once we made it around once, we wanted to go again because someone else’s gratefulness reminded us of another of ours. We also noticed that we all started feeling better. Our hearts were being cracked opened by the expressions of thanksgiving around and around the circle. In that openness, we could feel more love and joy.

The mere act of thanksgiving brought a sense of prosperity and abundance. We each had forgotten how many blessings we had in our life. It shifted the energy of the whole group. We left feeling the plentitude of life by merely expressing gratitude for what we had.

Join in me in this meditation below, as we tune into what we are grateful for and see how that opens our heart to the many gifts we have available to us right in this moment.