Grateful self

Getting Ready

Duration

10 minutes

Materials
  1. Chair
  2. With or Without Headphones (preferred with headphones)
  3. Safe and peaceful space
Treatment Modality

Individual and Group

Frequency

We recommend practicing this activity at least 2 times per week.

Other helpful topics to use this activity for
  • Building Healthy Communication Skills
  • Developing a Positive Attitude
  • Evaluating Messages
  • Overcoming Fear
  • Social Media and Your Health
  • Stress and Anxiety Release
  • Calming and Destressing

The What

Though Thanksgiving is a great time to express gratitude, it’s important to make gratitude a habit. Grateful self is a short guided quantum meditation designed to improve self-confidence, attitude, mood, creativity, productivity and overall emotional as well as mental health. Giving thanks on a daily or weekly basis, as it turns out, has some significant health benefits.  Research has linked gratitude with an increase in self-esteem, resiliency, and mental strength. It can also help you build new friendships and strengthen the relationships you already have. Being happy and grateful with what you have benefits your entire body in transforming the chemical signals in your brain so that you are motivated and inspired. The feel-good chemicals, the endorphins, actually make your brain feel better and do better in school, in communicating with others, in building meaningful relationships, in connecting with others, in making clear and positive decisions.

People who are grateful are also more likely to demonstrate self-control, which can help them make better decisions regarding behaviors like healthy eating, managing stress, managing anxiety, and appreciating who they are.

The importance of self-care cannot be underestimated. Increasing research suggests self-nourishing practices can prevent or reduce the duration of colds and the flu, improve recovery from cancer treatments, promote focus and attention, and most importantly, promote healthy self-esteem. To get started with self-care, the mind-body connection needs to be strengthened. The stronger the mind-body connection is, the more responsive and effective self-care practices will be. Therefore, mindfulness practices greatly help self-care become a habit while aligning the energies of the body.

The How

When you first begin this quantum mindfulness process, you may feel your mind wandering, certain parts of your body experiencing discomfort, thoughts distracting you, twitching, etc. These are all completely normal and natural reactions in the beginning.  When you find yourself feeling uncomfortable or distracted in any way, bring your attention to your breathing.  With enough practice, you’ll become an expert at this!  Until then, only do what you can and keep bringing your attention to your breath.  Also, when breathing, remember that with each inhalation, fill your lungs to capacity, expanding your belly and diaphragm to take in as much air as possible. Then slowly exhale, gently contracting the muscles in your abdomen to remove every last bit of air.

Location:  Choose a space with a minimum of distractions. If possible, make the area dim. If using this meditation process at home, choose a private place in the house where you could return to practicing this meditation all the time.  There’s no problem with background noises or music in your location, just as long as you hear it more so as background noise rather than active noise that you find distracting. As you continue to develop your practice, your ability to tune out background sounds will likely improve. One day noises that you find distracting may even become completely unnoticed.

Position: Sit upright/straight on your chair with your feet touching the ground uncrossed or limbs crossed (Indian style) on the floor.  You can grab your headphones if you have them. If not, play this meditation on your electronic device so that you can get the best sound system.

 

Let's Begin

Gentle reminder: This is a guided mindfulness activity using audio and video. You do not need to print or read the following instructions.  The steps to this activity are provided to you in written form, only should you wish to read through them voluntarily. In other words, reading the following activity instructions and steps are optional. They are written in ‘casual’ and ‘conversation’ language in which it was recorded.

When you are ready, take a seat in a safe, peaceful, comfortable, and quiet place.

  1. Tap the top of your head three times with your right hand: you are acknowledging and activating your mind/brain energy.
  2. Tap the center of your chest with your left hand: you are acknowledging/activating your heart energy.
  3. Press the center palms of your hands: you are acknowledging/activating the energy of your ‘giving- and receiving’ hands.
  4. Place your hands on your lap with palms facing up. Keep your legs uncrossed.
  5. Close your eyes.
  6. Keep your tongue on the roof, the soft pallet of your mouth.
  7. Take 3 deep breaths: Slowly inhale through your nose expanding your belly, exhale all the air out slowly through your mouth. (count them)

 

The key to making this activity powerful and effective is to repeat my words to yourself while imagining every word is true for you right now. What’s important is to say the words with sincerity, love, and trust.

Take one slow deep breath, inhale through your nose expanding your belly, exhale all the air out through your mouth. Keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth, bring your attention to your heart and mind as you comfortably breathe and listen with your eyes closed:

  1. Hello Life. Thank you Life, for giving me the chance to experience all that I’m experiencing

and all that I will be experiencing in the future.

  • Place your hands over your heart.
  1. Hello Heart. Thank you Heart, for giving me the ability to love and to live.
  • Place both of your hands over your eyes.
  1. Hello Sense of Sight. Thank you Sense of Sight, for letting me see the colors of life.
  • Gently place your hands over your ears.
  1. Hello Sense of Hearing. Thank you Sense of hearing, for letting me hear the voices of my loved ones and the harmonious chords of music.
  • Hold both of your hands together.
  1. Hello Sense of Touch. Thank you Sense of touch, for letting me feel the textures of life, wind, love.
  • Place your hand over your nose.
  1. Hello Sense of Smell. Thank you Sense of smell, for letting me smell the aromas of nature, body, and life.
  • Place your hands over your mouth.
  1. Hello Sense of taste. Thank you Sense of Taste, for letting me savor the sweetness, the saltiness, the bitterness, the spice of life!
  • Gently place your hands over your throat.
  1. Hello Speech. Thank you Speech, for giving me the outlet to express myself.
  • Place your hands over your heart.
  1. Hello Parents. Thank you Parents, for giving birth to me. I wouldn’t be here without your choice.
  • Hug yourself and make a Biiig Smile.
  1. Hello Myself. Thank you Myself, for who I am and will be…for touching the world with my presence and live a life of purpose.
  • Place your hands over your heart.
  1. Hello Friends. Thank you Friends, for being my companion.
  • Keep your hands over your heart…
  1. Thank you Mistakes, for helping me grow, improve, and become stronger and wiser.
  2. Thank you Disappointments, for realizing all the things that matter to me most.
  3. Thank you Fears, so I know my opportunities for growth and courage to face you.
  4. Thank you Pain, for helping me to become a stronger person and know what love is.
  5. Thank you Sadness, for teaching me to appreciate and value happiness.
  6. Thank you Happiness, for allowing me to see the beauty in everything that is within me.
  7. Thank you Challenges, for helping me reach higher, grow smarter, and stronger.
  8. Thank you Tears, for helping me express my deepest emotions.
  9. Thank you Schools, for providing me an environment to learn and grow.
  10. Thank you Teachers, for your dedication to pass knowledge to me.
  11. Thank you Responsibility, for I am learning to become independent and be able to take care of myself in the near future.
  12. Thank you Mother Earth, for covering our world with resources that allow us to live an adventurous and purposeful life.
  13. Thank you Time, for reminding me how precious life is.
  14. Thank you Laughter, for serenading my life with Joy and reminding me to take myself lighter!
  15. Thank you LOVE, for allowing me to feel what it means to be genuinely alive.

Take two deep breaths, slowly inhale through your nose expanding your belly, exhale all the air out slowly through your mouth.