Close the Day With Gratitude

Let's settle in so that we can wind down from the day. So just finding a comfortable posture, perhaps sitting or lying down. And if it feels comfortable for you to do so, you can just invite your eyes now to gently close. And we'll start by taking one deep breath together. So in through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth. And just inviting the whole body to really settle in here. Inviting the jaw to soften. Letting the shoulders be at ease. And letting the, the belly be soft.

All the little muscles behind the eyes can soften. So as much as possible, just letting the whole body relax and let go. So you did your work today. And some of it may have gone as you wanted it to. Other parts of it, maybe not.

And that's okay. That's just part of what it means to be human. But you're here now at the end of your day, and this is your time to reset, where you ground yourself again and find a little more calm as you enter your evening. So as your body starts to settle in, your breath can come back into its natural rhythm. So just noticing how the breathing is in this moment.

Noticing the sense of the breathing in the chest. Is it short or is it long and deep? So just noticing how it is with curiosity. There's no need to change the breath in any way. Just noticing how the breathing is. And we're making space here for the mind and the body to recalibrate and settle down into whatever way they need to be and whatever pace they need to go.

So just feeling what it's like to create this spaciousness for yourself. So nothing you need to change. So nowhere you need to get to right now, nothing else you need to accomplish. Just relaxing into this moment of your day and this spacious awareness. And just noticing the feeling of your body breathing.

There's no need to change the breath in any way. Just letting the body breathe in its own natural rhythm and spending a few moments just being with your breathing. And if the mind starts getting caught up and thinking about things that happened earlier in the day or things that you still need to get done, things that might happen tomorrow, just meeting those thoughts with a soft awareness, knowing there will always be more to do. And so, and so, as we acknowledge the never-ending nature of getting things done, then just inviting awareness to come right back here to this moment. Just knowing that the day is unfolded, just how it has.

And can you let all of that go and just be here with just this breath and just this moment? So one way that we can further settle ourselves into the present moment and find some peace and grounding is to reflect on something that we're grateful for about how today unfolded. You know, something that you really appreciated about it, how you showed up, or something you did, an interaction, something to be grateful for. So invite you now to take a moment to reflect on today and just highlight in your own mind what you appreciated, what went well or what are you really grateful for. It can sometimes be easy for the mind to drift to the negative. So if and when that happens, we just smile at the mind.

You know, this is just what minds do. And then just seeing if you can reorient yourself back to focusing on something positive, something that you really did appreciate, even if it's only really small. And as you continue to connect to those things that you're really grateful for, that you really appreciate, just noticing if there's a grounding quality that this practice elicits. And really let yourself feel that and settle into that. Just focusing on what you grateful for, what you really appreciated about today.

And then really letting that sense of gratitude really be felt fully in the body, in the mind. Noticing that grounding quality that gratitude elicits. And as we come to the end of this meditation, let's just take one more deep breath together. So in through the nose. And out through the mouth.

And when you're ready, you might like to invite the eyes to open and really reorienting yourself in the space around you. And you can stay still in this space for as long as you'd like. And as you continue to unwind before sleep, I hope you can take this time to really be grounded, present and at ease. Enjoy the rest of your evening and take care.