Hi, and welcome back to Day Four of the Mindful Eating course. Today, we'll be exploring the practice of gratitude and how it can totally transform our relationship with food, our bodies, and even our lives. So we know from previous lessons that mindful eating involves listening to our bodies, slowing down and tuning into our senses so we can savor and enjoy our food. But to truly appreciate our food, we need to widen our circle of awareness of where our food comes from and add a secret ingredient, gratitude. Gratitude is a wholehearted embrace of the present moment.

It sees fullness and wholeness instead of lack. It leans into and embraces what's already here and now, instead of looking for more or wanting to fix or change things. We can have such a strong tendency to overlook what we already have in search of something different or something more. Gratitude is an antidote to constant striving, craving, and struggling. It allows us to open up to our moments and our lives with a sense of lightness, ease and even reverence.

So by slowing down and bringing gratitude into the way we eat, we begin to cultivate an authentic love of life that can ripple out into all corners of our daily living. So let's give this practice a try now. So inviting you to settle into as comfortable a position as possible for a short meditation. Allowing the eyes to close, if that feels okay for you. And as a support to settling into the present moment a little more fully, taking three deep, slow, full breaths.

So breathing in. And breathing out. Two more breaths in the same way. That's it. And then after the next exhale, letting go of any control of the breathing.

And just let the breath settle into its own natural rhythm and pace. But continuing to pay attention to wherever you feel the breath moving the most easily in the body. Just feeling the sensations of the breath as the body breathes in. And as the body breathes out. Just feeling the flow of each breath.

The breath is something that we so easily take for granted. But isn't it a miracle right now that the body is breathing? It would be incorrect in a way to say that you are breathing. Your body is breathing for you. It's been breathing since the day you were born. And in this moment, knowing that the heart is beating for you too.

Your body is digesting food. Your ears are hearing these words. And what a miracle it is to have a body that's taking care of all its complex and interconnected functions. And I invite you to think about for a moment, the last meal that you ate. And consider what it took for that food to get into your hands.

What were all the different ingredients? And how did they grow? Take a moment to consider everything that went into their growth. The sunshine, the rain, time, fresh air, soil with nutrients in it, people planting it and then nurturing it and then harvesting it. And then there was all the processing, the storing, the shipping. You might choose now to simply be aware of a certain amount of gratitude for everyone that was involved in the cultivation and the preparation of the food. You might choose to take a moment to be grateful for your body.

And how amazing it is that we are a part of the circle of life. And if you were sharing your last meal with other people, perhaps even taking a moment to acknowledge your gratitude for their company. And your love and care for them. Letting this sense of gratitude fill your body and your mind. And then dropping your awareness back into the feeling of your breathing.

Each moment of our lives, just like the breath and each meal we eat, is unique, unrepeatable and fleeting. It will only be lived once. And gratitude is the practice of living our precious moments fully. Our practice of gratitude may start at the table, but it will inevitably ripple out into our lives. So when you're ready now, you might like to take a deep breath in again.

Steady breath out. And if you care to, opening the eyes. So the invitation is that the next time you sit down to eat a meal, seeing if you can take this attitude of appreciation with you. Take a moment to consider before you eat the journey of the food, how all the ingredients grew, perhaps from a seed. All the sun, water and nutrients in the soil that it took to grow.

The people who helped bring it on its journey to you. And also appreciating the preciousness of the people who might be there enjoying your food with you or the preparation you or someone else did to make their meal before you ate. Take a moment to ponder all of this and fill yourself with gratitude before you take the first bite. As always thank you for your practice today. And I look forward to being back here with you again for Day Five, where we'll be exploring the theme of overcoming the inner critic and befriending the body and why that leads to better overall health and wellbeing.

Until then, take care.