Pause to appreciate your next 3 breaths
image by M. Lee Freedman
"Just like love, gratitude, can be experienced anytime, anywhere, independent of external conditions.
As long as we are alive we can always find something to feel grateful for.
By bringing our attention to what we already have, and shifting us out of lack and into abundance, gratitude automatically makes us feel happier.
And as we begin noticing what we already have, gratitude brings us into the present moment.
Because gratitude helps us be in the moment, it is perfectly aligned with mindfulness.
In fact, the two can be integrated so that our mindfulness practice becomes gratitude practice.
All it takes is bringing an attitude of appreciation into our observations of the experiences of this moment, such as the sounds in our environment, or the sensations in our body.
For example, instead of simply noticing our breath, we can practice feeling a sense of appreciation for each breath as it arises and passes.
In this way, gratitude can be a powerful enhancement to our mindfulness practice.
Instead of cultivating cold, bare attention, gratitude helps us to bring more heart into the practice, making it more warm, enjoyable and profound.
Over time, as we learn to rest in gratitude through mindfulness, we can begin to discover that gratitude is actually our true nature,
and we can begin to access and live from this inner sense of happiness and abundance more and more."
-Matthew Frum
Wishing you many opportunites to be grateful today
Lee
M. Lee Freedman, MD, CM, FRCP(C)
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