A new spin on gratitude

Hello Everyone, Inspirations to the Heart! I named my business this because the Inspiration to heal, grown, learn, love, be at peace, contentment and fulfillment needs a place to take root and that place is Your Heart. So before going any farther, and in order to receive the full experience of the words you are about to read and the healing you are about to partake in, take a moment. Breath deeply into your heart space. As you inhale, feel your energetic heart expand together with the physical movement of your chest. As you exhale, feel the release of old energy. Feel the emptiness, the peace. Inhale again and this time imagine that you are filling your whole body with love. As you exhale you are releasing even more old stale energy. Any energy stuck in tense muscles is dissipating. Your entire body is bathed in love! Inside and out. Now your heart is ready to be Inspired. The words for this week are Gratitude and Appreciation. Yes, these words do inspire, heal, bring joy and happiness, yet we are going to expand on the energy of Gratitude and Appreciation. I am sure you have heard time and again that being grateful is miraculous, life changing, and yes this is true. So true that it has become a directive for many of us on the spiritual growth path. Be grateful, be appreciative of all that life gives you. Gratitude and appreciation is powerful medicine indeed Yet, in last evening's Journaling Class we discovered something quite interesting as we turned the tables on gratitude. How often do you stop and feel the gratitude and appreciation from others? How often do you feel the gratitude and appreciation from the plants, animals and the Mother Earth? Do you ever? Do you ever take in the gratitude that is being offered to you? We did this last night in class. Opened to the energy of Gratitude and Appreciation that is always being offered to us from all of life. It was quite uncomfortable to say the least! We were not accustomed to receiving in this manner. All sorts of stuff came up for us. We questioned our worth, we explained away our actions as being "nothing" or we felt the weight of duty and obligation blocking us from receiving the gift of gratitude being offered us from others. Yesterday planted two lovely rose bushes in my front yard and as I opened to receive their gratitude to me for planting them and admiring them, all I could feel was my unworthiness come up. "But there is so much more to be done here on planet earth, so much cleaning to do, so much work..." Yes, I was blocking the flow of a potent healing gift. No more! We made an agreement in class ( aka- I gave everyone homework). This is what we are doing and I invite you to come along: Practice receiving gratitude and appreciation. It's easy to do and I am sure with all of us doing this, we are sure to shift the energy of the world! The way to do this is to open your heart (as per the opening exercise) Then, simply open to the energy of gratitude coming at you! Feel the gratitude as you sip your morning coffee. Look around and feel the gratitude from your environment. As you start your day, feel the gratitude of your loved ones coming to you. Breath in the gratitude. (Reminder- this is not a time to keep score on yourself as to why you do or do not deserve gratitude- you are simply receiving the energy of gratitude. It is there and it is very LOUD energy. Louder than the ungrateful or unappreciative energy we imagine is always there. ) If you walk outside, feel the gratitude of the air, the plants, the animals, the earth below your feet. If you have a meditation practice, feel the gratitude there. If you journal, feel the gratitude from the empty page to you. As you go about your work, feel the gratitude of your clients, patients, students, customers, and anyone who happens to be around you. When you eat, feel the gratitude from the food, from your body, from those you share a meal with or those who prepared the meal for you. If you have an exercise practice, feel the gratitude wherever you are working out your body. Feel the gratitude from your body, feel the gratitude of those who teach or help you keep your body healthy, or those who you assist in this endeavor. FEEL THE GRATITUDE. It is knocking loudly on your door. Open the door of your heart to gratitude. Practice receiving gratitude and you will feel so full and shine so bright, you will surely tip the scales upon our Earth towards a new sense of Love, Peace and Harmony! Practicing receiving gratitude heals the wounds of unworthiness. Enchantment is alive within the spirit of shared gratitude. Gratitude, Appreciation and Thankfulness is Spirit in Motion. Love and blessings, Mary To receive these updates and inspirational messages, be sure you are signed up: Sign up here: Pass this message on to family, friends and colleagues! Share the Inspiration!