Gratitude in four parts, each one named out loud in your head. Music underneath
Four things to be grateful for, in order. A person, an object, something you are going through, and one thing about today.
About 13 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice. Perfect for the morning.
A warm light starts in your chest and spreads out as you breathe. Then you name each one and finish the sentence, I am grateful for, and say why. The thing you are going through does not have to be a good thing. It only has to be teaching you something. Do this daily for two or three weeks and it changes how you see the day.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You want to start the day somewhere better than the list of things you have not done yet.
This one gives you the four slots and walks you through them, so you are not sat there hunting for three things and settling for the same three every morning.
What happens in this meditation
A warm light in the middle of your chest, growing a little brighter as you breathe in and spreading through you as you breathe out.
Then four things, in order.
A person. Anybody, from now or years ago, alive or not, famous even. Then finish the sentence: I am grateful for. And say why.
An object. The house, the car, the cup your coffee is in. Same sentence.
Something you are going through. And this one is worth reading twice. It does not have to be a good thing. It only has to be teaching you something.
And one thing about today, however small. What you are eating this evening counts.
Then it widens out to everything, and five back to one.
How to get the most from it
Thirteen minutes, first thing, and it is meant to be repeated. Two or three weeks daily is where this one shows what it does.
Say why every time. I am grateful for my sister is a label. I am grateful for my sister because she rang me on the worst day of last year is a different thing entirely, and your body knows the difference.
Questions people ask
What if today looks bleak?
Then use the third slot properly. Something hard that is teaching you counts, and naming what it is giving you is not the same as pretending you are glad it happened.
Can I pick somebody who has died?
Yes, and many people do. You bring them to mind, say what they gave you, and say thank you. That is a good few minutes to spend with somebody.
Does gratitude actually change anything?
It changes what your mind goes looking for, which over a couple of weeks changes what you notice all day. That is why the daily part matters more than the thirteen minutes does.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
morning · gratitude
Read the transcript
Just while you're making yourself comfortable and getting settled in, I just want to tell you about another podcast I
have. It's called Stillness in the Storms Podcast.
And it's a podcast that helps you to get a little inner peace when you need it most and you
probably have it least.
And it's just... Seeing life from a different perspective. And I'm also choosing not to have any
sponsors for either of these podcasts. So if you would like to treat me to a coffee, you can head
over to StevenWebb.uk or if you'd like to download the five simple practices for inner peace, also head
over to StevenWebb.uk. You are awesome. Settle in and enjoy the meditation. I won't disturb you
after the meditation.
I trust that you found a nice, quiet, comfortable place to sit down so you won't be disturbed. And you
can either lie down or sit, but just make yourself comfortable. Shake out your arms a little, wiggle out your
body and just allow your body to relax into this moment.
Nothing about this meditation is about forcing your body or your breath to do anything different than what you're doing,
but just allow these things to relax into this moment.
Breathing in calm. Breathing out. Relax.
Being calm. Breathing out. Relax.
And relax.
And if you find your mind wandering, just give it a gentle smile and recognise that's what the mind does.
And bringing it back to your breath and just go, no, we're just going to be with the breath for
now. And thank you for the thought. Thank you for the story. But just allow it to go and bring
it back to your breath and just sitting here in this moment
And As your body is slowly relaxing deeper and deeper, just bring your attention to your heart centre.
Imagine a warm, loving light shining in your heart.
As you inhale, imagine this light growing slightly brighter.
And as you exhale, imagine it spreading throughout your entire body.
So you're breathing in and your light's going slightly brighter.
As you breathe out, this light spreads to all the different parts of your body. Right down to your toes.
Right out through your fingers.
Up through your head.
Breathing in more light. And
breathing out as you spread it around your body.
Breathing in the calm light.
Breathing out relax as it's spread out throughout your whole body.
And if your mind does wander, just smile and thank you for the thought and
I'm just breathing in this light and I'm spreading it throughout my body.
And as this light spreads, think of all the things in your life that you're really grateful for.
Anything that comes up, whether it's just a simple thing like your quilt this morning or your house,
it really doesn't matter what comes up. Just feel a little deep gratitude for
It It might be objects. It might be people in your life. It might be as simple as your life
itself.
As these things come up, just... Just
really share that little bit of gratitude for it.
It could even be your memories or things that have happened and experiences that you're grateful to have.
And as you keep thinking of different things to be grateful for, we're going to narrow it down to a
few things. And
And first of all, I want you to think of someone.
Someone in your life. It could be from your current life right now, or it could be from your past
or It could be a family member or just a friend. It could be even somebody famous. But bring that
person to your heart
And imagine them in your life with you right now.
And all of whatever you're grateful for, for them, imagine what they gave you.
It could be wisdom. It could be friendship. It could be just the fact that they were there when you
needed the most It doesn't matter what, but just I am grateful for. And you can say that sentence. I
am grateful for.
And just continue it with whatever you're grateful for.
And you can just say thank you to this person. Thank you.
And then move your attention to an object. Now this could be something as big as your house or your
car. Or it could be just a simple little cup you've got your coffee in this morning. It can be
anything at all. Just bring that object to your heart and to your mind right now. And really appreciate
what it does for you.
The difference your life is because that object's in your life right now.
And we do the same. We say, I am grateful for. And you say whatever it is you're grateful for
about that object.
And then you say thank you.
And really appreciate the object for what it does for you.
And now I want you to bring something to mind of something that's happening in your life at the moment.
It could be a an event or it could be a job or it's just something that you're going through
at the moment. And if you struggle to find something really positive and great you're going through, perhaps you can
bring something to mind that may not be that positive but something you're really learning from. It's really giving you
some life skills or Giving you courage to handle things. So whatever you bring to your heart and to your
mind, think of a positive thing you got from it in a way that it gives you joy or in
a way that it's going to give you experience.
And we do the same. I am grateful for. And then we just explain very briefly why we're grateful for
this experience.
And then finally, we're going to think of something grateful about today. And something that's going to happen
later or someone you're going to meet or some object you're going to use at work or at home. Just
something about today. Really narrow down and focus on that one thing that you're going to be grateful for. It
could be as simple as what you're going to eat this evening. But
whatever it is, bring it right into your heart and your mind and really feel what it's going to give
you.
Feel the presence of it. What it's really gonna how it's gonna really help to fulfill your
day and give you something positive.
And we say the same, I am grateful for, and explain the reason why.
And just for a moment, we're going to open our awareness to grateful for everything. All the experiences,
all the objects, all the friends, all the things that we've been through and all the things we're going to
go through. And really expand that feeling of gratitude to the whole of everything that's right around us.
The whole of the area and the place we live.
And we continue to expand this to the whole country
And the whole world.
Very grateful to be here and to be alive and to have a heartbeat and to have breath and to
have thoughts and feelings
for everything that is so great about been alive right now.
And now we're going to take a deep breath and we're going to bring this feeling of gratitude with you
as we start the day off. So I'm going to count back from five and we'll gently open our eyes
and bring ourselves back to this moment. So five, four, open your eyes. Three, shake out your
arms. Two, take a deep breath. One, and just feel that immense gratitude for today and whatever is going to
arise today. And remember, gratitude is a really powerful emotion that it can really change the way you think
and feel. Take a moment today, every now and again, just to see what you're grateful for and
watch how much your life transforms. If
you listen to this meditation every day for two or three weeks, it'll really start to change the way you
see life and the way you feel about life. Thank
you.
I hope you enjoy these podcasts with these guided meditations. I'm Steven Webb and I'm the host of Stillness in
the Storms. And I write these meditations, record them, and my whole ethos and life is just to reduce
suffering wherever I can. I worked out how to reduce my suffering and I'm paralysed just below the neck. And
I go through a lot in my life and hopefully I can reduce your suffering and In any way I
can. And I've got another podcast called Stillness in the Storms podcast. And yeah, I just wanted to let you
know who I am and who the voice is behind these podcasts. You
can find out more about me and treat me to a coffee if they really do help at StevenWebb.uk. It
also has the link there till we have a podcast that's stephenweb with a V and double B dot Uk.
Thank you. Take care. Hope you have an amazing day.
