Grounded in Gratitude
Meditation & Transcript
By Marisa Lopez
Find a comfortable position seated or lying down.
Feel the weight of your body against the ground or the chair you’re sitting on.
Allow gravity to hold you.
Gently close your eyes or turn your gaze softly downward.
Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth.
Again, take a deep breath in through your nose, and slowly release it through your mouth with a sigh.
One last time, in through your nose and out through your mouth, letting go of any tension.
Allow your breath to slow down.
Notice any sensations in your body. Notice the temperature of the air around you. What sounds do you hear? How do you feel right now?
Allow yourself to arrive.
In the present. In this moment. There is only ever this moment. No matter what is happening in our lives and in the world around us, we always have ourselves. And in this moment, we are ok.
Sit with that truth. Right now, I am safe. I am ok. I am held.
We cannot change what is happening around us, but we can change how we respond.
We can look back over the past year, and focus on all of the world’s problems. We can also choose to notice the gifts. The moments of pleasure. The things we are proud of. What went well.
We can notice the rainbow at the end of the storm.
What were your rainbows last year? What did you experience that you are grateful for?
Let’s collect these gifts now. They can come from hard times, or a positive one. It can be as simple as more openness, an eye-opening moment, an important realization, or something you were able to let go.
Look back at 2025 like you are watching a movie. Watch closely and let them come to you.
Rewind to January, observe, what happened? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
Move on to February, observe, was there something special? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
March brings spring. The daylight is longer. Nature starts to awaken. Observe, how did you experience March? What happened for you? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
April comes. The energy of spring is in the air. Observe, what happened for you? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
In June, summer knocks on the door. Observe, what did this month bring to you? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
In July and August, we celebrate summer, lightness, warmth. Observe, how did you spend summer? What happened? What moments are you grateful for? What gifts did you receive?
In September autumn announces itself slowly. Observe, what did you experience? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
Now move on to October, the days are getting shorter. This is a time for harvesting. Observe, what did October bring to you? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive
November. Was there something special for you this month that makes you smile? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
The year comes to an end. With December winter returns. What did you experience? What are you grateful for? What gift did you receive?
Now take a moment and look at everything you received in 2025. Isn’t it wonderful how rich you are? There is so much goodness in your life.
What would you like take into 2026?
Take a moment to honor what you received and what has shifted in you.
Gratitude is about recognizing that even within difficulty, there are beacons of light guiding us - small gifts in the midst of everything else going on.
Look at everything again, hold it gently in your awareness. Embrace it. Notice how it feels in your body.
As we close this practice, take three more intentional breaths.
Breathing in, gathering the sense of being supported, held, connected. Breathe out.
Breathing in, letting this awareness settle into your body like roots finding soil. Breathe out.
Take a last breath and gently breathe out, knowing that gratitude is a practice you can return to, again and again, like coming home.
When you're ready, slowly open your eyes.
Notice the room around you with fresh awareness. Not because it changed, but because you have remembered something that was always true: even in uncertain times, there are things that are constant, steady, even joyful.
May you carry this recognition with you.
May you find strength in noticing.
May you see yourself as both resilient and held.