Presence & Self-Gratitude
Despite it being jammed down my throat everywhere I turned in the toxic wellness landscape, gratitude never appealed to me. In fact, the more vociferous the gratitude cult became, the more I wanted to run. Gratitude (or my lack thereof) seemed to be just another thing to feel guilty about.
That was until I understood three main concepts:
1) Gratitude is simply an acknowledgement of presence in every life form. I can sense this vital aliveness in my morning coffee, in my friend’s shining eyes or coursing through my own hands. And the more I acknowledge it externally, the easier it becomes to sense it internally. And boy, do I love sensing presence! To me, it’s the best feeling on earth. It’s my radiant Self made manifest in physical form.
Sensing presence externally collapses the dichotomy of inside and outside as it quickly becomes obvious that it’s all the same alive field of energy. There’s tremendous awe and appreciation for this vast interconnected tapestry of being as I clamor to get my judgemental mind out of the way long enough to appreciate it.
2) Gratitude is self-reinforcing. The more appreciation I give, the more presence I feel and the more presence I feel, the more grateful I become. But oh wait, there’s even more to this spiral! The more grateful I become, the more I attract things to be grateful for. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that love is the most magnetic force in the universe, and to whatever degree it flows out of you is the degree to which it flows back to you. Pretty neat cosmic trick!
3) One flavour of presence that I particularly like is the sweet, overflowing warmth of my heart chakra. As my appreciation of presence has deepened, I’ve finally had the novel idea of turning this stream of gratitude towards myself; of loving, cherishing and honoring all the aspects of me. It’s so easy for me to not include my own energy in the circle of appreciation, but it’s no longer acceptable.
When I list the parts of me that I appreciate each night before bed, it’s like a string of tiny lights coming online. Parts of me that were taken for granted, get witnessed, stroked and admired. They shine even brighter and bring me even more joy. And for that, I am truly grateful.
References
A New Earth by Eckart Tolle
Return to Presence is my Aura meditation on sensing presence in the head, heart and belly. You can access a free Aura trial membership here.