Episode 71: B3 Breaks: Gratitude
Take this five-minute B3 Break to cultivate gratitude and focus on the positive. Why? Because you deserve it and you owe it to yourself. Sometimes, it can feel like we have to have something big happen before we can even speak of gratitude. We forget that there is so much more to be thankful about, even in the littlest of things. Got five minutes to spare? Join Amy Vetter for a mindful break, let gratitude settle in your heart, and get yourself re-energized for the rest of the day.
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B3 Breaks: Gratitude
Welcome to the show where anything can be possible because when you believe you can, you will. This series is all about getting honest with ourselves and noticing the things that we carry with us. We each have our own life experiences to go from, and sometimes it's hard to truly understand what it's like to be someone else. What we can do to create change is to start with us. If each of us took one action each day in our own lives, we could collectively change the world around us. What does it take? It takes work, practice and we have to be honest with ourselves as we get there. To do that, we have these B3 Break s in order to pause and assess our thoughts before we speak. To take an honest look at the interactions in our day and the energy that we may be creating around us.
We ask other people questions and learn their stories and experiences. We create positive energy with the people around us and find peaceful ways to show our support to our friends, our family, and acquaintances. We observe all of this without judgment. We are present with the people we are with, and we show up in love. What can we do? We start with the little things. This series is all about short practices that you can put into your day. Practice this each day for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or whatever it takes so that you can observe your energy and be intentional with the energy you create around you. Because if you believe you can, you will. Our episode begins now.
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Our B3 Break is all about gratitude. A lot of times when we are in times of anxiety or fear, our natural tendency is to focus on the negative. That's where our brains go. It's a practice to put in place in order to feel more positive and be grateful for the things that we do have. Sometimes when we talk about gratitude, it can feel big. That something major has to happen versus the little things that happen. That we woke up this morning, we saw people that we loved and it wasn't raining. Little things in our day that we can focus on that were positive rather than focusing on the negative. That's what this practice is all about. Part of it is stepping back, observing how you're feeling, tapping into your breath, and using the mantra, "I am grateful for," and then filling in the blank.
We're going to do a quick meditation together where we can step back, tap into our breath and start working on that feeling of gratitude in our body to reset us, reset our energy in the day. If you'd like to get started, we're going to close our eyes. If you're sitting in a chair, make sure both feet are firmly planted, that you're sitting upright, that you've got your back against the back of your chair. Maybe feel your shoulders on the back of that chair. Sit tall using the crown of your head as a way to elongate your spine.
What I'd like you to do is close your eyes and start coming into your breath. Feeling yourself starting to slow down that breath. Maybe you can do it by counting where you inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3, exhale 4. Keep counting to get to ten. When you get to ten, you can start that count over again. While you're slowing down that breath, maybe noticing anything that comes up for you. Without judgment, step back from those feelings and emotions. Observe it. Notice what it is. Is it a feeling? Is it a thought? Is it fear? Is it anxiety? Is it happiness? Breathe it in and let it go. Keep that count moving, inhaling to 1, exhaling 2.
Cultivate Gratitude: It’s our natural tendency to focus on the negative. We need to put a practice in place in order to feel more positive and be grateful for the things that we do have.
I want you to start changing on that inhale. You're going to inhale “I am” and you're going to exhale “grateful for.” Let that feeling of gratitude, that feeling of joy. Allow it to move through your body, through your face, through your neck, your shoulders, your elbows, your hands and maybe each fingertip. Allow that feeling of gratitude of what you were grateful for to move back to your elbows, to your shoulders, and let it settle into your heart. Maybe you notice that feeling radiating throughout your body, allowing yourself to settle into that energy and into that space. We're going to let that go.
Come back into awareness. Maybe capture when you step back and observed what you were grateful for. Capture that so that you can take it into your day. Open your eyes and come back into your surroundings. This is what the Business, Balance & Bliss Method is all about. It's taking these small breaks in your day to re-shift your energy and how you feel so you can re-energize and show up in the way that you want for the people around you and yourself. Have a great day. Until our next episode.
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Thank you for taking the time out of your day to tune in to the show. I hope you will take a moment to pause before entering back into your day to reflect on this show, and note 1 to 2 actions you are inspired to do from this conversation that you could incorporate into your life. For daily inspiration, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, @AmyVetterCPA. I hope that you will choose to like this and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and more so that you can join us for more inspiration on our next episode.
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