One of my self-care practices is meditation. I try to meditate daily, many times and for many reasons I miss, but the intention is there. I use an app called Insight Timer and listen to a teacher called Sarah Blondin.
‘Be, receive, give thanks’ is Sarah Blondin’s phrase. She shares it in one of her short meditations. I’d listened to it a number of times and thought it was a really nice statement, but never really thought too deeply about it. It had never fully resonated with me.
However, it must have found its way into my subconscious, because the other day, when out for a little walk, I sat down and the words came back to me: be, receive, give thanks.
My mind had been busy on the walk. I was concerned about cash flow, finding enough time for all my work commitments, wondering whether I was doing enough socialising and meeting with people, and thinking about whether and how I wanted to be more creative. Pretty standard Hannah Massarella brain to be honest.
But as I sat down, and looked out at the sea (very lucky to live on the beautiful south coast) all brain noise stopped as I thought ‘be, receive, give thanks.’ Listening to those words I granted myself permission to just be there in front of the sea, to receive and be present with the image in front of me, and to be thankful for it. As I sat there, being, receiving and giving thanks, something physiologically changed in my body. I seemed to exhale. I relaxed, I let go of all the worry.
It was the simplest, but most beautiful moment. I walk along the coast all the time, and rarely stop to really acknowledge it. I am so often in my busy brain and not being with all that there is around me.
I know that when I stop and take notice, and find a sense of gratitude to all that I have, I feel stronger and more able to take on the challenges that come my way. Being present, and being grateful builds my resilience.
From now on I intend to head on down to the beach more regularly. I intend on looking out at the beautiful ocean, and to be, to receive, and to give a huge amount of thanks.
With love as always, Hannah
Photo by Matt Hardy on Unsplash