CREATE YOUR MORNING GRATITUDE MEDITATION.

What is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning? 

Was it a lists of daunting tasks? An anxiety filled situation that hasn't resolved yet? Was it that you want to go back to sleep?

Many spiritual teachings & philosophies highlight the importance of "first thoughts" and teach how you can use your first thoughts to set up your ENTIRE day, let me explain more.

We live in the material world, but we also have a SOUL.

Your soul is your source of LIFE energy, it charges our bodies with the necessary means to stay alive. Think about it, even when you sleep at night our body still works - your heart beats and pumps blood and oxygen through your body all night long. During this time that you are sleeping, it is your soul that reaches up into the spiritual atmosphere above and RECHARGES WITH LIGHT.

Your soul then comes back in the morning with whatever spiritual energy that your body needs to keep on with its routine functioning for our day to day life.  This connection between your mind, body & soul is crucial to your daily ability to function in this material world. 

As the soul comes back into your body, there is an important window of time when you can receive "first thoughts" as messages from your soul. These soul-whispers happen as you are first waking up, during the time that your body is re-adjusting to your material surroundings and can contain the much needed answers that you have been asking for. 

To re-connect with your soul as you wake up in the morning can be a powerful gratitude practice. There are many ways to embrace this as a part of your life, depending on your culture, religious background or community.

Here are some suggestions I have learned (compiled from different spiritual teachings and influenced by my own personal practice of Kabbalah) to get you started:

1. Upon waking, acknowledge first thing that your soul is coming into your body, and thank your soul for giving you this day for opportunities to do your spiritual work.

​2. Have a notebook by your bed where you can write down your first thoughts, as they come through entertain the possibility that they may be messages for you from your soul. (You may want to also begin a practice of writing down a question the night before and keeping it by your bed so when you wake up in the morning you can write down any answers to that question you may have received.)

​3. Look in the mirror as you scan your body and say out loud "I love you" and "thank you" to each body part. (This is very powerful! Especially great for boosting confidence fast, your body listens to your positivity.)

4. Close your eyes and think about 3 things that you are grateful for and meditate to send light to those places in your life that you have a deep sense of appreciation for. 

5. Listen to a guided morning meditation (like the one I created posted below).

These are simply a few ideas to get you started, the power of your soul is 1000s of times stronger than you can possibly imagine, so as you begin to incorporate small steps in the morning to acknowledge your soul's journey and the mind, body, soul connection you have together, the possibilities of positive side effects are endless. 

Share in the comments about how they worked for you and other rituals that have worked for you in your morning gratitude meditation routine!