This is the 10 finger appreciation practice. 

Our lives contain many things that are good, beautiful and lovely. This practice involves intentionally bringing your attention to some of the many blessings in your lives that we usually overlook. Begin by finding a comfortable position. Sit or lie down in a way that allows you to relax, but stay awake. Take a moment to ground and steady yourself. Feel the support between you and let your body settle. Perhaps bring a sense of appreciation to your body in this moment. Notice any areas of comfort or ease. Take a moment to appreciate your body for all it does for you. 

When you're ready just take the thumb of your left hand and hold it with the fingers of your right hand. And once you're holding the thumb, just have a sense of the contact points between the thumb and the fingers and again just extending that feeling of appreciation into your hands and your thumb. When you're ready, bring to mind an object in your home that you appreciate. It could be something you use every day or something that brings you joy. Focus on the object. Feel the sense of appreciation you have for it. Notice any sensations, feelings and thoughts that come up. 

Holding this object in your home and awareness with this sense of appreciation. Now when you're ready just letting go of the thumb of your left hand and moving to hold the index finger of your left hand with your right hand. And bring to mind something in the natural world that you appreciate. to visit a tree or a park. Just bring this to mind. Feel the sense of appreciation and gratitude you have for the natural world. As you hold this place in mind with a sense of appreciation. 

And then when you're ready, just taking with your right hand the next finger of your left hand and bring to mind a person you know and appreciate. It could be a family member, a friend, someone who has positively impacted your life, a pet. And as you think of this person, feel the sense of appreciation and gratitude you have for them. Notice the sensations, feelings and thoughts that come up, and holding them in mind, with this sense of appreciation, this bodily sense of appreciation of the finger of the left hand and moving along to the next finger. 

Continue on through all ten fingers of both hands, bringing to mind specific things for which you feel a sense of appreciation. You might like to think of up to ten things for each of the fingers and thumbs. With each one, tune in to your feelings and sensations. Inevitably, what the mind will do is wander. Just coming back to the felt sense of your hands, your fingers, your thumbs, and bringing to mind aspects of your life, aspects of your daily life, for which you have a sense of appreciation. Aspects that feel good, that feel beautiful, that feel lovely. 

And as you bring each to mind, really dropping into what that's like in the body, what the emotional tone is when you bring that to mind, what thoughts and images come up as you bring it to mind. Then when you get to the end of the practice, the invitation is to sense the quality of your heart and mind. See what the emotional state or mindset is. When you are ready to bring the practice to an end, make an intention to yourself to carry this attitude of appreciation into your day taking time to savor the people, things and the world around you that you enjoy and value that you enjoy and value as you move through your day, moment by moment. 


Transcribed with Cockatoo