How to Find Direction and Inner Peace as a Teacher

Day 3: Gratitude Meditation

Did you know that you can control your happiness? Did you also know that studies have found that people who meditate are likely to be happier?

In 2019, nine years after I had left the classroom I ended up in the hospital with an atypical migraine that presented as a stroke. Four weeks prior to that episode I had made the commitment to stop drinking, however it was clear, I still needed more to relieve stress and improve my life. What I found was something profound. I found meditation. This was a tool I had heard people talk about, but just didn’t seem like something I could get into. How much could it really help?

Well, learned it could help A LOT! I discovered I could own my happiness. I discovered I could own my peace of mind. I can’t help but wonder what I would have been like had I had meditation in my life while in the classroom. Would I have been more calm and patient? Would I have been able to sustain as a teacher? Based on what meditation has done for my life, I would conjecture that the answer to both questions would be “yes”.

Today, we marry yesterday’s gratitude with the power of meditation. Even if you haven’t meditated, that is okay. Take this first step and see what it does for you. Even if your mind wanders… that’s okay. It’s natural. The more you practice the more peaceful you will become! I promise.

Now, while I have earned my first 100 Hours Meditation Certification, I am going to leave today’s exercise to the experts (and look forward to sharing my practice with you next week)!

 I have linked two wonderful Gratitude Meditations from Insight Timer.  The first option is if you have more than 10 minutes and the second is if you have less than ten minutes.  

Step 1: Turn off the notifications on your devices, make sure you are in a place where you won’t be interrupted and select one of the two meditations below (or select your own Gratitude Meditation).

Gratitude by Annamaree Rowley (15 minutes)

Five-Minute Morning Practice on Gratitude by Julie Ela Grace 

Step 2: Meditate

Step 3: When you are done, take out your journal and write down what you are feeling and thinking then, look back at yesterday’s gratitude journal and see if anything you wrote down came up for you again today.

Step 4: Reflect on those trends and themes and bask in gratitude once again.

Facebook Community Action Step:

1. Share with the group the common theme you came up with OR
2. Share how you felt after the mediation