Welcome Zen friends . I hope , wherever you are , you're doing well . On this week's episode of your Zen Friend , I had the pleasure of interviewing real life friend and interior designer , don Richards . We talk about creating beauty and functionality in your home and doing so in an affordable way . If you haven't checked out that episode , check it out . Don gives some fantastic tips .
Speaker 1In thinking about my home and homes I've lived in before , that led me to feeling a whole lot of gratitude . So on this drop of Zen or short meditation , we're going to see if we can connect with some things that we are grateful for today . In particular , I'll invite you to think about your home space . So find a comfortable spot where you can sit or lie down and close your eyes or have a nice soft gaze downward . Make sure , if you're driving or cooking dinner , that you pause the podcast and come back to it later . Then , once you get nice and comfortable , let's just start with a few deep breaths in breathing in through your nose a nice long , deep breath . Pause at the top of the breath and then slowly exhale through your mouth . Let it all go . You can even sigh it out if you're having a particularly long day , or a sigh feels good . So we'll just continue that at your own pace . You probably are already taking a nice , deep inhale . Pause at the top , exhale through your mouth , nice and slowly , until there's no more air to exhale out , and then one more nice and deep , full breath in , fill your belly with air , pause , exhale , let it go , and you can continue with that breath a few more times if you like , or just now . Allow your breath to ebb and flow at its own pace and I'll ask you to start thinking about your home , start thinking about the aspects of it that you like .
Speaker 1My mom likes to joke about a house I lived in in college where I told her it was beautiful , just such a beautiful house . And then she saw it and it was basically on a highway exit ramp and was not in a particularly good neighborhood , but it did have beautiful moldings around the windows and it had some beautiful aspects . So , even if your home is not your dream home , I want you to connect with an aspect of it that's beautiful , even if it's a window . Maybe it's a view outside of the window , maybe it's a vase of flowers on the table , maybe it's architecture , maybe a picture on your wall . Whatever comes to mind that really is beauty that you appreciate .
Speaker 1And now see if you can feel gratitude for that beautiful aspect of your home . Maybe you can go bigger and it's an entire room or a piece of furniture . Just see if you can allow yourself to really connect with the gratitude . And if gratitude feels too big , see if you can just appreciate it . That's often a starting point for me .
Speaker 1And now I want you to think about an aspect of your home that's just pure comfort . I have a couch that isn't particularly beautiful but it's super comfortable and I love to sit on it with family members and snuggle with my dogs and have a blanket over me and a hunker down in the dark and watch TV . Think of an aspect of your home that's just pure comfort . Maybe it's a comfy chair in a corner , maybe it's your bed .
Speaker 1Notice what comes to mind and see if you can connect with the appreciation and maybe even let yourself fill with gratitude and notice what that feels like in your body .
Speaker 1Notice where in your body you feel that appreciation or gratitude and just stay with that as long as you like , really connecting with gratitude , when we can take a little time every day for the things we appreciate , for the things that we are grateful for . It can change things in a big way . Our attention more easily goes to that which is positive Instead of focusing on the negative . It's so easy to look around our homes and see the areas we want to change . But what about if we can focus on the things that bring us comfort , the areas of beauty , staying with that feeling of gratitude for as long as you would like and , when you are ready , allowing your eyes to flutter open with a soft gaze , bringing your attention back to the room around you ? I'm so glad that you took some time out for yourself today and until next time , friends , I hope you'll continue to take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself .