OFFERING BLESSINGS

Along with gratitude practice, one of the most powerful practices we can engage in an ongoing, daily way, is to offer blessings to all we encounter.  This includes blessing the spaces we enter or inhabit, the people, animals, other-than-human earth-kin we encounter along the way, the gadgets we use, the furniture that supports us, the cars we drive—the list is endless, as well as the subtle beings who collaborate and participate with us all the time.

Here’s an audio version of the written information below, if you prefer to listen to it.
As you listen, please press pause when you need additional time to take in the practice.
And, please remember never to listen to these recordings when driving or using machinery.

Offering blessings reminds us that we do not move through the world by ourselves.  It is a celebration of interbeing, a recognition that every aspect of our life is supported and, in many ways, made possible by people, beings, and other resources we will never know.

Even if you are someone who doesn’t believe that everything you encounter is alive, is an expression of consciousness, offering blessings is a way to move through the world with an awareness that you are part of a dynamic, living, interdependent whole and that your presence, and what you contribute, matters.

Blessing doesn’t have to be elaborate or a complex ritual.  Of course, it may be as rich and involved as feels right for you, but if you’re not a person who resonates with something more elaborate, offering a blessing can be as simple as sending a wish for blessings to whatever is the focus of your awareness.

Here’s an example of a blessing I sometimes use as I move through Central Park, or as I encounter other earth-kin along the way:

May today and all days enfold and protect you, nurture and support you in the beauty of your being.  May this blessing carry into your being deep nourishment and may my gratitude support an ever-more-positive relationship between my people and yours.

That may feel way too involved, so here’s an example of a simpler kind of blessing:

Blessings to you, dear one.

I include the words “dear one” in the above blessing because a key when offering blessings is to do so, whenever possible, from your heart space.  Remember that the heart has its own intelligence and perception, and radiating blessings from the heart infuses your blessings with a fundamental energy of connection.  Using words like “dear one” speaks to the natural energy of love that emanates from your heart space.

As you practice offering blessings as you move through your daily life, notice what words come to mind as you do so, as I find that some of the most powerful blessings are those that spontaneously arise from the wisdom of the heart of each individual.