Blessings and Gratitude | Maui Mobile Massage

Aloha Friends,

Yoga and massage are great tools to keep us feeling blessed and grateful. We can also add on other tools such as these international blessings I’ve collected from books and online. Canadian and American Thanksgivings are rapidly approaching so I thought now would be a great time to share. I hope you enjoy! Thanks! Johanna

If beings knew, as I know, the result of giving

and sharing,

they would not eat without having given,

nor would they allow the stain of meanness

to obsess them and take root in their minds.

Even if it were their last morsel, their last

mouthful,

they would not enjoy eating without having

shared it,

if there were someone to share it with.

Teachings of the Buddha

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we eat the good bread,

we are eating months of sunlight,

weeks of rain and snow from the sky,

richness out of the earth.

We should be great, each of us radiant,

full of music and full of stories.

Able to run the way clouds do, able to

dance like the snow and the rain.

But nobody takes time to think that he eats all

these things and that sun, rain,

snow are all part of himself.

– Monica Shannon

In a few moments of silence,

let each of us be mindful

of all we have which to give thanks:

friends, food, hopes, health

and happy memories.

(a moment of silence observed)

So, in giving thanks,

we are blessed.

Amen

– Traditional Christian prayer

As thou hast set the moon in the sky

to be the poor man’s lantern,

so let thy Light shine in my dark life

and lighten my path;

as the rice is sown in the water

and brings forth grain in great abundance,

so let thy word be sown in our midst

that the harvest may be great;

and as the banyan sends forth its branches

to take root in the soil,

so let thy Life take root in our lives.

– Hindu blessing

Deep peace

of the running wave to you,

Deep peace

of the quiet earth to you,

Deep peace

of the flowing air to you,

Deep peace

of the shining star to you.

– Gaelic blessing

For the hay and the corn

and the wheat that is reaped,

For the labor well done,

and the barns that are heaped,

For the sun and the dew

and the sweet honeycomb,

For the rose and song,

and the harvest brought home —-

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

– English traditional hymn

Five Contemplations

This food is the gift of the whole universe

the Earth, the sky, and much hard work.

May we eat in mindfulness so as to be worthy

to receive it.

May we transform our unskilled states of mind

And learn to eat with moderation.

May we take only foods that nourish us

and prevent illness.

We accept this food to realize the path

of understanding and love

-Thich Nhat Hanh.

Bless our hearts

to hear in the

breaking of bread

the song of the universe.

– Father John Giuliani

For the meal we are about to eat,

for those that made it possible,

and for those with whom we are about

to share it,

we are thankful.

– From the humanist benediction

In this plate of food, I see the entire universe

supporting my existence.

– Zen blessing from Thich Nhat Hanh

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings

Who have helped to bring it to our table,

And vow to respond in turn to those in need

With wisdom and compassion.

– Buddhist Meal Gatha

We give thanks for the plants and animals who

have given themselves so that we can enjoy

this meal together.

We also give thanks for our friends and family

who have traveled here today.

May this meal bring us strength and health.

– Variation on a Native American thanksgiving

Blessed be the Earth for providing us this food

Blessed be the Sun for helping it to grow

Blessed be the Wind and Birds for carrying its seed

Blessed be the Rain for the water’s loving flow.

Blessed be the hands that helped prepare this meal,

May those hands and our hands, bodies too,

be well and quick to heal.

Blessed be our friends, our families,

and all of our loved ones.

Blessed be our mother earth, our father sky and sun.

– Christian mealtime prayer

Dear earth who gives to us this food,

Dear sun who makes it ripe and good,

Sun above and earth below,

Our loving thanks to you we show.

Blessings on our meal.

– Secular mealtime prayer

Om, beloved mother nature,

you are here on our table as food.

You are endlessly bountiful, benefactress of all.

Grant us

health and strength, wisdom and dispassion,

and help us share this with one and all.

– Hindu mealtime prayer

Let us be together; let us eat together.

Let us be vital together, let us be radiating truth,

radiating the light of life.

Never shall we denounce anyone,

never entertain negativity.

– The Upanishads

As we come together at this special time,

let us pause a moment to appreciate the

opportunity for good company and to

thank all those past and present whose efforts

have made this event possible.

We reap the fruits of our society, our country,

and our civilization, and take joy in the

bounties of nature on this happy occasion.

Let us also wish that, some day, all people

on Earth may enjoy the same good fortune

that we share.

– Red Bank Humanists