Cultivating Gratitude In A Crazy World | Sleep Hypnosis with Gratitude Practice

Summary

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Sleep Magic: Cultivating Gratitude In A Crazy World | Sleep Hypnosis with Gratitude Practice

Host: Jessica Porter
Date: February 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this calming and heartfelt episode of Sleep Magic, hypnotherapist Jessica Porter weaves together sleep hypnosis and a guided gratitude practice to help listeners find peace amidst the chaos of the world. Jessica emphasizes the power of gratitude—not as a fleeting feeling, but as an ongoing practice that shapes personal well-being and ripples positivity into the wider world.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Listener Appreciation and Community Connection

(00:11 – 02:44)

• Jessica begins by expressing sincere gratitude to her global audience.
  • Individual shoutouts are shared for listeners from Australia, the UK, South Africa, and Canada, highlighting the podcast’s global reach and community spirit.
  • Jessica jokes with Evie (13, UK): “I hope to make it the rest of your life. We'll see how that works out.” (01:18)
• She reaffirms her appreciation for everyone who reaches out, underscoring how much each message matters.

The Value and Practice of Gratitude

(02:48 – 05:55)

• Jessica restates how crucial gratitude is—not just as a feeling, but a discipline akin to relaxation.
• She notes the world’s rapid and unsettling change, yet emphasizes how “we still have the power of our own minds. Only we can get into our own minds and make the choice to cultivate positive thoughts.” (03:37)
• On the impact of gratitude:

  “When you think and feel good, it can act like a positive virus… your cultivating gratitude is a gift to them… Maybe you help turn a discussion around by reframing it.” (04:07 – 04:29)

• Jessica challenges the misconception that positive thinking is weak or naive, stating that “positive thinking is the engine of history.” (04:54)
• Ultimate takeaway: “We have a choice.” (05:50)

Guided Hypnotic Relaxation

(07:29 – 16:23)

• Jessica gently leads listeners into relaxation:
  • Guided imagery begins with eyelids, spreads relaxation through the face, then down the body.
  • She uses tactile visualizations, such as, "Your face is done for the day," and, "Let your arms be heavy, like they're made of marble."
  • A sense of safety and comfort is built step by step, inviting the body and mind to let go.

The Gratitude Practice: Personal Reflections

(16:23 – 54:08) Jessica lists and elaborates on things for which she feels grateful, offering warm, sensory-rich language and intimate imagery:

• Rain in Los Angeles:

  "I'm grateful for the rain...I love staying indoors...I love that rain makes everything so green." (16:23 – 21:55)

• Green Grass:

  "I'm grateful for the green, green grass in LA...I often go out at night and just...smell...so fresh and bold and grassy." (22:07)

• The Power of Smell:

  "Smell itself is a really incredible thing because it’s invisible...To me, smell is proof that there is an invisible world… Like feelings and ideas. And love. All invisible." (23:47 – 24:48)

• Seasonal Shifts:

  "By the end of January and into early February, I feel the atmosphere getting lighter just inch by inch… The promise of spring is as delicious as spring itself." (25:30 – 26:52)

• Her Cat, Ziggy:

  "When he curls up next to me...our energies mingle and we both relax...we don’t share language, we share touch." (28:22 – 29:18)

• Pineapples:

  "I’m entranced by its qualities…explodes in the mouth. And its taste, both sweet and tart in equal measure…with its beautiful, elegant armor, protecting such a sweet and lovely treasure." (30:33 – 32:23)

• Sporting Events:

  "It’s becoming rare for many of us to all focus on one thing… helps me feel connected to the world in a positive way." (33:47 – 34:10)

• Love vs. Division:

  "In Charles Darwin’s great work, The Descent of Man, he uses 'survival of the fittest' only twice, but mentions love over 90 times...Our connections to one another help us survive." (34:58 – 35:50)

• Sleep Itself:

  "I love letting go of my responsibilities for the night. I love letting go of my personality for the night...It’s such a productive time...I love dreaming." (36:35 – 39:59)

• Soft Pink Blanket:

  "It reminds me of how kind and gentle we can be sometimes. That sometimes life is very soft. And asks us to be soft." (40:23 – 43:15)

• Clouds:

  "I always look up into the sky to see what the cloud channel is showing...like a painting being painted in real time." (43:36)

• Courage:

  "I see people all around me showing great courage. I don’t think we know how much courage we have until it is needed." (44:10 – 45:05)

• Life & Consciousness:

  “I am grateful to be alive. I'm grateful to be conscious. For this experience we call life.” (54:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Only we can choose to feel good as a practice. We cannot wait for the world around us to do it for us. Chances are it’ll do the exact opposite...” (04:01 – 04:08)
• “Positive thinking is the engine of history.” (04:54)
• “Your face is done for the day.” (09:16)
• “Smell is proof that there is an invisible world… things that matter, that carry intelligence and information, like feelings and ideas. And love. All invisible.” (24:40)
• “Love is more powerful than division... because our connections to one another help us survive.” (34:58 – 35:44)
• “I love letting go of my responsibilities for the night... I love dreaming… my mind becomes unfettered.” (36:51 – 39:59)
• “Sometimes life is very soft. And asks us to be soft.” (43:11)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:11: Listener appreciation and heartfelt introductions
• 02:48: Main theme—gratitude as an essential practice, not just a feeling
• 07:29: Sleep hypnosis relaxation begins, guided body scan
• 16:23: Transition to deep gratitude practice and reflections
• 22:07: Detailed gratitude for sensual experiences (grass, smells)
• 28:22: Personal connection—gratitude for her cat
• 33:47: Social gratitude, connection through sporting events
• 34:58: Insightful comparison—love versus “survival of the fittest”
• 36:35: Gratitude for sleep and letting go
• 43:36: Appreciation of clouds, nature’s artistry
• 44:10: The role and reality of courage
• 54:08: Culmination: Thankfulness for simply being alive

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Tone and Style

Jessica’s approach is lyrical, warm, gently humorous, and deeply comforting throughout. Her voice, both figuratively and literally, serves as a calming anchor. The episode uses hypnotic pacing, soothing descriptions, and personal storytelling to invite vulnerability and relaxation.

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Conclusion

“Cultivating Gratitude In A Crazy World” is both a gentle meditative journey and a reminder that gratitude, when practiced intentionally, can transform not only our nights but our days. Jessica’s personal reflections double as prompts for listeners to consider their own sources of gratitude, fostering calm, connectedness, and hope for restorative sleep—no matter how crazy the world may seem.

Transcript

[A]

Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Porter, and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Thank you all for being here. Tonight's episode is about gratitude, and I just want to express how deeply grateful I am for all of you listening tonight. Thank you for being here. I'm a little behind on the shoutouts and I don't always see the shoutouts from other countries, so I am going to list the ones I've recently noticed. First of all, many listeners in Australia. Lucy in Australia calls Sleep Magic the one and only, greatest of all time.

[B]

Thank you, Lucy.

[A]

Lily in Australia says it's the best podcast she's ever listened to. Harps just started listening, but is already in love. Thank you, harps. And Mrs. Boothman, also from down under, says the first thing she does every morning is is charge her headphones in preparation for listening that night. Aw. I love that. We also have a bunch of listeners who've written in from the UK. Evie, who is 13, says she never makes it past the eyebrow part and that she plans to listen to Sleep Magic for the rest of her life. Thank you, Evie. I hope to make it the rest of your life. We'll see how that works out. Angie from Yorkshire, England, has just had surgery and is grateful for this little, what she calls audio Oasis of Calm. I love those words. That's great. Tamran from South Africa calls Sleep Magic the ultimate sleep podcast. And from Canada, Charlie, who is 8, uses Sleep Magic every night to ground himself, as does his crested gecko named Goldie. We heard all that from Charlie's mom. So thank you for writing in. Thank you, everybody. If you have left us a review or a comment and I haven't quoted it yet, I'm sorry. Sometimes I miss them. Sometimes they get sort of lost in the pile. But please know that we read everything and we really, really, really appreciate you.

[B]

Reaching out to us tonight.

[A]

Cultivating gratitude in a crazy world. I know I did a gratitude episode around Thanksgiving, but I just think that this concept, and more importantly, the practice of gratitude, is one of the most important things we have in life. So I try to do these episodes somewhat regularly. If there are just a couple of things I have to leave with you guys, I mean, like the big takeaways from Sleep Magic Tools for Life, I think they would be practicing relaxation and practicing gratitude. Not just appreciating them, but practicing them. The conscious cultivation of gratitude is incredibly powerful, and it's a reminder that even in these strange Times when the structures around us seem to be changing at extremely rapid speeds, that we still have the power of our own minds. Only we can get into our own minds and make the choice to cultivate positive thoughts.

[B]

Only we can choose to feel good as a practice.

[A]

We cannot wait for the world around us to do it for us. Chances are it'll do the exact opposite, and we end up hopeless and freaked out. And when you think and feel good, it can act like a positive virus. Many of the people around us are feeling insecure and negative, so your cultivating gratitude is a gift to them. Perhaps you simply just bring a stronger, more positive vibe into the room. Or maybe you help to turn a discussion around by reframing it. Maybe together you create something new to make a better version of this world. With your positive mindset, you build the next moment, the next reality, in a stronger way. And don't get seduced by the idea that positive thinking is somehow weak or naive. Our attention is naturally drawn to the negative and destructive. But the world we live in, as imperfect as it is, was built by people who invested in cooperation, problem solving, and community. Positive thinking is the engine of history. Personally, I think cultivating this gratitude and hope and the ability to see the best in one another and in life itself is a brave and important move as we transform in all sorts of ways. Well, negativity just keeps us frustrated and isolated. And by practicing gratitude over the years.

[B]

I've learned that we have a choice.

[A]

So tonight, we'll be practicing gratitude yet again because it's a lifelong practice. And by sharing with you what I'm grateful for and why I'm grateful for it, your nervous system will go along for this ride, inviting you to feel good. Before we begin our only ad break, which makes this magic possible. To listen ad free, Follow the link in the show notes.

[C]

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[D]

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[B]

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[D]

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[A]

So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position. And let's begin.

[B]

Allow your eyes to close easily and gently. Isn't it nice to be in bed at the end of the day? Time to let go. Time to drift and float and dream.

[A]

So bring your awareness now up into your eyelids. And imagine now that your eyelids are.

[B]

Feeling heavy, sleepy, relaxed.

[A]

As your eyelids are getting heavier and.

[B]

Heavier because you're imagining that they're heavy, I'd like you to imagine now that your eyelids are so relaxed that they will not open.

[A]

Which is just you imagining it.

[B]

You could open them if you wanted to, but we're going to pretend that you can't.

[A]

So now, pretending that your eyes won't open, I'd like you to wiggle your.

[B]

Eyebrows, sort of faking that you're trying to open them. I know this is strange, but it works. Good. You can stop trying to open your eyes now. This lovely, heavy feeling around your eyes. This lovely, heavy feeling in your eyelids. Let's just allow it to move all the way down your face. This lovely, heavy, soft relaxation moving into your cheeks and your jaw, the muscles around your lips, even the little muscles around your nose. It feels so nice to allow your face to relax. Your face is done for the day. And now this lovely, heavy feeling in your eyelids. Let's imagine it moving up into your forehead, so your forehead is softening, smoothing out. Imagine your forehead is like a beautiful open field with a breeze rushing through. As the relaxation moves into your scalp, going all the way back to the back of your head as you allow your head to feel nice and heavy, heavy on the pillow. And now let's imagine that original heaviness from your eyelids moving inside your head now, moving back into your brain. A lovely, soft, relaxed heaviness taking over every single cell of your brain. As all mental tension. Evaporates. And the relaxation moves down now into your shoulders as they become heavy and soft and relaxed. Your shoulders have been carrying not only physical things today, but emotional things. And you're putting them down now as they drop to the floor, As the lovely, heavy feeling moves down into your arms. Just allow your arms to feel nice and heavy, like they're made of marble. Your arms are done for the day. You could move them if you really wanted to, but it Feels nice to just let them be heavy. And the heaviness is moving down into your hands and your fingers. Perhaps the palms of your hands tingle.

[A]

A little.

[B]

As any excess energy you've been carrying moves out through the palms of your hands. Good. As you imagine that original heaviness from your eyelids, let's imagine it moving down into your torso. But it's slightly lighter now, like a mistake. And this lovely, soft, delicate mist.

[D]

Is.

[B]

Moving down inside of you, moving into your chest, Surrounding and supporting your lungs, softening and opening your ribcage, surrounding and supporting your heart. And any tension you may have picked up today inside of you, in your chest is dissolving, disappearing. And you sink more deeply into yourself as that mist moves down now into the lower part of your torso, down into your pelvic area. Deep in your belly. It feels nice to be inside yourself, allowing and opening and softening your inner.

[A]

World.

[B]

As your pelvis feels nice and heavy on the bed, and muscles in your belly that you may hold unconsciously during the day are softening.

[A]

As your breath.

[B]

Sinks deeper inside of you. And it really feels good to be inside, Allowing your inner world to be gentle. And soft. And safe. Good. As you allow relaxation to move down into your legs, that lovely, heavy feeling that began around your eyes, moving down through your thighs and your knees, down your calves, through your ankles, all the way into your feet. So your legs are feeling nice and heavy. Heavy like they're made of marble. As you bring your awareness now to any sounds you may be hearing going on around you. From this moment on, no sounds that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way. In fact, from this moment on, any sounds that you hear, Like noises from within your own environment or out on the street, or the music behind me, or even my voice, all of them are taking you deeper and deeper into relaxation. So bring your awareness now to these sounds and allow them to take you deeper. They're simply vibrations moving down through you, Taking you deeper and deeper. I'm grateful for the rain. We don't get snow here in Los Angeles, but we do get rain this time of the year, and it's such a beautiful thing. I love the sound of the rain. I love looking at it. I love watching it run down my street. I love staying indoors because of the rain, feeling contained. I love that the rain makes everything so green. I love that it creates waterfalls in the Santa Monica Mountains. I'm grateful for the rain. I'm grateful for grass. Where I live in LA is right between the city and a rugged canyon. And behind my house is a hill. And this time of year, the hill is covered in long, luscious grass. And I often go out at night and just. Smell has such a distinct smell.

[A]

So.

[B]

Fresh and bold and grassy. I'm grateful for the green, green grass. In la. I'm grateful for smells. I'm grateful that the earth produces so many smells. Smell itself is a really incredible thing because it's invisible. There's no trace of our interaction with smell. We move through the world and different smells just come at us. Some delight us or warn us or intrigue us or repulse us, But they are all purely invisible, traveling through the.

[A]

Air.

[B]

Often as surprises. To me, smell is proof that there is an invisible world, Proof that some very real and important things will never be seen. Things that matter, that carry intelligence and information, Like feelings and ideas. And love. All invisible. So I'm grateful for smells. I'm grateful for this time of year. I'm recording this in late January, and in the Northern hemisphere, it's definitely still winter. But because we've passed the winter solstice is. I feel a subtle lift even now. By the end of January and into early February, I feel the atmosphere getting lighter just inch by inch. I start to lighten up the food that I eat. I start to pay more attention to my senses and my intuition. My attention becomes more acute.

[A]

Like a.

[B]

Gopher sniffing the air. In the spring, things are waking up inside of me. And even though the cold will endure.

[A]

A little longer.

[B]

Expansion is winning, expanding more and more every day, developing a quiet momentum, accelerating, growing. And I think the promise of spring is as delicious as spring itself. I delight in the anticipation of it, in the 100% guarantee that it is coming, like the guarantee that the the sun rises and the moon waxes. Spring is coming. I can feel it. I'm so grateful for this time of year. I'm grateful for my cat Ziggy.

[A]

But.

[B]

Specifically for when he crawls into the crook of my arm. Ziggy is a tuxedo, a shorthair, and he's long and sleek and muscular. And when he curls up next to me and I contain him, he feels substantial, warm. Our energies mingle and we both relax. And even though we don't share language, we share touch. And so much is communicated through that trust and comfort. And affection. I'm so grateful for my cat Ziggy. I'm grateful for pineapples. I've been eating a lot of pineapple lately. I don't know why. I'm just on a pineapple kick. And I'm entranced by its qualities.

[A]

Its.

[B]

Texture, Soft and yet fibrous. I love its juiciness. It explodes in the mouth. And its taste, both sweet and tart in equal measure. And that's just the inside. I love the look of a whole pineapple with its beautiful, elegant armor, Protecting such a sweet and lovely treasure. What a thing. I'm grateful for pineapple. I'm grateful for sporting events. Lately I've been watching the Australian Open tennis tournament, And I'm so grateful for things that bring us together in positive ways, that connect fans to their sports. Or to their other experiences. It's becoming rare these days for many of us to all focus on one single thing all at the same time. So a Grand Slam tennis tournament or the Olympics or a concert or anything positive that highlights human excellence, with millions of us paying attention.

[A]

That helps me.

[B]

Feel connected to the world in a positive way. So I'm grateful for sporting events. I'm grateful that love is more powerful than division. In Charles Darwin's great work the Descent of Man, he famously uses the phrase survival of the fittest only twice.

[A]

While.

[B]

He mentions love over 90 times. Because our connections to one another help us survive. Yes, our genes may prioritize fitness.

[A]

But.

[B]

The survival of those of us already.

[A]

Here.

[B]

Depends upon our connections to one.

[A]

Another.

[B]

Taking care of one another, cooperating, trading with one another, Loving, healing, Celebrating and grieving together. I'm so grateful to know that in my bones, Because as the world changes, we can lean on that instinct to connect. I'm grateful that love is more powerful and division. I'm grateful for sleep. I love sleep. I love the end of the day. I love how my brain switches gears and just demands that I lie down. I love letting go of my responsibilities for the night. I love letting go of my personality for the night. And I love trusting that my body will do exactly what it needs to do. Better than I could ever, ever direct it or any doctor could direct it. All while I sleep. It's such a productive time. And I love dreaming. I love that my mind becomes unfettered, The way it tells me things I need to hear, The way it lives out my fantasies. And the way it takes out my mental clutter. I'm so grateful for sleep. I'm grateful for my pink blanket. I bought a blanket in Toronto last year that is silk, silky and soft. It's not a particularly fancy blanket or handmade, but it is the perfect blanket for snuggling under on the couch. It's the perfect size. And has a light, delicate pink color. It feels luxurious and soft. And I think what I love about it most is that it's so soft. It reminds me of how kind and gentle we can be sometimes. That sometimes life is very soft. And asks us to be soft. That helps me to relax. I'm grateful for my pink blanket. I'm grateful for the clouds. I love clouds in the sky. They're one of my favorite things. No matter where I am in the.

[A]

World.

[B]

I always look up into the sky to see what the cloud channel is showing today. It's like a painting being painted in real time every second of every day. And always beautiful. I'm so grateful for the clouds. I am grateful for courage. I see people all around me showing great courage. And I'm so grateful for them. I don't think we know how much courage we have until it is needed. I am grateful for courage my own and that of others. And that it naturally comes forth when we need it. I'm grateful for courage. I am grateful to be alive. I'm grateful to be conscious. For this experience we call life. I'm so grateful to be alive. It.

[A]

It. It.