Oh So Grateful: A Gratitude Practice

This busy holiday season has kept me away from much of my blog writing but I thought I'd share my gratitude practice here for the next 20 days. Each day through Christmas I'm posting one thing for which I'm grateful. I've been thinking a lot about gratitude and being thankful over the last few months and one thing I've come to realize is that the best way to a happy and fulfilling life is through gratitude. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, we must focus on what we do have. There is so much to be grateful for in each and every moment.

One of my yoga instructors recently said that while we can't control what happens around us - our life situation, the people in our lives, or the events that transpire - we can control 3 things: our thoughts, our words, and our actions. This has really stuck with me as a reminder that we have more control, more power, over our lives than we realize. Its so easy to let the ego take over and place blame on external circumstances and other people as the source of our unhappiness, stress, or sadness. The truth, though, is that no one outside of ourselves can control how we think about, how we feel about, and how we live our lives. Instead of dwelling on all the things that aren't the way we want them to be, instead of focusing on all the things we don't have, we can find peace and contentment through the practice of gratitude. Being grateful for even the littlest things, or the things we take for granted, like food on the table or a roof over our head, can bring us great joy. The more we think about and embrace the good in our lives, letting go of our wants and our sense of lack, the more at peace we will be.

Life is good. Its a gift that is filled with an abundance of things tok be grateful for. Choose happiness, choose joy, choose gratitude, and choose to be at peace within.

Oh So Grateful Day 1: 

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about #gratitude. As part of #myyearofyoga I thought I would add one post each day from now through Christmas of something for which I am #grateful. Today I'm grateful for these little angels and all the heartwarming smiles they bring to my life.

Oh So Grateful Day 2: 

Today I'm #grateful for this generous little spirit who picked out and wrapped her brother's and daddy's Christmas gifts.

As the saying goes...

...when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. Or maybe a lemonade popsicle this time of year!  In my neck of the woods, this winter has been a rough one. The new year rolled in and with it came snow, wind, and frigid temperatures.  Its been no ordinary Iowa winter.  Frigid temperatures this year don't mean single digits, it means sub zero highs and wind chills down to 30 and even 40 below!  Schools have been cancelled or delayed at least once a week since the semester started, driving conditions are treacherous, if not downright dangerous, and the snow just keeps on coming.  The number one topic of most conversations? The weather. So what to do with all of this?

How about that lemonade popsicle? Yes, the external conditions are unbearable. We're all feeling the cabin fever set in.  Our cars groan when we insist on going somewhere.  Our house, our clothes, and our shoes are constantly filthy from the snow and slush.  We have to shovel the sidewalk...again...and again...and again. It takes 15 minutes to get out the door (45 if you have kids) because we have so much bundling up to do.  But it is what is.  Its winter. Its cold. Its messy. The more we complain about it, the more negative energy we feed one another. It takes a lot of energy to be negative. Being positive is much more relaxing. So why not let it go and find the good?

What could possibly be good about all of this? Take all of your complaints and make them into a positive. Your car groans from the cold when you drive it.  Be grateful you have a car to get you where you need to go. This is no time to be walking or riding a bike.
Your house is a filthy mess.  Be thankful you have a house to keep you warm. Think of cleaning your house as a way to say "Thank you for your shelter."
You have to shovel. Its exercise. Be thankful your body is capable of the task. There are people out there who would give anything to be able to shovel a sidewalk again.
Its forever and a day to get out the door. At least you have all those warm clothes in which to bundle up.

Consider this challenging winter a gift instead of a curse.  This is your reminder of all that you have.  Your reminder to be grateful and positive.  Perhaps that's why we are challenged in our lives - because we need those reminders of all that is good.

Tonight, as the wind howls and rattles my windows, as my house quivers and creeks, and as my 75 pound bulldog gets blown into a snowdrift when he tries to go outside to relieve himself, I still find myself happy and content. The fire is crackling and I'm bundled up in my ugly but incredibly warm and cozy robe and fuzzy slippers. A warm dinner is cooking. I've been playing games and snuggling with my daughter and my hubby before taking a time out to write this. Our dog has climbed out of the snowdrift and is snoring (loudly) next to my feet. We are warm, safe, cozy, and happy.

Tomorrow I'll have to brave the forces of nature and go about my regular day, away from my cozy fire and snugly bathrobe, but I'll be free from resistance, free from negativity, and warm and content on the inside.

"The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it."

~Eckhart Tolle

Namaste.

Thank You

As we prepare for our Thanksgiving holiday, we are reminded of those things for which we are grateful.  Of course, its important to remember and show gratitude for all of those things and all of those people every day, not just around the holidays.  A simple gesture, kind word, or smile has enough positive energy behind it to change the mood or outlook of someone you come across.  Try it today and see what happens.  

When you are playing bumper carts at the grocery store as you stock up on all of your Thanksgiving dinner needs, smile, and be thankful that you have the means to have food on your table.  When you catch yourself grumbling about having to park on the far end of the parking lot to do your holiday shopping, smile, and be thankful that you have a car to get you there and legs to carry you across the parking lot.  When you moan and groan about shoveling your driveway and sidewalk, smile, and be thankful that you have the strength to clear that path.  When you become irritated with travel delays on your way to visit family and friends, smile, and be thankful that you have family and friends to visit. And when you find yourself overwhelmed, tired, and stressed, smile, and be thankful that you have permission to sit down a take 5 minutes to practice this gratefulness meditation...

Sit comfortably, in a quiet spot, eyes closed.  Inhale slowly, letting your lungs fill completely with air.

Exhale slowly.

Continue breathing this way for several breaths, quieting your mind, relaxing your body.

With each exhale, let your bellybutton fall towards your spine, releasing any toxins or impurities that do not serve you.

Release attachment to thoughts and emotions, focusing on your breath.

Continue as you allow your body to relax and your mind to be still.

Inhale and draw a column of light in through your body in front of your spine.

Exhale, and see yourself surrounded by the light.

Continue to hold this image for 5 slow and steady breaths.

Now, with each inhalation bring your awareness to your heart center.

See light emanate from this sacred space.

As you exhale, allow the light to cleanse you and remove impurities, physical, mental, emotional.

Feel yourself glowing with the pure light that both fills you and surrounds you.

See the light flow effortlessly from your heart center.

Bathe in the light, feel it cleanse and renew you.

SAY TO YOURSELF SOMETHING FOR WHICH YOU ARE GRATEFUL

Bring that thing or that person into your mind’s eye, let it into your heart center. See…feel…hear…smell…that for which you are grateful.

Continue to hold it in your heart. As you inhale, breathe in these strong feelings of gratitude. With a strong exhale, send those feelings to that thing or that person. Do this for several breaths.

Continue to bathe in the light. Feel the warm embrace of peace and light.

Begin to bring your awareness back to this space. 

Slowly allow your eyes to open.

No matter how you say it, giving thanks and showing your gratitude is a positive emotion that unlocks the fullness of your energy.

Think gratitude, give gratitude, receive thanks and love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Crossing

When I picked up my daughter from daycare on Friday she gave me a picture of two turkeys she had painted using her handprints.  My eyes filled with tears and a chill ran through me, not because I thought they were so adorable and perfect (which I did), but because earlier that day I'd had quite a profound run in with these very creatures. My friend and business partner, Chrissy, and I were going to a meeting. As we were getting out of the car, 4 huge wild turkeys, who were as startled to see us as we were to see them, crossed in front of us on the street. "Oh my gosh! Turkeys!" were the words that I think flew out of my mouth. There was a moment's pause where I looked directly into each of their eyes, gathering exactly what I was looking at. That moment, while fleeting, seemed to at the same time last for quite awhile. Then they took flight and were gone. Finding this too amazing to ignore, I inquired about the symbolic meaning of turkeys. It turns out that turkeys are thought to be a symbol of awareness, fertility, harvest, abundance, tenacity, gratitude and new beginnings.

New beginnings are most certainly on the forefront of my career right now, with yoga instruction and meditation taking the reins, and if you look back a few posts, you'll notice one of my recent topics was gratitude. It's funny, though not surprising, how everything comes full circle and is, in some way (or perhaps in quite a profound way) linked together. I wrote about gratitude because I had been reading an article in a regional yoga publication which inspired my daughter and husband and I to start a list "I am thankful for..." where we write down something everyday through Thanksgiving. It serves as a great reminder for how much we really do have to be grateful.

Getting back to the turkeys, some also believe the turkey is linked to your third eye and intuition. I had to smile to myself when I read this because in the last few months I've started noticing that that little voice in the back of my head that I've always been a bit skeptical of, already has it figured out. I've even started listening to that little voice and not surprisingly, it has been serving me quite well.  If you're in a state of mind to accept ideas of mysticism, or whatever word you'd like to apply, you might even say that those turkeys were a sign of my third eye opening...ever so slightly anyway. On the way to the store later that night, the thought crossed my mind that I was going to run into someone from the art community in my town. And sure enough...

This brings a smile to my face for a couple of reasons but mainly out of comfort. It's not that it was a glimpse of the future but of what has already happened. It's a little reminder that everything will be ok because we've done all this before. Every experience has been laid out for us in the exact way that it needs to happen to us, regardless of whether we understand it yet. Whether or not you're ready to accept that idea, at least ponder over it.  Haven't you ever had something happen that was a "weird" coincidence? Maybe it wasn't a coincidence at all but a sign, a "God-wink," a nudge from a higher power encouraging you to wake up. Listen to that little voice. Open your third eye.

Don't think too hard on this though. It will make sense when it's supposed to.