Practicing Gratitude

This story begins the day after a visit to a toy store. My children received some gift certificates and were very excited to pick out new toys. They loved the new toys...... for ONE day! The very next day my four year old was asking to go back to the toy store to pick up the other toys he had seen. I know he's not alone in this scenario. How often do we all move from one thing to the next? From one pair of shoes or handbag to wanting the next. From one electronic device to the next greatest. From one goal to the next. How long to we pause to appreciate what we have, what we've achieved, what we've experienced, and what we have been truly blessed with?

I use my life as inspiration for the yoga classes I teach because I think for the most part we are all dealing with the same issues in different forms (whether we are 4 years old or 64 years old.) Once the theme of the class surfaces, I like to collect intelligent and inspiring words from others to give us all a little soul-food. Here are the quotes on appreciation and gratitude I'm using for the Thanksgiving classes this week.

The first quote actually turns out to a book title by Mary Ellen Edumunds...
"You can never have enough of what you don't need." 

This Thanksgiving quote is by Henry Van Dyke...
"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.
Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.
Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."


And by William Arthur Ward
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like 
wrapping a present and not giving it."


BUT, sometimes we don't feel blessed. Sometimes we feel like everything is going wrong or perhaps we feel like we just can't quite reach our goals or get what we want. How can be grateful then? We can practice gratitude. We create time and space for us to remember that there are a lot of things that are going right in every second. It really could be worse and even if it were worse we could look for little blessings. Blessings aren't necessarily what we have but what we are. Each one of us is blessed with a unique ability to express the light within us. Each of us is a blessing and has potential to bless our own lives and our worlds with the blessings we hold inside.


An exercise to practice gratitude:
Sit in a comfortable seat. Ideally, sit cross-legged on the floor. If your lower back rounds, sit up on a little cushion. Take a breath in and allow your hips and legs to settle down and encourage your heart and head to lift up. Bow your head to look down at your heart. You can keep your eyes opened or closed and just imagine that you are looking in to your own heart. What blessings that you hold inside are you most grateful for? How can you express your gratitude more fully in life? How can you share your blessings more fully with others?


When we take time to remember our blessings, we are likely to experience that natural impulse to express gratitude in Thanksgiving. When we express ourselves in positive and proactive ways, we bring more light into our world. 


Oh and just so I don't paint an incomplete picture of Hoyt. He also told me on the very same day, "Mom, no matter what we can always shine!" He made me repeat it word for word with him and added a little arm-sweep and upward pointing finger for emphasis.


Happy Thanksgiving!