Yoga is Gods gift to us, to help us heal and maintain our well being physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Everything else is just exercise.
The last couple of weeks has been very busy, the whole summer for that matter, but the last two weeks in particular has made me more grateful for yoga than ever.
The last couple of weeks has been very busy, the whole summer for that matter, but the last two weeks in particular has made me more grateful for yoga than ever.
On the surface, gratitude appears to arise from a sense that you're indebted to another person for taking care of you in some way, but looking deeper, you'll see that the feeling is actually a heightened awareness of your connection to everything else. Gratitude flows when you break out of the small, self-centered point of view—with its ferocious expectations and demands—and appreciate that through the labors and intentions and even the simple existence of an inconceivably large number of people, weather patterns, chemical reactions, and the like, you have been given the miracle of your life, with all the goodness in it today.
When you awaken to the truth of this incredible interconnectedness, you are spontaneously filled with joy and appreciation. It is for this reason that one of the most transformative practices you can engage in is the cultivation of gratitude. Patanjali wrote that contentment, or appreciation for what you have leads to unexcelled joy, while other yogic texts say that this sense of appreciation is the "supreme joy" that naturally leads to the realization of the Absolute. Thankfully, gratitude can be cultivated. It simply takes practice.
Every once in a while I instruct my students while they are in corpse pose to do a gratitude list, quickly listing everything they are grateful for, EVERYTHING, your dog, the trees, the blue sky, and so on.
My morning yoga practice is the gift of generations of yogis who observed the truth and shared what they knew; I am grateful to be able to pass that on.
I am so grateful for my body, and the knowledge I have to keep it healthy, for the love that I have for the study of Ayurveda, and the joy that I have to share that with others.
I am grateful to have the strength to walk all over BYU for education week, which Gary and I did last week, and up and down a million stairs.
I am grateful for my family, my ever so sweet husband, our six daughters, and our 24 grandchildren. All 30 plus of us went to Roosevelt, to our 5th daughters (Amanda) house for a sleepover, where we ate, laughed, played games, and jumped on her two trampolines, yes, even I jumped on the trampoline, I am grateful yoga makes my bladder strong so I can sneeze, and jump on the trampoline without peeing my pants, soooooooooo much fun.
I am also grateful I don’t have to wear that stupid mouth guard any more for TMJ. Yoga has taught me to stretch the jaw and neck muscles so my jaw does not hurt.
I am grateful for my life, I love everything about it. Looking inward helps me realize that I am rich indeed, and that I am not only not alone but are truly supported by the universe! I have even come to see the truth in the exhortation of the 13th-century mystic Meister Eckhart: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you,' that would suffice." LIFE IS GRATE!!!
Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
Certified Yoga Instructor
and Ayurveda Consultant
These are my own thoughts. I sometimes take writings from others to support my own ideas.
My blog teaches you to heal yourself, emotionally, physically, and spiritually
