Gratitude

Happy Belated Thanksgiving Everyone!
I hope that you all had a lovely weekend full of love, laughter and thankfulness.
Although the history of thanksgiving is questionably worth celebrating... I am still happy to have a day of the year that is more focused on the idea of sharing time with family or friends and taking a moment of gratitude than investing our love materialistically.
So setting that aside, I wanted to talk about gratitude. Something that, hopefully, we have each day. Whether it's for the chivalry of an opened door, a moment with a dear friend, a delicious meal or that you managed to get out of bed today. These small acts of gratitude can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day!
One of the things often heard in yoga classes is to give gratitude for being here, being on our mats, being thankful for those around us. These words are not to fill a void of dialogue. It truly is something to be grateful for. Taking the time to experience yourself, if only for a moment, is such a blessing. Sharing that self love with others is an even more amazing blessing. Our days can be so hectic and chaotic and when you come to the mat, you give yourself permission to 'be here' and to find bliss.
It has occurred to me through practice and teaching how empowering gratitude can be.  When I started to bring this into my practice I felt it shine onto my day. By giving it more attention, I noticed the increase of gratefulness around me and came to realize how beautiful the world can be seen through appreciating eyes.
Bringing gratitude to yourself and finding compassion in the darker corners of our lives if often overseen. We all have things going on in our lives. Some more than others. The importance remains that to be able to share love with others we must first love ourselves. If we can't quite say that yet. That's okay! But we have to still be open to loving ourselves. To be open, To be thankful that we can be honest with ourselves, that sometimes being grateful for hard times will let us see how far we have come.
So for the rest of October, I encourage you to bring Gratitude into your practice or meditation.

Gratitude Exercise for Movement & Meditation:
∆set the intention. feel the openness run parallel to your spine, from your tail bone to your crown.
∆be thankful for each moment, really feel. experience your practice.
∆when you lose sight of your peacefulness, count your blessing and not your breath.
∆express yourself and let that expression be the reward for your gratefulness.
∆close with your final gratitude being outward. to someone. to something. to all things.