It is Thanksgiving time and gratitude is in the air, a season, a week, a day full of the messages and expectations of feeling gratitude. But what if you are not feeling it? Can you still practice it?
I have often struggled with gratitude on this day, when I find myself contemplating those without, and those whose lives and cultures were sacrificed for our American Thanksgiving. It is a painful paradox for me and has triggered enduring depressions in the past. One of my teacher’s posted the words, “the wise yogi is able to access feelings of gratitude even when life is hard.” So my wisdom may be lagging, but this I’ve got:
I can choose to practice gratitude in truth.
Gratitude amidst (not instead of ) the pain this day brings, whether that’s challenges with our without family; personal health; or concern for the wider world, isn’t that what challenges the yogi to rise up to the paradox? When I open my heart to hold all of it in my awareness I am expanded, rather than collapsed in guilt and overwhelm. I am empowered to learn more about the Indigenous American plight around Thanksgiving and about modern Indigenous American’ people’s current experiences. I learn how to engage with the holiday openly, rather than burying my head in a pile of guilt.
In this way I can choose actions that include reparative choices…
…in the foods I source, in activism and education, in the thoughts I choose to entertain in my mind. This way, instead of being overwhelmed by my internal experience, I become empowered to make it external, to speak it, to act on it. And this becomes another pathway for expanding my gratitude.
Gratitude is the practice of being thankful for giving and receiving; to yourself, your community, and all people past and present that have affected your life experience.
Gratitude asks you to open to something greater than yourself, to the Sky element, to the Bigger Energy; Shive in yoga, to Father Sky in Native American spirituality. The next step in gratitude is to expand, this is the quality of the Air element, represented by prana and power of Shakti in yoga, and Power of the Breath of the Creator to our Indigenous American brothers and sisters.
We share this connection to our natural world, and in opening to receive and expanding to give, we dance together in the flow of life and the feeling state of gratitude is able to arise, and we are in the practice.
Gratitude is a powerful resilience practice. When you tap into its essence your nervous system experiences a state of safety, which allows you to open to something greater and connect with others.
Gratitude is a feeling, the feeling of both being enough and having enough. It is described as feeling good, open, powerful, abundant, and free.
But what if you can’t feel it? No problem…
…looking for the feeling builds your emotional intelligence and over time your neurons become more efficient and the feeling state arises.
Gratitude means embracing reality. Moving from counting your burdens to counting your blessings. The more blessings you count, the more blessings you receive and then you are living in the law of abundance, aparigraha in Patanjali’s yoga sutra 2.39, which asks you to “take only what you need, keep only what serves in the moment, and let go when the time is right.”
When you allow yourself to hold the truth and in the face of that truth, you look for goodness, you are practicing gratitude.
In gratitude, your heart opens where you recognize your true nature, that is joy, and your recognition of this in your heart and in all hearts is the highest purpose of yoga.
Take a Gratitude Walk
- This time of year is dark and sometimes gloomy. A great way to uplift your spirits can be a gratitude walk.
- Choose a route with a soft walking surface if possible (wooded trails, shoulder of the road, or a dirt road).
- Observe everything around you as you walk. Take in the sights, smells, and sounds of nature. Notice the leaves letting go of their hold on the tree; the song of birds; the rustle of squirrels and chipmunks preparing for winter; the smell in the air.
- Be aware of nature and notice how your feet feel as you walk on the Earth.
- You can increase the power of gratitude on your walk by inviting a friend or loved one along and share in the giving and receiving of the energy of gratitude. Enjoy!
May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you live your life in peace and ease!
Remember: this post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.
