A moment of gratitude.During this time occupied year-round, it is easy to become trapped in the hustle and bustle of meal planning, buying gifts and travel plans. Black Friday sales start earlier than ever, and aggressive consumerism always makes news. Between the stress of holiday planning, many of us forget to us the true meaning of Thanksgiving is gratitude. The Indians and the pilgrims gathered to celebrate and thank the rich and abundant gifts of the Earth. They celebrated friendship, camaraderie and potential. The first feast of Thanksgiving was one of gratitude.
Gratitude is an idea that I present to my clients and students of yoga often. Gratitude creates space for wealth, and when we let go of the want that soon we realize how much we already have. It takes practice to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude. As we practice yoga poses, we should also make time to practice the feeling of gratitude, tending to him as a gardener tends the soil. Just as a flower wilt without water, gratitude decreases without adequate time and attention.
During this holiday season, challenge you to cultivate your own garden of gratitude. Start a gratitude journal, scoring 2-3 things you are grateful for each day. Use this simple meditation each morning or afternoon:
Sitting in a quiet space of height, place both hands, one on top of each other in the center of your heart. Take a few slow, deep breaths and begin to think about a thing or a person that you are grateful. While they continue to breath in thinking, they begin to feel soft warmth emanating from your heart. Lets you expand this feeling throughout every cell. Spend at least 3 minutes, present in this sense of gratitude in the center of the heart. At any time that you feel the mind begins to wander to another thought, simply carry the mind to breath and back to feel the warmth of gratitude.
Finally, my own moment of gratitude:
Today, I'm grateful for all my clients and students of yoga. All have taught me so many things about me in the last year. Each new day, I challenged to go beyond my comfort zone and they have grown exponentially as a doctor, a teacher and a person that I never believed possible. A heartfelt thank you to each of you.
Rachel Matrejek works in the Centre of Faro emotional well-being, is a licensed attorney and a certified yoga instructor. Located in Arlington Heights, the lighthouse of emotional Wellness Center, provides the light that guides of emotional well-being for couples and families and offers services such as: couples and family counseling, individual counseling, psychiatry and personal development workshops. For more information about their services, visit www.lighthouseemotionalwellness.com
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