Gratitude
We are now entering the season of giving. This month in particular brings the season for giving thanks. It’s a great reminder. It’s so easy to take things for granted, even to take our loved ones for granted. Thanksgiving is a holiday that gives us a chance to open our eyes and hearts to all that we have and to all those we love, and to give thanks.
In recent years, researchers have found numerous benefits from giving thanks or practicing gratitude. If you google “benefits of gratitude,” you will find reports and articles such as these:
- 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Gratitude (Time magazine’s website)
- 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude (Psychology Today’s website)
- 16 Benefits of Gratitude, According to Research (mindbodygreen.com)
- 31 Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Science-Backed Guide (happierhuman.com)
- 10 Transformative Benefits of Gratitude (liveboldandbloom.com)
- Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude (webmd.com)
- The Benefits of Gratitude and How to Get Started (healthline.com)
Perhaps an article in the Harvard Healthy Newsletter best sums up the benefits of gratitude as follows: “…gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness,. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
Today, in the midst of this pandemic and in these times of great uncertainty and unrest, we need to experience all these benefits more than ever. It’s a matter of survival, both as individuals and as a nation. Make gratitude a daily practice.
You might not realize it, but Svaroopa® yoga and meditation practices help you develop a state of gratitude. During every yoga class, after completing a pose, you are asked to notice the differences and changes in your body. After completing one side of a pose, you are asked to notice the difference between both sides: which side feels more open and alive and loose? After coming out of the final relaxation (Shavasana), or after finishing a meditation, you are asked to savor the best of your experiences as well as to notice the difference in how you feel. All this cultivates gratitude. You learn to appreciate the changes you receive. You learn to notice the good stuff.
Sometimes, we get so focused on our aches and tight spots that we can’t see beyond them. I saw a cartoon where an elderly man was complaining about all his aches and pains. His wife responded that she woke up in the morning and nothing hurt. She said, “I thought I was dead!”
Pain does not have to be the only symptom of being alive. Nor is death the only opposite of having pain. There’s something called “feeling good!” That’s what you get from doing yoga and meditating. As Swami Nirmalananda wrote in her 1998 Contemplation Article titled Gratitude (this was when she was known as Rama Berch):
“Along with becoming more flexible and less stressed, you begin to see your life differently… When one shoulder is tight and one is relaxed, you can notice the relaxed one. You even laugh at the difference between them. You begin to see the light in your life instead of obsessing on the dark spots. Your perception changes. You see your life and yourself differently. Then you can experience gratitude. You begin to live with an attitude of gratitude. Life is good.”
To get to that point, you must make space for your health practices. And before moving on to the rest of this month’s newsletter, we want to make space to express our gratitude for ! We are grateful for your amazing presence in our lives. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to support you! And we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. May your tummy enjoy a nourishing meal, and may your heart be filled with all the blessings of gratitude.