Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. ~Estonian Proverb

It’s interesting how the month of November rolls around and suddenly we remember to be thankful. Then even before the leftovers are put away, and we have digested our pie, we are swept up in the rush of Christmas.  For many of us, that thankfulness goes right out  the window until next year. Almost as if we store up our thankful thoughts solely for Thanksgiving, and then having checked it off the list, we move on.

Like all things in life, gratitude is not black and white. Most of us have
the skills to say thank you to those who have helped us. We thank the cashier who checks out our groceries, the mechanic who repairs our vehicle, the person who cares for our children. These ‘thank yous’ make the people who have been helpful to us feel acknowledged, which is good, of course, but the shades of gratitude ask us to go beyond the every day ‘thank yous.’ Gratitude must be practiced each day, or we lose it.

It’s in being thankful for the things we often take advantage of that need
our awareness.  In our society we seem to feel that we are entitled to everything we wish for.  And while it is our birthright to live in abundance, we need to be worthy of that abundance.  Part of this comes from hard work and perseverance, however, the other part comes from gratitude.  When we make time in our lives to be thankful for the blessings we have, more blessings come to us.  We must be grateful of what we have to attract more of what we wish for. 

There are times that we find ourselves caught in a negative spiral.  Nothing seems to go our way. We just can’t seem to catch a break. We forget about all the good in our lives. We start to feel sorry for ourselves and wonder why our luck is just so bad.  These feelings often lead us to quick fixes to make ourselves feel better. We turn to chocolate, alcohol, shopping, whining, whatever, as we try to fill up the hole inside. This never works. These behaviors ultimately make our problems worse.

When we stop and make space in our heads, and our hearts, to be grateful for all the little things we have, we start to appreciate our lives a bit more. The negative spiral is disrupted, making room for positive energy to blossom.  Once we go beyond the obvious things to be thankful for we may feel stuck. We need to dig deeper than being thankful for family and friends, because it's the smaller things take us closer to living our gratitude. One teeny tiny moment of gratitude at a time leads us to living a more abundant life.  That’s not to say that giving thanks will make all the problems of the world go away, but it’s a start.  As Gandhi said, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world". We must commit to being thankful and expressing our gratitude, even on our toughest days.  The rest will come. It might not come pouring down in buckets, but by practicing expressing our gratitude, each day our lights will shine a little brighter, causing the lights inside the people around us to shine a little brighter as well. Eventually we’ll come to see that our lives are full of abundance and we have a lot to be grateful for.  It isn’t something we do once a year, it must be part of who we are. This is living our gratitude.

Soccer, football, field hockey and cheerleading are coming to an end. Hopefully everyone had a great season. As your sport finishes up in the next week or two, consider coming to try a yoga class. We are entering the holiday rush, it gets earlier every year it seems. Halloween drops us right into Thanksgiving and you all know what comes after that. A mad rush into Christmas.
 
While we can all agree that adding to family obligations this time of year is not the best idea, adding yoga can be a blessing. Yoga class can be the time in the week where you let it all go. The crazy planning and shopping, and for kids, the excitement. Excitement is stressful for little people. Think back to your own childhood. The aniticpation for the holidays begins to build as we head into the weeks before Halloween. The promise of buckets of candy followed by weeks of deciding what to ask the man in the red suit to bring lead to high anxiety for kids. High anxiety begins to breed negative behavior because kids don't know what to do with all the excitement in their heads. They bounce about the house, they can't sleep at night, you can feel the energy vibrating out of them.

  This is where yoga comes in. Yoga can be where time slows down for an hour or so a week. Slowing down is a good thing for busy minds. And, while we do celebrate the holidays in our kids yoga classes we do it in a mindful way, using the themes of each holiday to direct our poses, and discussions. Adults need classes just as much as kids do. You won't be asked to pose like a pumpkin or walk like a turkey, but to turn off your brain for an hour instead.  As moms we try to get it all done. And we know that there are a few dads who shoulder this burden, in most cases it is us moms who plan, organize, shop and cook our way to January, where we collapse, exhausted. And then, inevitably get sick. Our immune systems are depleted and when the stress subsides our bodies cave to all the germs our little darlings bring home to share with us. Yoga can be what gets a mom through the holidays in one piece.  Simply learning to breathe deeply can make a huge difference in the weeks of craziness. Things to think on.
In any case, come try a class, or come back to a class if you've been away, We've missed you. If you are a first timer we are offering a discounted, low committment way to try a class. 4 classes for $35 for any newcomer.  Instead of waiting for the new year to make resolutions about exercise, end the year feeling great.