Gratitude is something we often forget about on a day-to-day basis. Sure, we try to keep it up, appreciating that we have things we want, like good jobs, and grateful that we don’t have things we don’t want, like bird flu. But, no matter how hard we try to have it, in everyday life it is easy to lose; Gratitude often slips through the cracks like how easily car keys get lost in the cushions of a sofa.
Gratitude is a virtue or law that expresses gratitude, appreciation, and gratitude. It is thought of as the first law of attraction, the springboard from which a path to moment-to-moment self-awareness gains momentum. It is what allows us, as human beings, to grow.
When it comes to yoga, some may assume that gratitude means tipping your instructor at the end of the class. However, gratitude and yoga go hand in hand and affect each other. This actually makes perfect sense, considering that both gratitude and yoga are strong advocates of self-awareness and mindfulness – they are part of the same team, teaching each of us how to adjust to the flow of life, in instead of colliding with life and losing sight of what we are grateful for.
Yoga promotes the physical and emotional well-being of a person. And, as studies have shown, so does gratitude. It’s as if they are both vitamins for the soul. Yoga and gratitude improve a person’s ability to handle stress (which has a direct impact on physical health) and improve the way a person interacts with others. Both also free the body of negative emotions, replacing them with positive ones. When this happens, good health is generated.
Many people are likely to find gratitude in exercising at the end of a workout, thankful that their strenuous routine is over and they feel refreshed. But yoga isn’t just about exercising, and it’s not just about exercising.
Yoga and gratitude are on the same wavelength, as if they came out of the shell of positive thinking. Gratitude, because it is a way of looking at things, and yoga, because it teaches people to embrace the present moment, are naturally capable of improving each other. Gratitude is a way to deeply appreciate the full spectrum of life: the good and the bad, the joy and the suffering. Yoga provides a conscious practice to invite one to respond to the full spectrum of life from the highest place within oneself. Gratitude teaches people to have peace of mind. Also yoga. Since both gratitude and yoga feed off of each other, practicing the two together will enhance the benefits of each. Yoga is a practice that opens the door to the source of gratitude that resides within you.
But gratitude is not limited to yoga, of course. Being grateful in all aspects of life is essential to a person’s well-being. Appreciating your family, your friends, your job, and anything else that leads to happiness makes your physical and emotional health easier.
But, like other things that are important to your health (exercising, eating right, getting enough sleep), the concept of gratitude can be difficult to fulfill. As mentioned above, gratitude can be easy to lose in life’s sofa cushions. But, there are a few tricks of the trade meant to help gratitude flourish.
It can help to set aside a few moments a day, maybe five or ten minutes, to reflect on what you appreciate today. Another thing that may be helpful is getting a small notebook and jotting down three or five little things that you are grateful for, such as sunlight, time to reflect, clean clothes, and a cup of hot tea. Writing is a great tool for self-reflection; Jotting down thoughts about what you are grateful for helps you cultivate gratitude. Much of our overall health and well-being is determined by the way we think, programming our brain will program our lives.
Many of us still remember, as children, wandering the hallways of our elementary school and walking under a sign that read, “Attitude is everything.” Rolling our eyes at childhood anguish, we probably didn’t create this concept. But, as adults, we have come to realize that it turns out to be true. Remember, “For everything, give thanks.”
TWISTED is a medical yoga studio at the Center for Osteopathic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. Twisted integrates osteopathic medicine, hatha yoga, and mindfulness practices to teach the optimal balance between physical, mental, and emotional health. Its goal is to educate and help people live healthy lives from the inside out. Rehabilitation programs offer a comprehensive treatment regimen for the whole being, empowering each person, one breath at a time, to stimulate the body’s natural healing potential.