Thankful For Your Practice

Today is a day for being thankful. There's a lot in life to be thankful for, but I'm specifically thankful for how yoga has influenced my life. Yoga has affected me in ways I would have never thought possible. What started off as a physical practice has morphed into something bigger. Below is my list of things I have yoga to thank for bringing into my life. I encourage you to make your own list so you can see for yourself how yoga has changed your life.

Overcoming my fears: To complete my trainings I've had to be away from my family for a total of 3 months. I'm also very shy and scared to death of being up in front of crowds. Neither of these situations were easy to overcome, but yoga taught me that when faced with fear, if I breathe deep and work through my fears, rather than push them deep down inside or run away, that I'm able to do anything.

Appreciative of my body: Yoga has taught me to be grateful for the body I have. To not judge or be jealous of other yogi's who are more advanced than I. Yoga has humbled me as it has taught me to slow down and listen to my body. Not to push it past its edge, desperately trying to get into a complicated pose. As my body ages and my practice changes, I'm accepting this with grace and I look forward to the next stage of my life rather than trying to desperately hold onto my youth. I accept my aching joints and feel blessed with the body that I have, as others are not so lucky.

The friendships that I have made: Yoga is a community. I've made lasting friends in all of my trainings. Over the years I've met many amazing students and have developed friendships that I'm so grateful for. Yoga, and the people I have met through it, have been there for me in good times and bad. I know when I'm having a bad day that all I have to do is walk into a yoga class and I can feel my stress melting away.

Awareness: I used to go through life not fully aware of all that was going on around me. Not aware of the affect that I had on the world. Yoga has opened my eyes. I'm aware of my actions and how they effect people. I'm aware of how people effect each other. How our words, moods and actions have an impact far beyond what we think they do. Yoga has woken me up.

Letting go: This is the most important of all. I'm a dweller. I like to hold onto bad emotions and thoughts till they eat me alive. Yoga has taught me that it's ok to let go and when I do, I can move through life with more ease. This is a daily practice for me, who knows if I will ever perfect it. I'm grateful though that yoga has given me the knowledge to know when to let go of something before it starts to affect my health and relationships.

Listen fully: What people want most in life is to be heard. Whether it's something simple like telling us about their bad day, or sharing a difficult part of their past. I've seen the power of being fully present with a person and listening. Not interrupting to comment, not letting our mind wander, but to be fully present with that person to hear their troubles. It is a profound thing and the best medicine for an aching soul.

There is so much more that yoga has done for me. It's a practice of not just the body, but the mind and spirit. It opens us up so that we can see who we truly are. It exposes us to our raw selves and teaches us how to make ourselves into a better person. We learn how to work with the world rather than fight against it, that life isn't a struggle, but a journey and we are the guides. We choose our path.