September 22, 2010Gratitude, Laughs, and Goodies
This has been one of those weeks when life's little surprises have cropped up, which has resulted in a reduction in my self-care time. I must be honest -- it's made me a little cranky and out of sorts. Luckily, I've been squeezing in sanity-saving yoga breaks -- some meditation here, a little pranayama there, and an asana or two. Every little bit helps and it'll tide me over until I can get back to having a little more me time. In the meantime, I'm reminded -- as I often am when life gets a bit difficult -- that it's the little things that can shift your perspective and help you find the gift in whatever comes your way...
Gratitude
The practice of being grateful isn't a new one. In fact, it's been a bit over-exposed in the press. It seems that everyone is talking about having a gratitude journal and using gratitude to help you manifest what your deepest desires. I'm not proud to admit it, but for a long time, it all sounded like blah, blah, blah to me. Then I started my own little gratitude practice. That's when I saw the power of this practice first-hand. Now it never fails to shift my state of mind. It's helped me find the gift in every circumstance/situation/relationship in my life, no matter how challening it might seem to me.
I suppose this is why I'm tickled that the folks over at YogaMint have declared today I Am What I Am -- A Day of Self-Gratitude. I think it's a brilliant idea to honor yourself and be thankful for being alive every day, but I also think that carving out time on a day honoring just this very thing is a great idea.
If you'd like to join in on the self-gratitude celebration, click here for a brief moving meditation as well as some other goodies like meditation guidelines and a free music download.
Laughter
A long time ago I attended a seminar in which the teacher had us laugh for 3 minutes. Being that we had just been sitting listening prior to this request, we all looked at each other feeling a bit confused as to how to start. Rather than think about it too much, we all just faked it. Eventually, the laughter became real and by the time the 3 minutes was up the whole room felt lighter and tears -- of joy -- were running down the faces of many of the participants. Prior to this workshop, I knew about the healing power of laughter -- I just never thought to start laughing for no reason at all to shift my mood.
Let's just say that I no longer sit back and let laughter find me. Rather, I generate my own. This is very helpful -- and less fattening than snarfing down some chocolate -- when I'm feeling like I want to cry.
If you live in the Boston area and would like a little help in the laugher department, check out ComedYoga with Maria Ciampa this Saturday. I don't know about you, but a mixture of comedy and yoga sounds like a blast to me. If I didn't have plans this weekend, I might have driven up to Boston just to check it out. This past June the show debuted to rave reviews and lots of guffaws.
Opening Up Your Energy Flow
When I'm feeling low on energy, out of sorts, or just plain ole cranky, I get up and move. Sometimes I'll do a Sun Salutation or two (or three or four) and others I'll put on some music and move. I've been known to dance, shake, vibrate, and stomp my feet like a tantrum-throwing two-year-old. It may look funny but it works.
If you live in the NYC-area and would like to know more about keeping your energy up throughout the day (but can't find a private place to dance around like a wild thing), check out Urbran Girl Squad's special event at YogaWorks -- Yoga at Your Desk: Bringing Peace and Energy to Your Day Job. You'll get tips on how to integrate yoga into daily life, advice from a nutritionist, a weeklong pass at YogaWorks, and some free goodies (hint hint -- chocolate). Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
I've incorporated all of these things into my week -- gratitude, laughter, and opening up my energy flow -- and it's made a difficult situation a lot less difficult. Of course yoga makes my day brighter as well. The folks over at Manduka (I still love my Purple Manduka Lite mat after all of these years) are sponsoring a contest in which the first prize is a year of free yoga at the studio of your choice. The contest runs now through November 15. Click here to learn more and to enter. When all else fails, a year's worth of yoga is bound to make life a little easier.
Namaste!