Dear Homegrown Yogis,
Driving home from teaching Hot Power Flow this past Tuesday night, I recorded this voice message for myself: “Write November blog on gratitude. Thank people for supporting the place and practice that I love. Thank them for providing me with the once in a lifetime gift of making a living pursuing my passion. Thank the practice of yoga for the people and peace and magic that it has helped me create in my life. Say thank you again and again and again. And then say it again.” There’s a funny expression we sometimes use for that blissful feeling after yoga – “yoga stoned.” I was definitely that when I recorded this message =)
Fast forward to today, October 31st- the day that I know I need to get this blogpost done. I set my alarm for the wrong time and nearly missed teaching my 6:30am class with the Mercer Golf Team. I got home to find Brian overslept and didn’t get Freida to school for her Halloween parade. I woke her up to tell her and she burst into tears (as did I). I got two sub requests within 5 minutes of each other that no one can fill. I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled where they left me waiting for over an hour. And now I’m supposed to sit down and write about being grateful – good luck, right?
Yet the practice of yoga has taught me that this is exactly what I need to do. “Disrupt the drift” is an expression in Baptiste Power Yoga that we often use. These 3 words mean that we can use yoga and meditation to break us out of habitual and oftentimes unconscious ways of thinking and acting. If I’m not disrupted today, I will spend the rest of the day (and maybe even the next several days) in a drift of frustration and fear and anxiety. And seriously – who wants to do that?
So THANK YOU. Thank you for supporting the studio by attending classes, liking our social media posts and telling your friends about how yoga is changing your life. Thank you for allowing me and all of our teachers to work in our purpose. Thank you for sharing your lives and your stories and experiences with us. Thank you for showing up on days when your presence means more than you can ever imagine.
And yoga if you’re reading this too =) thank you for coming into my life when I needed you most and for showing me the type of person that I am capable of being.
You may have heard about all the benefits of gratitude: grateful people report feeling healthier than other people; gratitude increases happiness and reduces depression; it even helps you sleep better. But one of the coolest things I have read about gratitude is this: you don’t even need to be able to identify things you are grateful for to get all these benefits. The simple act of searching your mind for things for which you are grateful gives you the exact same benefits. As I put the final few sentences of this blogpost down, I can attest to that. Gratitude changes everything.
This next month at the studio is dedicated to showing gratitude to all of you and to our amazing community. I’ll also be leading a special workshop in Macon on November 10th that includes how to incorporate a gratitude practice into your daily life. I hope you will join in and see what gratitude can do for you.
With love,
Rachel