Tag Archives: Yoga

Thank you and Amen, Day One

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I have been spending the day missing Blogtoberfest, my inspiration for publishing a blog post every day.  I am writing every day for National Novel Writing Month, but since that project is intended to be a draft of a birthday present for Eric, I can’t really share it here–the boy reads my blog.  I toyed with taking the day off, not publishing a blog post today, but after a month of doing it faithfully, I’m not ready for that just yet.

Then I was reminded of a facebook meme that runs the month of November, 30 Days of Gratitude.  There are lots of other gratitude projects and resources out there.  For example, “Zoom in on Gratitude: 30 Day Photo Challenge” (can’t wait to try that one next), and Britt Bravo has lots of ideas on her website, “Have Fun * Do Good.”  So that’s what I think I’m going to do the rest of this month.  I’ll still do Monday’s Something Good and Tuesday’s Three Truths and One Wish, but on the other days, I will offer up my gratitude.

Photo by vistamommy

Gratitude, Day One: I am grateful for practice.  To train and repeat, to come back again and again with mindful attention.  No expectations of perfection, but rather with the intention of continuing to show up, to not judge what happens as “good” or “bad,” but rather to simply keep going, to be, again and again.

I have many practices in my life: yoga, mediation, walking the dogs, and writing.  Each of them gives me the opportunity to meet and work with myself, wherever I am.  Every time I step on the mat, sit on the cushion, enter the park as I hold my two boys, or pick up my pen, I begin again.  I am rooted, centered, steady, and present, and even when I am not, I am trying.

“We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.”
― Pema Chödrön

This baby Robin learned to fly in my backyard this spring. To learn to fly, you have to practice.

  • What do you practice?

Something Good.

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I think I might have already mentioned this, but when I am feeling bad, I will often ask Eric to “tell me something good.”  When I need something to hang on to, to make me feel better, something to show me that it’s not all bad.  When I am in that dark hole, way down at the bottom, and the mean things with teeth are down there with me–“tell me something good.”

Picture by Cubby

He’s really good at it, because even when all he can think of is “I love you,” it totally works.  I mean, how great is it that the person that you picked and who said “yes” eighteen years ago, and knows you better than anyone, knows all the embarrassing and ugly stuff, continues to love you?  He usually is able to give me a whole list when I ask him, followed by a hug and “what can I do for you, how can I make you feel better?”

But wait–this isn’t a post about how great Eric is, even though that’s true.  This post is about a new Monday feature I’m starting today on this blog: Something Good.  I like the idea of gratitude generating joy, and the opportunity my gratitude has to spread joy when I share the good things.

Here’s today’s list:

  • Monday Morning Yoga. For the past four and a half years, I have been going to a 6:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning yoga class.  The teachers have remained the same, and there are two other people, along with a rotating cast of about 10-15 others, who have also attended for all that time.  It is a constant comfort, while it continues to challenge me to keep changing and evolving.  These classes were the beginnings of my yoga practice, and I am so grateful.
  • My Dogs. I promise I won’t list them every week, but I totally could.  These furry boys are at the center of my life, and live right in the middle of my heart.  And Obi might be physically gone, but he is still with me, with us.
  • Kind Over Matter.  This is on of my favorite websites.  It is a collection of daily goodness that comforts and inspires me.  There was a guest post today, “Be the Rabbit” that was so great, made me think of my dogs and helped me to think of another strategy for taking better care of myself.  “Kind Over Matter is a place that is filled with kindness, inspiration, creativity, truth, gentleness & love.” Amen.
  • Blogtoberfest. This event challenges bloggers to post to their blog every day in October.  It was perfect timing for me, because I had just started this blog, and committing to daily posts gave me the discipline and inspiration to really get this thing off the ground.  I might have already faltered if not for Blogtoberfest, but with it, I feel settled and connected to this practice, and can already see it’s value, shared and internalized.
  • Writing This Blog. Writing publicly and daily is really good writing practice, and as I have mentioned before, people like Malcolm Gladwell (who wrote Outliers: The Story of Success) would argue that it takes some 10,000 hours of dedication to a craft or profession to become an “expert,” so the more practice, the better.

And also, a few times in the past weeks, as I have been writing a post, a line emerges that shifts things for me.  Yesterday, it was this one: “it’s actually my heart that is starving and this is not going to feed it, never going to satisfy that hunger no matter how much I eat.”  Holy Wow.  It feels like there’s this deep wisdom bubbling up, and this practice gives it space, power, a voice.

  • A moment of gratitude from one of my favorite movies, Joe Vs. the Volcano: “Dear God, whose name I do not know – thank you for my life. I forgot how big… thank you. Thank you for my life.”
  • Your turn: tell me something good.