At the end of different yoga classes I’ve taken, I’ve sometimes heard teachers offer ideas for practicing gratitude. And since November – with its upcoming Thanksgiving holiday – is often associated with the practice, I thought this would be a good idea to explore this month, but with an idea to practice thanks for the body. Our bodies work hard for us, not just in a class, but in life. If we don’t regularly offer moments of thanks to all of the things our bodies may enable us to do, perhaps it might be time to start.
In a yoga class, the work the body has done may be more obvious. The strength and sturdiness built over a practice may keep the body steady (or steadyish) in balancing poses or enable us to work to keep our breath smooth in a strong warrior pose. The lungs are hard at work each time we breathe and each time we try to regulate our breath. Then we get to settle in savasana, letting all of that work settle and just take a moment for ourselves.
But what about outside of class?
I will admit, I don’t often take a moment to think of the things my body allows me to do, or more so, to thank it for those things. Those “things” may be a long walk on a nature trail or exploring a city, carrying some heavier than expected bags while running errands. Even opening a jar or bottle or something for myself or my family that’s been screwed on a little too tight. But those things are really just as amazing, and something we may take for granted until there’s a sprain or an injury or illness that changes the way we may “regularly” do things.
More and more in classes now, where giving thanks to the body may not be offered, I still try to take that quiet moment just after the final thoughts and before people start cleaning their mats and props and things to say my own quiet thanks for what my body has done during that class, knowing it’s what helps me do so much more outside of class too.
Maybe this November, leading up to the gratitude-filled holiday, I will work to take a few more moments outside of class to thank my body for all that it does. I’ve read about thinking of a few things one is grateful for at the start or end of the day, and often I first think of external things: family, a wonderful dinner out with friends, etc. Here’s a great opportunity to think about how my body helps me to be able to do some of those things to begin with and offer some gratitude.
This is the part of a series of posts for The Mat Yoga Studio, sharing my thoughts and observations as a student only. The views and opinions are my own experience.
