Perhaps you have a daily practice of gratitude that has sustained you through life’s highs and lows. I commend you if you do. This month’s newsletter may just be an affirmation for you. I want to focus on folks who are feeling a bit jaded - perhaps the thought of a gratitude practice or rekindling such a practice causes a bit of an eye-roll reaction. For sure, I think that gratitude could be a daily practice that will serve you well beyond Thanksgiving Day. It can become a standard part of discovering goodness in the world and of remembering that you are part of that goodness.
The best action I can think of that leads to seeing more goodness in the world and feeling grateful is a practice called the daily examen. It can be an action as simple as asking each of your family members over dinner: what are you most grateful for? What are you least grateful for? Or for families with young children, the action might be asking each other for highs and lows of their day. This practice helps to build your awareness of goodness and the lack of it. It can eventually lead to what we may want to do more of and less of each day.
The practice has a rich history. My favorite resource for cultivating and learning about this practice and its origins can be found in this charming book: “Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life.” It looks like a children’s book, but it is actually for adults. It’s available here:
This season is often focused on food. How does it feel to be grateful for your food? For me, I like to pause and say a blessing over my food before I eat it. I like to acknowledge the Creator of the plants and animals that contributed to the meal, the actual plants and animals, the farmers who grew it, the hands that prepared it, and the resources that allowed for all of it. And that it would be truly nourishing to my body. The blessing is a prayer. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, just a simple heartfelt acknowledgement. Do you have a ritual before you eat? Perhaps the Thanksgiving meal is a perfect time to bless the bounty before you and to share it with friends and neighbors.
My husband’s family usually offers as many Thanksgiving desserts as there are savory items. This custom was something I had to adapt to when I first moved here from Australia. I was not used to six choices for dessert. I soon learned that I didn’t have to choose. I noticed many family members took some of each dessert – a sure way to overeat and gain weight! But, my, they were good. I tend to not follow this lavishness (lest the sugar monsters take over my body). But we do have some favorites that I have adapted over the years. My adaptations usually include less sugar or a substitute sweetener, wholewheat flour, butter – whole foods with minimal processing. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite adaptations that is always a hit and easier to make than it looks. From the onset of this newsletter, I did warn you that a recipe or two would probably appear at some point. So here it is, and it’s called Pumpkin Roll. If you make it, let me know how it turns out. Here’s the recipe and step-by-step instructions.
November is a great month to extend hospitality to others. At the same time, showing hospitality to yourself is as important. When I use the word hospitality, I mean how you welcome others and, when applied to you – offering kindness to yourself. How are you communicating the message of “I’m glad you are here. How are you? What’s on your mind?” and then listening. It can also mean doing this over a steaming cup of tea with a home-baked cookie because nothing says I’m-here-for-you like a home-baked cookie (made with love and whole food ingredients). I’m just saying.
So how might you extend such hospitality to yourself during the often-frantic pre-holiday season? I have a few ideas to share. Some are easier to do than others, and they will depend on the flexibility of your schedule and whether you are working/not working, working remotely or working in-person, etc. I have been trying something new; a quiet time from 2-3 p.m. I have resisted this for years, but I know I need it. Previously, the most I have been able to pull off is about 20 minutes of lying down around 5pm. While not a bad thing to do, that’s usually too-little-too-late. It comes from feeling guilty that I “need” a rest/nap during the day, so I put it off until I feel overwhelmed and often cranky. What if I am more intentional about the timing and try on the earlier nap for size and see how it feels in my mind, body, and spirit? The timing is important, but the bigger point is owning the “being” part of “human being”. We are not called human “doings”. Interesting. We are not machines. There is a finite amount of energy and time we have every day. This is good news. Each morning we get to start again refreshed. If you can’t do this during your work week, how might you try to implement it on the weekends? If you have kids, could you trade off with your partner so each of you can take some down time?
The practices I write about in Trauma-Informed Yoga: A Toolbox for Therapists: 47 Practices to Calm, Balance, and Restore the Nervous System, are timeless in that they serve us in any season. They are designed to sustain you in renewing your energy each day.
Special Offer: If you prefer to listen to books rather than read, my friends at Tantor Media are offering my audio book at 50% off through November 28!
Here’s a couple of my favorite practices for you to try this month:
What I am writing about this month
I am working on a new book for yoga teachers with my friend and colleague, Dr. Catherine Cook-Cottone. It’s got me thinking deeply about yoga and how it has turned into a multi-billion-dollar industry that is often devoid of its foundational, ancient healing philosophy and practices. I am sitting with the uncomfortable reality that I largely get to write and publish a book for yoga teachers because of the booming interest and commercialization of the practice. Yet, I want yoga teachers and, hence, their students to learn and understand how we got here and what we can do to support anyone who wants to practice yoga – with or without $100 yoga pants. Stay tuned over the next few months. You’ll hear more about this project.
A Poem and a Sound Bath
Here’s a poem I am working on that is about experiencing a sound bath. A sound bath is just what it . . . uh . . . sounds like – you bathe yourself in sound. The sound bath I participated in included many instruments (played live by Austin pictured below) while the participants were comfortably reclining in shavasana pose on yoga mats with lots of props like blankets, blocks, eye pillows:
Bathing in Sound
The words came to me softly:
“Everything in nature
Comes to stillness
At some point.”
I was lying on my yoga mat
Having bathed in 90 minutes
Of vibrations, sounds from
Crystal bowls, a drone flute, a guzeng,
A didgeridoo, a rainstick, a drum.
And a beautiful mellow voice
Calling me to myself
Calling me to stillness
I was still – at least in my outer body
But inside was a different story
I could sense every fluid in my body
Alive and pulsating from the
Delicious sounds.
Yes, I was still, and aware
And relaxed
Alive and Awake
Fully alert
Such contrasts felt magical in the moment
I received them
And in the subsequent afterglow
No tension, no thoughts. Just peace.
Nowhere to go but here
Nothing to do but
Be here now.
~
So, enjoy your extended period of thanksgiving where ever you are in the world. I know I am thankful for you for reading this newsletter. And even more so if you are considering the practices I am including. It’s never too late to start caring for yourself more. Your life does depend on it.
Connect with Me
As always, here’s the link to the ways you can connect with me through my book, on Zoom in a Gentle Yoga group class, or online or in person one-on-one for yoga therapy or spiritual direction.
Special Offer: If you prefer to listen to books rather than read, my friends at Tantor Media are offering my audio book at 50% off through November 28!
I have limited time slots available due to my writing commitments, but I still have availability. I do my own scheduling via email or text at Joyogi5 at gmail.com or 412.287.4591, so call or email me to schedule an appointment.
Until next month, be well and thanks for reading my newsletter!
https://anjuanand.substack.com/p/42-days-to-the-new-year-42-days-to