The One Prayer That Changed My Life

In this episode, Amber shares with you the one prayer that changed her entire life. It isn't about having it all - it's about having nothing and knowing you have it all. This is the practice that saved my life in the hardest times.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Yoga Off the Map podcast with Amber Hackberg. This is episode number 20 and I am so excited to dive into this episode because it's one of the practices I think ultimately changed my life completely. And I'll begin with a special quote that I love to use on Instagram and Facebook and in my life and it's this, If there was only one prayer in your life that you ever said, Let it be thank you and that would be enough. Let that resonate. If there was only one prayer you ever said in your entire life, Let it be thank you and that is enough. One of the things that I find amongst the hundreds of women that I work with is how we really like focus on our airs, Our flaws, Where we make mistakes and we forget. We weren't taught how to celebrate life and the things that we have to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and simply just be grateful to be alive. Today's topic is all about gratitude and celebration of what you do have. If you focus on what you're lacking, You find more things to lack. But if you focus on what you're grateful for, There's so much more to be grateful for. And I just want to share with you a little personal story of when I really dove into the gratitude practice. If you've been on my podcast, Following me on Instagram or Facebook for a while, You've probably heard this story, But it was such an impactful time of my life that I just can't forget it. It shaped who I am today. And it's this, I was going through the worst breakup of my entire life and in the most pain I've ever felt since my dad died. And I woke up every morning and I practiced being grateful. I felt grateful for my arms and my legs. I felt grateful for my car and the ability to be living in Costa Rica. I felt grateful for my yoga practice and the ability to wake up and eat good, Healthy foods that nourish my body. I focused on the little things that were surrounding me in my life, Even though I was falling apart. When we celebrate the little things or the big things, We get to realize how much it is that we have. We magnify the feeling that like, Holy crap, Life is amazing. Think about it. You have hands, Hands that can write, Hands that can weave through your hair, Hands that can type at the computer. You have arms, Arms that can hug people and hold people. If you're like me, You can surf, You can do yoga. You have legs to walk. You have a body to experience this epic life. You have eyes that can see, A nose that can smell, A mouth that can taste and kiss and just express in so many different ways. There is so much in our lives to be grateful for. And if every single day you wake up in a celebration for all that you do have, You magnify even more in your life to celebrate. And I find that using gratitude as a daily prayer and ritual will enhance the quality and fulfillment, The joy and the happiness in your life because you'll realize all that you do have rather than focusing on all the things that you lack, Comparing yourself to everyone else in the world and like you don't have. When you look at your body and you're like, Holy body, You take me and all of these different places around the world allowed to work, To drive my car, To walk down the street rather than thinking like, Wow, Her body is better than mine. I wish I was smaller like her. I wish I could gain weight like this body. Comparing takes away. We look at what we don't have and then we're not enough. But when we're like, Wow, I loved and I lost, I'm grateful for the relationship and all that it gave me rather than like, That was a waste of my time. Now the love is over. What was I doing? He broke my heart. And we focus on all the reasons like the relationship sucked and it like took from us. We play the victim rather than being like, Wow, This relationship has a whole lot to teach me. Just giving gratitude for the ability to breathe and be alive. So powerful. So powerful to be like, Wow, I'm here on this planet. The other day, One of my students says she graduated last year in September and she said, Wow, Every time I see someone after COVID, They say to me, You've changed. I can't believe who you are. You're such a different person. And she continues to tell me this over the last year, Just like how many people she sees and how much she shifted. And she was struggling with depression and anxiety. Her ex-wife like broke her heart. She went through all of these terrific things. Poor woman. I love her to death like a soul sister. And she transformed her life through the Live Your Yoga mentorship. But I asked her like, How often do you celebrate the woman that you've become? And she's like, What do you mean? What does that mean? And it's like, So many people are celebrating you. So many people are like, Wow, Girl, You've got it going on. What happened to you? And she's like, There's this thing yoga, There's this girl, Amber. And she doesn't celebrate who she's become, But everyone's celebrating her. And if she did, She would just expand even more. So in this moment in your life, Like, Are you celebrating the woman that you've become? Are you celebrating all that you've been through? To think like life is cause and effect. And everything in your life that you've been through, Everything in your life that you've done or haven't done has led you up into this moment of who you are today, The effect of what you've done. So if you think about that, The woman that you're becoming all matters on what you do right now. Be grateful for the heartbreak, The weight gain or loss. Be grateful that you have a body. Be grateful that you've experienced transformation. Be grateful that you've hit rock bottom. Be grateful that you have a house and a car, A job, A business. But don't forget to be grateful for the little things. The person that walked by you and smiled, The friend that sent you a text message and said they were thinking about you. Begin to celebrate the little things so small. And then celebrate, Take yourself on dates. Really begin to see that who you're becoming all matters right now is this, Can you be more grateful for what you have? Can you focus more on all the things that surround you rather than looking at all the things you wish you had or that you don't have or that someone else has? And remember that this moment is sacred and everything that you've done and you've been through has transformed you into who you've become today. And who you're becoming is a matter of what you focus on right now. Focus on how grateful you are to have what you have, To be who you are and let that energy, Magnitude more to be grateful for. Let that energy show you that you are and have enough. An attitude of gratitude. This is such a sacred practice. You can do this journaling and it's something that I do every morning or at least every night is I just write down all the things that I'm grateful for. Little things, Big things, Achievements, Things that I thought I wanted that didn't come through. Gratitude that life teaches me how to surrender, Teaches me how to trust. Write it down, Put it in a journal or you can just think when you're lying down in bed at night, Three things that you have to be grateful for or when you wake up in the morning, Three things that you have to be grateful for. When you're driving to work, I'm grateful that I can drive. When you're eating a meal, I'm grateful that I can feed myself nourishing foods. When you're making love, I'm so grateful for this moment right now. When you're brushing your teeth, Wow, I have water. For me, Living in the jungle where we run out of water for sometimes days at a time, You really start to find gratitude for water. When something is taken away from you, You get to realize how grateful you were for it. How can you be grateful before it gets taken away from you? How can you find gratitude for what you have now before you lose it? How can you feel more joy and fulfillment in this moment? By being grateful. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. In each moment, How can you be grateful for this experience? I find so much joy and gratitude to be able to share the practice of living your yoga on and off the mat. I find so much gratitude that I can take my traumatic past and all that I've been through and all the pain I had to endure and now get to coach hundreds of women around the world to change their lives through this ancient practice, Over 4, 000 years old. I'm sure practicing gratitude and giving thanks is a sacred prayer that's been going on since human existed. Think back to those that had to go out and hunt for food. I'm thankful for nature and the ability to find fish in the water or animals running through the forest. Oh, There's so much to be grateful for. So much to be grateful for. And what I would love for you to do is choose something that you do from today moving forward where gratitude is a part of your daily life and existence. Write it in a journal or wake up and reflect in your mind or fall asleep thinking about. And if it's a challenging time, Even more important to focus on what you do have rather than to highlight on what you're missing. I promise you that no matter where you're at in your life or what you're going through, You have something to be grateful for. And if you're going through a tough time, Take my advice. Practicing gratitude when my heart was shattered and broken was the best thing that I ever could have done to transform that energy into what I was losing to manifest who I was becoming. You are becoming something. Choose who you become by focusing on what you have. An attitude of gratitude. Give thanks on a daily basis. Something that you do. Give thanks for it. Cherish those small moments and celebrate every moment of your life. Let your life be a celebration that is just one you can't help. Take yourself out. Buy yourself chocolate. Drink the wine. Do the yoga. But do it all with a space of attitude is gratitude. And so from that, Let's just dive into a little mini meditation here to feel joy, To feel content, To feel completely grateful in this moment. Whether or not you're driving, You're sitting, You're lying in your bed. Breathe in and out. And I just want you to think in your mind, What do you have to celebrate? What can you be grateful for in your life right now? When you think about it, What does that bring you? If you're grateful for your body, What does your body allow you to do? If you're grateful for your lover or your friend, What do they bring you and how do they make you feel? Whatever it is that came to your mind that you're giving thanks to, Why do you feel grateful for it? Feel it in your body, What this brings to your life and how this fills you up. Think of something else. Let something else come to mind that you have to be grateful for. And what does it bring you? Why does it fill you up with that attitude to be so darn grateful in this moment? Let it put a smile on your face and fill you with the joy that you have this in your life. And one more thing, Bring it to mind, What else in your life are you celebrating, Are you grateful for? And how does it make you feel? Why are you celebrating this? What does it bring and how does it influence your life in a positive way? Amazing, Now in this moment, Reflect on all three of those things, Let them pass through your mind. I am grateful, I am grateful, I am grateful, Say it out loud with me, I am grateful, I am grateful to be alive, I am grateful for my body, I am grateful to be here right now in this moment, This moment is amazing and I am celebrating the woman that I've become, I am celebrating the woman that I've become. Continue to celebrate you and all that you've become and I'm going to put together a little show notes for you where you can dive in into this practice that I encourage you to take on a daily basis. I'll share with you ways that you can wake up and end your day with gratitude, Journal questions you can use to enhance your gratitude practice and a little tidbit on how you can start to take yourself on out dates as well as celebrate who you are and all that you've done to get to where you are today. Remember the most valuable, Sacred, Important relationship that you will ever have is the relationship you have with yourself. Celebrate her, Celebrate you and as always if you enjoy listening to this podcast, Help spread the love, Hashtag Amber, Go on to Apple iTunes, Leave me a five-star review, Spread the message of how we can bring yoga off the mat into the world to live a life of fulfillment and really enhance the relationship we have with ourselves to connect deeper to those in the world around us. I will see you for the next episode and I am so deeply grateful for you to be here and listening to this podcast. Until the next one, Have a beautiful rest of your day, Your evening and I am always here cheering you on and celebrating you.

Reviews

Thank You !!! 💗