Hello and welcome to Yoga Beyond Asana with Shari and welcome to practice.
Today we'll be exploring how to incorporate gratitude in our everyday lives.
Today's practice is more of an intro.
Before you dive in into the asana practice,
Take this back a step.
When you explore the yoga sutras,
Which are the oji text on yoga,
One of the things that is important before you try and hear whatever that is going on mentally,
Physically with asana,
You should try using some pranayama and meditation first.
When you arrived at a yoga class,
Give this a try.
Instead of chatting to the person next to you,
Find a comfortable position,
Whether it's lying on your back or sitting up in sukhasana or an easy pose.
Softly close the eyes and tune in to your breath.
Sit in here quietly to regulate and steady the breath.
You may notice your mind wanders in and out.
That's okay.
Say thank you to that thought and slowly guiding yourself back to your breath.
Think of this as a tool for you to practice by sending messages to your body and your mind that you are grateful for being here.
And how it is most effective is if you pick a time of the day which you can consistently return to your love and gratitude meditation.
So maybe every morning you wake up and you meditate before you do anything else or maybe you find it's better for you to do meditation at night just before bed.
Whatever schedules you have,
I hope that today's class serves as a space for you to turn to and wherever you are in life,
Find the time to take a few moments to settle in and tune in to your breath.
Let us begin today's class by finding a comfortable position lying down on the floor in savasana.
Allow the spine to become long and straight as you relax the body into the floor.
Let the hands rest by the sides and the eyes to softly close.
Take a deep breath in,
Open the mouth,
Exhale completely.
It's common for us to become focused on wanting the things that we don't have and while most of us hardly noticed how often we are always wanting,
Perhaps we can begin to bring awareness to that habit through a daily meditation practice.
When you train your mind to count the things that you have and appreciate them,
The desire to want for more slowly becomes less important.
Let us begin our practice of our love and gratitude by bringing appreciation for this very moment that you are here right now.
Bringing awareness to the breath and begin to feel gratitude for every inhale and every exhale.
Begin to bring to mind someone you are grateful for,
Someone who makes you smile when you think of them.
This can be a person or something that you already have.
Allow yourself to feel the warmth and love of that person or something that you already have and send that love and gratitude back.
Now begin to reflect on your day.
Think of the things that made you smile.
Allow yourself to pause here and give thanks to those moments.
If you are struggling to bring something to mind,
That's okay.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Take a moment to pause here and bring gratitude to this very moment for having the opportunity to find uninterrupted pace within yourself.
Now,
As we near the end of our practice,
Gently begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Begin to bring your awareness back to the room and when you are ready,
Allow your eyes to open.
Namaste.
