Thanksgiving Day Gratitude Meditation

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

On Thanksgiving we will be practicing a Gratitude Meditation during our 8-10 am asana class. The proceeds from this class will go to the Clark County YWCA's programs that provide the following:

-Advocacy for abused and neglected children involved in the court and foster care system
-Helping youth in foster care transition from state-supported care to independent living
-Supporting women, children, and families who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault
-Providing a safe, nurturing environment where homeless children have opportunities to learn and grow while parents seek housing, employment and other assistance.

Visit the YWCA's website Click here

We have so much to be thankful for. Here is the Gratitude Meditation:

A Meditation on Gratitude and Joy

Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgement of all that sustains us, a bow to our blessings, great and small, an appreciation of the moments of good fortune that sustain our life every day. We have so much to be grateful for.

Gratitude is confidence in life itself. In it, we feel how the same force that pushes grass through cracks in the sidewalk invigorates our own life.

Gratitude gladdens the heart. It is not sentimental, not jealous, nor judgmental. Gratitude does not envy or compare. Gratitude receives in wonder the myriad offerings of the rain and the earth, the care that supports every single life.

As gratitude grows it gives rise to joy. We experience the courage to rejoice in our own good fortune and in the good fortune of others.

Joy is natural to an open heart. In it, we are not afraid of pleasure. We do not mistakenly believe it is disloyal to the suffering of the world to honor the happiness we have been given.

Like gratitude, joy gladdens the heart. We can be joyful for people we love, for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees and for the breath within our breast. And as our joy grows we can finally discover a happiness without cause. Like an innocent child who does not have to do anything to be happy, we can rejoice in life itself, in being alive.

Meditation

Sit quietly and be at ease. Allow your body to be relaxed and open, your breath natural, and your heart easy. Begin this practice of gratitude by feeling how year after year you have cared for your own life. Now acknowledge all that has supported you in this care:

-With gratitude I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.
- With gratitude I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.
-I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.
-I offer my gratitude for the blessings of this earth I have been given.
-I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.
-I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.
-I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given
-I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.
-I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

Breathe gently. Bring to mind someone you care about, someone it is easy to rejoice for. Picture them and feel the natural joy you have for their well-being, for their happiness and success. With each breath, offer them your grateful, heartfelt wishes:

May you be joyful.
May your happiness increase.
May you not be separated from great happiness.
May your good fortune and the causes for your joy and happiness increase.

Sense the sympathetic joy and caring in each phrase. When you feel some degree of natural gratitude for the happiness of this loved one, extend this practice to another person you care about. Recite the same simple phrases that express your heart’s intention.

Gradually open up the meditation to include neutral people, difficult people, and even enemies – until you extend sympathetic joy to all beings everywhere, young and old, near and far. Recite the same simple phrases that express your heart’s intention.

Excerpts from “The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace”, by Jack Kornfield.

Blessings,

paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
http://www.rushingwateryoga.com/
info@rushingwateryoga.com

Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003