gratitude: a medicinal practice to feel present & open to the fullness of life
The energy of autumn is enveloping us like an emotive song filling our hearts… maybe even pulling on our heart strings. Here in the northeast, the trees are putting on a magnificent show of colors. Rapturous and inherent in this beauty are a lot of other emotions as well.
All at once.
Many Eastern traditions like Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine consider autumn the season of grief... a natural response to witnessing the landscape shifting before us.
We are nature, and we’re currently in a state of transition and transformation.
In this time, even if we can’t quite put our finger on it, there’s actually an undercurrent of nostalgia or sorrow. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, anxious, and sad these days.
Even aside from the natural energy of the season, we know that there are many things we can point to in the world that would cause us great grief right now.
gratitude: an essential grounding practice in autumn
In this season, there is an essential source of medicine that has been practiced by many cultures and spiritual lineages over generations—gratitude.
Remembering our gratitude is fortifying, supportive, rejuvenating, insulating… and it gives us strength when we are feeling wobbly and depleted.
Gratitude invites us to be present and open to the fullness of life.
In the same way the earth holds our physical body, we can allow gratitude to hold and nourish our hearts, to remember our wholeness.
It fills our hearts and minds with the resources to better hold space for all of the challenging feelings that may be present and flowing through us.
Research shows that the practice of gratitude releases a surge of neurotransmitters called happiness chemicals that boost our sense of well-being, stabilize our mood, and help us feel more relaxed. In other words, it actually wires our brains to help us build resilience, strength, and fortitude.
I’d love to share with you a nurturing, grounding gratitude practice to help support you over the next few weeks.
This meditation incorporates a “just like me” metta practice to help us feel more connected… which is the guiding value that supports us in pausing to lean more toward each other in community rather than to separate amid all the transitions life is serving us right now.
“May we all work on the expansion of the heart—our heart.”
FREE PRACTICES FOR THESE TIMES
nervous system practices for nerve wracking times
In three 30-minute on-demand classes, you’ll work with stress and relaxation through somatic practices that focus on soothing the psoas, releasing the diaphragm, and toning the vagus nerve.
We’ll cover basic anatomy, as well as flow through slow mindful movement, breathing practices, awareness tools, as well as extended restorative poses.
“just like me” meditations for election season
When we regulate our nervous system, we help set conditions neurologically and physiologically—in our mind and body—to create space for understanding, compassion, care, and empathy.
Join this free meditation series (and access on demand meditations offered in the last several weeks) to feel more calm and connected in the coming days.
