If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.

~ Meister Eckhardt.

Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.

~ Herman Hesse

Bonus: a video of Elvis doing (and singing about) yoga.

This week’s mind chatter.

Since I have been sooooo Lame about getting my blog done I didn’t have a focus to talk about or quotes to read to my yoga classes this week, so in a moment of “Now what?” I grabbed a page from a “The Secret” daily thoughts calendar that I unearthed during my move. It reads….

 “There is a difference between feeling gratitude and appreciation for something and feeling attachment to something. Appreciation and gratitude are states of pure love, while attachment contains fear – fear of losing or not having what you are attached to. When it comes to something you want in your life, appreciation and gratitude attract, while attachment pushes away. If you are feeling afraid that you won’t get what you want or of losing what you have, then you have attachment. To remove the attachment, keep shifting yourself into a state of appreciation and gratitude, again and again, until you can feel that the fear has faded and has been replaced by joy.” ~ Anon

It turned out to be just what I needed to hear this week and I have developed my theme around the page…necessity being the mother of invention, and all.

So I  invited my students to use their yoga practice this week to feel this idea in action…you can too…when we come to the mat we often “desire” a certain outcome, a way of feeling, an accomplishment of certain poses. Can we begin, here on the mat to let go of the attachment to outcome?  Over and Over I remind students to be grateful for what their body can do…to appreciate the opportunity to practice. (I’m really reminding myself but that’s a whole other blog) How often do we focus in on not being able to do Hanumanasana? Or Bakasana Or “insert least favorite pose here” Rather than on what we can do?

The theme has sort of turned into a litany of me repeating the mantra “you can’t be bad at yoga”…You can only practice, and find joy in the practice and be full of gratitude that you live in a time and place that allows you to discover yourself in such a profound way…When was the last time you said thanks to your hamstrings?  Hey – Muscles are people too and they react better when you appreciate them and take care of them – push and pulling never gets you anywhere; except maybe a push or pull back!

So say thanks, to yourself for showing up, to your family (or dog or cat) for giving you the space to go, to the studio owner for struggling with business matters to bring us yoga, to the long line of people that have kept yoga alive so that we can enjoy it today…as a teacher I find the idea of gratitude one of the easiest tasks as I can truly say I am so very grateful for my students, they give me so much it’s magical.

Let go of attachment and enjoy the process – you may just find the “piece” you have been looking for…Namaste

Yoga Pose for the Week: 

eka pada rajakapotasana – One foot king pigeon pose (I love this video because it shows the use of props…remember it’s a work in progress!)

Fitness tip of the week:

Arnica Gel…I recently discovered that many of my clients and students aren’t using Arnica for their sore muscles? What?  I don’t know who told me or where I learned about it…I just know that I am grateful for arnica Montana, both internal and external forms. Greatly reduces recovery time, takes the ache out and for bruises? It really does help them clear up faster.  Already using Arnica? Tell us your favorite brand and where you purchase yours from!

Mantra for the week: inhale I am exhale joy

Shanti!