As the season turns and we pause to reflect on the gifts of these summer months with our children and families, there is likely much to be grateful for. Both ancient teachings and modern medical research agree that one of the quickest, most direct routes to restoring balance in our lives is to dwell in gratitude and appreciation.
The moment you shift from a mindstate of negativity or judgment to one of appreciation there are immediate beneficial effects at many levels of your being: Your brain function becomes more balanced, harmonized, and supple; your heart begins to pump in a much more coherent and harmoniously balanced rhythm; and biochemical changes trigger a host of healthful balancing reactions throughout your whole body.
In the medicine ways of indigenous people, the restorative power of gratitude was well understood. The heart filled with gratitude generates actions and prayers that complete the circle between the gift that is offered to us as the receiver of the gift, and the sacred source of the gift. To offer prayers of thanksgiving is a gesture of rejoicing in discovering the many gifts that life brings.
Here is a practice we often teach as a way to dwell in gratitude and thanksgiving:
Sitting quietly, shift toward dynamic balance with a few minutes of mindful breathing.
Bring to mind someone that you are deeply grateful for. As you breathe in, take this person to heart. Breathing out, let your heartfelt gratitude shine deeply and brightly to them and through them. Continue for as long as you like, letting each breath take to heart a loved one, a friend, someone who has been kind to you, someone who is teaching you patience or how to forgive.
Let each breath shine from the depths of your being through the depths of their being in order to light up their life with your love. Taking your eyes, your ears, your hands, your intelligence to heart, bless them in a similar way with the heartfelt radiance of your appreciation. Whoever or whatever comes to mind, gather them into your heart, one at a time, or all together. Taking these many gifts to heart, complete and affirm the circle with gratitude, assuring that the stream of blessings in your life and in the universe will be unbroken.
Photo by Sean Dreilinger
