Another Thanksgiving is in the books, and I think I am still full now on Friday afternoon from that final piece of pecan pie that I ate around 7pm last night. While I don’t mind the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, the fact that Thanksgiving requires no gifts allows for reflection on non-material things. Trust me, I love tangible objects and new clothes and pretty housewares with the best of them, but to give thanks for other blessings keeps everything in perspective.
I was all ready to write this blog post on how I am thankful for my health. And I am, but then I started to feel weird about writing that, like if I wasn’t healthy or if someday I become ill, I will have less to be thankful for, and that just left a sour taste in my mouth. So I started to think about health and lifestyle and habits and routines, and I believe that my appreciation and gratitude for health and wellness points straight to the influence that Bikram Yoga has had on my life. The yoga has an unbelievable ability to heal; therefore, my studio and Bikram Yoga in general attract a lot of people who are hurting. Some issues are acute injuries that can heal quickly if the person comes in right away, while other times the list of chronic pain is endless. Either way though, people come into the yoga room hurting and leave the yoga room feeling better. They are taking action toward improving the quality of their lives – that’s healing and empowering!
While I am of course grateful to have found Bikram Yoga not only to practice it but also to teach it and to have it be my business, I think I’m most grateful for it because I can depend on it to help me feel my best. We can’t control every situation that life throws at us, but we can control how we react to it. And more times than not, I find myself turning to my Bikram Yoga practice to help adjust my stiff neck or calm my racing mind or detox an over-the-top holiday meal 😉
I posted the pictures above of my family and me out for a pre-meal woods walk on Thanksgiving morning. We’re not doing yoga, but the yoga is with me.
Thank you Bikram Yoga for helping me feel healthy and strong to be with my family in an active, engaging way.
Thank you Bikram Yoga for letting me roll out of bed with no pain and good balance when one of my babies cries in the middle of the night.
Thank you Bikram Yoga for a healthy digestive system to help me process that meal last night and more importantly, make room for left-overs.
But above all else, thank you Bikram Yoga for providing an avenue toward healing and overall well-being.
I hope that this post makes sense; sometimes I am just so darn thankful to have been the fortunate recipient of an invitation from my college roommate to take my first Bikram Yoga class. It’s hard to put into words how one moment, one invitation, and one class had such an impact on my life. I breathe a sigh of relief thinking back on that time.
Giving thanks feels so good. Focusing on the good makes us feel thankful. I hope you had a wonderful and delicious holiday, and I’d always love to know what you’re thankful for as well!
