Attitude of Gratitude: the why and how of positive thinking | True Self Yoga

Skills: Gratitude

Check out this link for an insightful article on gratitude from Asheville Anusara-Inspired yoga teacher, Mado Hesselink:

Attitude of Gratitude: the why and how of positive thinking | True Self Yoga.

Hot Tip Tuesday: Be Thankful

Hot Tip Tuesday: Thanksgiving Edition!

I am madly in love with this website, I am thankful: Change your life with an Attitude of Gratitude, created by Asheville artist Damaris Pierce. Hot Tip for today: Spend some time on this website. Make a Thanksgiving commitment to yourself to try out a Gratitude Journal. Try it for a week. Try it for a month. Shifting attention to what is working versus what is not working on your Reclaiming Beauty journey can change everything.

In my family, we say our thankfuls together every night. My 2 year old knows the routine; after we read Where the Wild Things Are and before we turn the lights off to go to sleep he will spontaneously say to my husband and me: “Wha’chur thankful for?”

So from Joey to me to you,

“Wha’chur thankful for?”

Image: Artist Meg Winnecour

Hallelujah!

Skills: Gratitude

from Contributor: Katherine Dowdney

originally posted on her blog Blissful Body

I just had the most fabulous birthday week.  Possibly ever.  My best friend and her 9 year old son came to visit and we truly had the greatest time.  We took the pup to the dog friendly beach, savoring wonderful food, drove Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay & Santa Cruz, visited the gorgeous Redwoods, and spent lots of quality time together.  We went on a local hike and the adults were chatting about our bodies and all that comes with how we feel about them, etc.  It wasn’t too heavy of a conversation, but my good 9 year old buddy retorted to all of us something I will think of for everyday to come.  He said, “When I get out of the shower, I like to look at myself in the mirror and say Hallelujah!” He put his arms in the air when he said Hallelujah and was completely celebrating himself.  It was great.

So, everyday, instead of looking at myself in the mirror and over analyzing, or thinking of anything I want to change, I am going to say, “Hallelujah! I am here, alive, healthy and grateful!”

Image: Will & Matthew Clark, ages 8/12, Holden Beach, NC – August 2011

Thank You Body

Thank you hips for carrying me forward this morning.
Thank you legs for being strong enough to push on through the distance I choose to go.
Thank you feet for holding me, lifting me, supporting my every step.
Thank you ribs for sheltering my precious lungs.
Thank you lungs for taking in the sun-filled morning.
Thank you arms for embracing my life, for grabbing onto what is important to me.
Thank you face for feeling the wind and the sweetness of the day.
Thank you eyes for taking it all in, for keeping me centered, grounded, and here today.
Thank you brain for coordinating this amazing journey.
Thank you fingers for being able to stroke my child’s back, fingers, face, hair…
Thank you mouth for swallowing my morning tea.
Thank you heart for being so dedicated, so loyal, so loving.
Thank you soul for wanting so much more.
Thank you stomach for sorting out all that I put in, good and bad.
Thank you intestines for clearing out all that I do not need.
Thank you endocrine system for keeping me balanced, healthy, alive.
Thank you skin for containing me in one miraculous package.
Thank you hair for blowing free and helping me to dream.
Thank you neck for keeping all the communications in my life flowing.
Thank you womb for making me creative, life-producing, feminine, changing, growing.
Thank you teeth for enabling me to bite off what I like and growl at what I don’t.
Thank you ears for listening to the higher voice.
Thank you tongue for helping me to sing.
This is my beautiful body today and always.

*From Rebecca Ruggles Radcliffe, Body Prayers: Finding Body Peace–A Journey of Self Acceptance Copyright©1999 EASE.

We may be ugly, but we are here: Gratitude as a reclaiming beauty practice

Last Spring, as I was driving home from work, I heard a powerful report on NPR about the recovery effort in Haiti after the worst earthquake in the country’s history occurred January 12, 2010.  The aftermath of this devastating earthquake, which left more than 250,000 dead and up to 1.5 million homeless, truly tested the resiliency of the Haitian people. However, I was struck by the reported motto of the Haitian people in the face of this tragedy: “Nou Met Led Me Nou La!” which translates to, “We may be ugly, but we are here.”

In the context of my work with women who struggle with disordered eating and body image issues, this statement was mind-blowing. It is amazing how quickly the important aspects of life are put in perspective when reflecting on this level of human loss and suffering. And how powerful the expression of gratitude at the most basic gift of life.

For weeks after I heard this story, whenever I would hear a client struggling with their body image, the uncensored version of me would want to shout loudly: “You may be ugly, but you are here!” Luckily, I recognized that this kind of statement would most likely not communicate empathy to my clients like they are used to receiving from me. After all, I am usually the one that educates them on the various factors that make a person susceptible to negative body image including low self-esteem, societal and familial messages, biological vulnerability in the form of perfectionistic and obsessive-compulsive traits, developmental history and trauma history. With this level of understanding, I would never want to communicate a simplistic, snap-out-of-it message like: ‘Get over yourself and appreciate what you have!’ Yet, I do see a benefit in sharing this Haitian recovery motto with my clients – developing a mindfulness practice of replacing bad body thoughts with gratitude thoughts.

Bad body thoughts, no matter what their root, can become a repetitive tape in a person’s head. Eventually, people who struggle with negative body image may not even realize what triggers them to start thinking the disparaging thoughts – they have become a well-worn pathway in the brain. But the exciting truth that meditators have known from experience, and researchers are now proving, is that we can train our minds and change our brains by using mindfulness. We can replace the bad body thought pathways with new pathways of gratitude.

Mindfulness, as defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgement. Using gratitude as a reclaiming beauty practice, a person becomes aware of their mind starting down the path of bad body thoughts, without judgement, and then shifts their focus to gratitude. This process creates a new mental filter of appreciation. Ask yourself: What CAN I appreciate about my body? Shift your focus from FORM to FUNCTION.

A daily gratitude practice can be a helpful tool in training your brain to shift its focus. Here are some ideas from M.J. Ryan’s book, Attitudes of Gratitude:

~ Identify 3 things you are grateful for today and what is your part in them?

~ How could things be worse? I’m glad I’m not…

~ When you are struggling, look for the “gift in the wound.” Ask yourself: How have I grown through this difficulty?

I am grateful for the blessings around me, which I can appreciate best when I am attending to them- my beautiful son and husband, our home, my family and friends, fulfilling work, a healthy back so I can move my body again, motherhood and creative outlets. In this season of giving thanks, I am happy to join in the chorus: We may be ugly, but we are here!

You are NOT ugly, but you ARE here! What are you feeling thankful for?

Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.

Welcome

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May we all awaken to the essential goodness and beauty that shines in our hearts.

I honor the beauty in you from the beauty in me.

Walk in beauty.

~ Heidi Houser