Reflections of Gratitude

If there is one thing that makes teaching yoga to children easy, it’s a holiday.  As a former kids instructor, I enjoyed lesson planning immensely, perhaps sometimes more than carrying out the lesson in the studio or classroom!  (It must have been the creative side of me eeking its way out to the world)  Nothing was more fun than designing themes around holidays.  Last year at Thanksgiving, I remember my gratitude-based lesson, complete with Mayflower (boat), Plymouth Rock (child’s), and Turkey (Warrior III) poses, as well as a fun game requiring “tables” to balance pretend food on their backs while “chairs” sat and ate Thanksgiving dinner.

Just thinking about that lesson and remembering the joy in discussing the first Thanksgiving story and sharing thoughts of gratitude, all the while bringing fun and fitness to children, fills me with some degree of regret, doubt and sadness.

After all, the part-time-yoga-instructor/part-time-property-manager/full-time-mom path I was on a year ago, while fulfilling in some ways, was also causing chaos, frustration, uncertainty and unnecessary stress in my life.    And while it is easy to continue on a path that is not fulfilling, it is much more difficult to stand up and walk away.  Especially when you are walking away from something you care deeply about or have invested yourself in emotionally or financially.

This Thanksgiving, I’ve thought a lot about the many things in my life for which I am grateful.   My health.  My family.  My happiness.  My home.  My son’s recent potty training!  My evening cup of tea.  My job.  My favorite song.  My husband.  My friends.  My self-discipline.  My challenges.  My victories.

All of these things, and many, many more, are worthy of my personal gratitude.  But one thing struck me as gratitude swirled about in my head and I tried to grasp exactly what it was that has made me who I am today.

The thing I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving is CHANGE.

Change is the common theme of all things for which I am grateful this Thanksgiving (well, all except my husband — he’s stuck around through it all!).   Change is not something most people welcome or approach without hesitation.  Change is something to fear and is often portrayed in a negative light.  But as Patanjali states in Book Two, Verse Five:  Nescience is the seeing of that which is eternal, pure, joyful and the Self in that which is ephemeral, impure, sorrowful, and the non-self. In other words, when we believe that we, and the people, circumstances and objects in our lives, will always remain the same, we are ignorant, and misunderstand the impermanence of the world.

Judith Lasater, PhD, PT, interprets this sutra in her book, Living Your Yoga:

“It takes a brave heart to accept that everything changes.  Even when things are not the way we want them, we still fear change.  Our attachment to things remaining the same creates suffering.  When we cling to the illusion of permanence, what we actually hope to secure is protection from the terrifying unknown that impermanence represents.”

This Thanksgiving I look at my growing children with their ever-changing abilities.  I mentioned the potty-training, but something else much less significant in the eyes of a child development specialist would be my daughter’s excitement earlier this evening, as she showed off how well she had folded a towel.  I can relate to her joy and sense of accomplishment.  There are many seemingly small accomplishments in my life, for which I’ve beamed with pride.

Change isn’t something we always control.  Sometimes change happens to us, coming at us from a force against which we have no defense.  But to cling to that which is not meant to be only holds us back from finding our true selves.  In this trying economic time in our country, it’s not easy to hear these words, but I truly believe, “When one door closes, another opens.”

I’m so grateful for the doors which have closed and opened in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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