Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It’s a good Holiday. The reminder to be grateful for what we have is a powerful practice. As a seeker and a dedicated yoga practitioner, I have been wondering about the sensation of gratitude as a mind-body sensation. I do not mean being thankful or grateful for something. I mean conjuring the sensation itself through both mind and body. I believe this sensation has yogic implications for our realization of unity. In fact, in my yoga classes, it is not uncommon to hear me say, “In these few moments before we begin, feel grateful, not for something in particular, just feel grateful.”
For thousands of years, the yogis have been passing down a simple but profound realization. Remember they were sitting in the dirt before cell phones and mortgages, before paychecks and computers, and they were meditating on existence. They closed their eyes and came back with a fundamental insight: We are unified with the Universe. They meant this literally, not merely as an abstraction, but literally. I believe they developed the eight limbs of yoga to communicate this realization of unity with more texture and dimension.
The realization of unity is no easy task. In fact, evolution has wired our brains against it. We are wired to perceive threat, not unity. We survived because we figured out when to run from a saber-toothed tiger and when to stand our ground and fight. (This fight-or-flight response is literally instantiated into our autonomic nervous system.) Unfortunately, this evolved sense of threat makes the realization of unity that much more difficult. For example, we habituate the feeling of relief – it does not stay in focus within our minds because it is nearly the opposite of threat. This can even be seen in a yoga class. Students habituate the sensation of relief that comes from a supportive adjustment. They can only distinguish relief for about 20 seconds before await the next instruction. Bummer huh.
This brings me back to the sensation of gratitude. I believe that gratitude is a transcendent, door-opening sensation to the realization unity. It opens, connects and creates a sense of lightness and contentment. When I feel grateful, I feel more connected to everything around me. What’s more, yoga poses help to enhance this sensation. I am able to sustain and deepen a sense of gratitude if my chest is gently lifted, if I feel grounded, if I am more balanced. When I feel grateful, I hum with a deepened sense of unity. When I add the congruence of my body, it only gets better.
Happy Thanksgiving.