Yesterday evening I was fortunate enough to go to the workshop ‘Creating Balance and Resilience’ with Swami Karma Karuna in Masterton, Wairarapa. Swami Karuna, founder of the Anahata yoga retreat, had much knowledge to share, spending her life dedicated to the search of creating balance within.
Everything Swami KK spoke of struck a chord within me, it made complete sense to my own personal beliefs and values. We must regularly practice that which brings us into a place of internal ‘balance’. Swami spoke of many examples of ways in which we can do this including; time in nature, deep breathing exercises, mindfulness, yoga nidra and regular gratitude practice. All of these are important to me personally, but it is the idea of practicing gratitude that sticks with me today in particular.
I could talk about this subject for hours! There are many ways in which to cultivate gratitude but the important message is to make it a habit. A healthy, positive habit. Each morning I tend to come to feelings of gratitude in my daily meditation and honestly, it makes me feel so good. I feel really set up for the day. So now, in times when I’m completing other more mundane tasks in my day, I might drift back to my gratitude feeling. It makes me feel really quite centred and in balance. Swami KK encourages us to incorporate feeling of gratitude, thinking of what you are grateful for as part of your daily routine. It might be as you wake up, before getting out of bed or perhaps before you go to sleep at night. I met one person who practiced thoughts of gratitude whilst brushing her teeth! Well brushing teeth is a daily ritual after all! Just find what works for you.