November 27, 2008, Gratitude Lessons from the November New MoonGratitude lessons from this Thanksgiving morning, 2008: I am sitting on the unfinished wooden floor of a tiny room that serves my household as its only closet, squeezed in between the door and the dresser, because that's where the outlet is, and the battery for my laptop won't hold a charge. I am here because I don't want to wake my sleeping husband, or my sleeping visiting parents. The windows are shaking a bit in the wind. It's been icy cold these last few days, my fingers are numb and my nose is running, and my back and neck are cramped and aching. Thank you, Goddess, for my home, my family, and a body that can still serve me, if begrudgingly, in less than ideal circumstances. Om namah sivaya. Pilgrims and politics aside, it's just a good idea to practice intentional gratitude. It is, in part, what we do when we do yoga - we take note of, or appreciate, what is. We fill our lungs with breath, allow our awareness to permeate a moment, and whether that moment is occupied by downward facing dog or waiting for a traffic light to turn from red to green, we can't help but notice all that's functioning within us. There's the tightness in our hips or hamstrings, sure. There's the finite nature of the passing time. But we also notice our beating heart and firing synapses. We perceive the miracle of the body that continues to just do what it does, processing calories into energy, manufacturing hormones and antibodies, building new cells and throwing away the old ones. And the very breadth of scope we achieve through paying attention makes it a little bit easier to choose to see the glass half full. It is a simple form of counting our blessings, an exercise in the obvious. And it is tremendously powerful. This Thanksgiving day comes at the time of the new moon, and I love that, because new moon times are for setting intentions. Traditionally, new moons were the times to plant seeds, and you could say that the collective consciousness of the centuries has built a samskara, a pathway, or construct, that supports trajectory of the metaphorical seeds we plant as they take root and become the harvests of our futures. This is reflected in the way the moon looks like it's getting bigger for the two weeks following its newness. As the goddess builds herself, as she expands, so the ancient people thought that they should build and expand. Setting intention is a pulling together of resources toward the end that you desire - like having an inner committee meeting to launch the manifestation of the qualities and circumstances you wish to see in your day to day life. In this age of The Secret, and the law of attraction theories so easily found on the internet, it is easy to get carried away by the phantasm of our own supreme agency, the power we supposedly possess to "create" the realities we're living with. While I do believe that we affect the universe, because we are an aspect of that universe, it is important to remember that we are not the entire universe; there are myriad other beings and energies in the mix. It isn't reasonable to expect that we could, for example, manifest summer in January. Likewise, it's not helpful to blame ourselves if we have pain, or too much stress, or cancer, or loneliness. This is a good thing. We need the reasonable stability of our shared reality to ground us and provide us with a backdrop for our individual growth. But while there are always going to be certain basic facts of life that are beyond our control, we do get to choose how we receive them. We get to pick - how we are going to reflect and define what it is we take notice of, how we are going to engage with the there there. And, since we are connected to each other through these shared consistent truisms, how we engage with what is will influence how what is engages with us. Manifestation - often misunderstood - is not an act of creating something from nothing. Manifestation an act of making seen, or see-able, what already exists. Gratitude lessons are reality based. And it's here our power lies - in how we color what what is by the manner in which we receive it. Is your aching back a sign of your impending deterioration, or of the undeniable fact that you're still enjoying the incomparable gift that is your life? It is said that what we appreciate, appreciates. The pose for this new moon Thanksgiving is one of inquiry - how are you affecting your life, your health and happiness and the experiences you have every day, by how you color what you see? Ground yourself in gratitude - and let your thanks be your intention to expand the richness of the life you're already living. gratitude lessons - 11/08 read the Gratitude Diary post
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