It goes without saying that Sōl Yoga Collective is grateful to each and every one of you. We are grateful to see you in person or via livestream. We are heartened by your willingness to show up when you can, to be present and adaptive. We are thankful for a true collective of yoga enthusiasts that we surround ourselves with daily. But did you know that gratitude is naturally part of every yoga practice? It’s an essential core value that yoga instructors learns as they begin to teach.
We share the gift of gratitude to everyone who joins us on their mat in yoga class, but that gratitude extends far beyond their mat or our studio.
Webster’s Dictionary defines gratitude as “the state of being grateful; thankfulness.”
We demonstrate gratitude within yoga by welcoming you to class, looking at each student, offering an embodied experience and listening carefully to the room.
Yoga shows us how to be grateful for our gifts, all of our gifts including the ones that only we see within or the ones that challenge us.
Gratitude helps our students stay focused on their mats, and to keep a positive mindset which allows the energy and experience of yoga to expand.
Gratitude also gives us the chance to widen our horizons and shift our perspectives. Just like yoga itself, gratitude tests us physically and emotionally, asking us to go further. Not just to be thankful for the obvious things that we receive in life – work bonuses, dream vacations, academic achievements – but also the things that we didn’t ask for. We don’t ask to be ill or injured. We don’t ask for lack of what we desire. We don’t ask for stress or insomnia, and yet within each of those experiences there is something we can be thankful for. We can be thankful that through our illness or injury we grew in compassion for those who are permanently disabled or sick. We can be thankful that those restless nights allowed us to find solutions, and we can be thankful that we appreciate what we have more because of those times in need. We can be thankful, and we can take action to assist those whose needs are greater or more sustained than ours.
Gratitude, like yoga itself, reduces stress, calms us, and keeps us open to receiving the gifts of life. Gratitude and yoga both help detoxify the mind, strengthen the body, and purify our intentions. Gratitude and yoga both lead to joy, to new friendships, and improved relationships with loved ones.
Gratitude and yoga both strengthen our focus and clarity and are perfect partners in creating a lifelong meditational practice. Sometimes we meditate at the end of yoga, after a long and intensive class. But there’s also nothing wrong with doing yoga at the end of a long and deeply restorative meditation. And we are grateful that life continues to offer choices that we have power over.