Wednesday, November 24, 2010

thanksgiving eve class

I taught a class at the yoga center on thanksgiving eve.

I like thanksgiving because it is a day where we are consciously grateful for the many blessing we having and the many teachers, friends, family and strangers who share compassion with us and support us. I think we should be grateful everyday for all that we have but thanksgiving is a nice day to come together and consciously acknowledge the beautiful souls and many blessings in our life.

The Anusara philosophy teaches us purna. Purna is one of the six attributes of the Absolute and means fullness or perfect completeness. Meaning that the universe is perfectly full it has everything it needs and each one of us is perfectly full. We have everything we need to be happy and content. We are full of beauty, blessing and supportive loving teacher, friends, and family.

When we acknowledge how full we are of blessing and have gratitude for all that we have we can express more generosity and love to each other and our self.

I handed out paper and pens to the students at the beginning of class and gave them all a moment to write a few things that they are grateful for and had them put it under their mats. I encouraged them to bring this purna, this fullness into their asanas by bringing to mind what they are thankful for maybe even imagine people’s faces or whatever it is that makes them feel full inside. This is what I love about asana. It isn’t just a pose we are holding with good alignment but it is the bhava, the heart quality or feeling that we cultivate.

The class had a wonderful energy to it. Some people even had a few tears.
I also started and ended the practice with a reiki inspired meditation that I saw Elena Brower do on yogaglo where you rub your hands together creating heat and then place the hands gently over closed eyes allowing the heat of the hands to help the eye balls and eye lids soften. I even used the quote she used from Dr. Douglas Brooks “We don’t live with the way the world is, we live with the way we see the world”. I encouraged students to choose a soft loving gaze this holiday season full of compassion and generosity instead of dry stressed out not blinking stare full of to do list and potential family drama.

I am thankful for my loving husband who makes me smile everyday! I am thankful for my many teachers whom I am inspired by and learn so much from. I am thankful for my students who laugh with me and help me grow as a teacher. I am thankful for my friends and family who give me so much love and support. I am thankful for the beauty of the world and the kindness of stranger. I am thankful for myself, for wanting to see how I can grow so I can show up the fullest (purna) in all my relationships.

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