“We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in.”
-Ernest Hemingway
The pandemic is a reality that we can’t ignore. We shouldn’t ignore it, but I’ll be real with you: I’m pretty tired of it. So while this has become our ‘reality’ for now, my coping mechanism is to shift my focus to other things periodically throughout the day. Because there are a million other things to highlight, celebrate, remember. COVID-19 is not the totality of our lives, nor will it last forever.
I have the good fortune to be part of a wonderful online mom’s group called the Wake Up and Thrive Network, and one of our perennial practices is a gratitude practice. This can take the form of journaling, meditation, prayer, or even images or post-it notes around the house to remind you of the things you are thankful for.
Gratitude is also implied in the practices of yoga: santosha, one of the niyamas in yoga, helps us foster contentment and one of the easiest ways to reach that content state is to weave reminders of what you’re thankful for into your day.
Sometimes that expression of gratitude doesn’t come naturally; or we’re at a low point and it’s hard to feel thankful in the face of all our thoughts, worries, and fears. But, just like our kids, who we often urge to say ‘thank you’ to others, sometimes we have to urge ourselves to do the same.
At times when I think of things that make my life feel full, I feel like I’m just listing items: I’m thankful for my family, my friends, good food...and that’s alright. Sometimes it’s just a list, without strong emotion connected to it. But, just as with any yoga practice, there will be days when you feel you are going through the motions and days when you feel more alive and you feel that fullness of gratitude right in your heart.
The trick to this is to stop and slow down. Maybe that means a brief meditation, or even just a pause to take a deep breath or two. Lately I’ve been feeling a little stagnant in my emotions and thinking, so ironically, movement helps me slow down. Conscious movement. Nothing perfect or prescribed, just pure play, experimentation, and feeling. It brings me into my body, wakes up feelings of joy and aliveness, and from there, that sense of fullness and gratitude can expand through me from my core.
I love the Hemingway quote above about letting the light in — it speaks to the optimist in me. But I think of gratitude practice, and yoga in general, as a way of letting your light out. Polishing yourself off and shining. Because light is not just for you to gather and shelter hidden deep inside you, it’s meant for radiating out to the world around you. We all need more of that at this moment!
Here’s a fun video on ideas for squeezing in moments of mindful movement, even as you go about the most mundane tasks.