Yoga can teach us to let go
Keeping a gratitude journal taught me to let go.
As I write my material for the June retreat, I'm reflecting back on how lucky I am to have yoga in my life. I'm grateful for all it has taught me and for the wonderful community we have grown by practising together.
Yoga is a lot more than just the asana practice. It includes things like gratitude practices. Every day I write a gratitude journal. Mine was gifted to me for my 60th birthday and what a gift it has turned out to be. I was sceptical that I'd stick to it, but this one has endured — I've completed it faithfully first thing every morning and last thing at night.
Many of us don't stop to think about the positives in our lives — that's not surprising because our brains are wired for a negativity bias. Whilst that helps to keep us safe, it doesn't lead to happiness. Taking 5 minutes each morning to write down 3 things that I am grateful for helps me start each day on a positive.
Writing down what I have learned that day just before I sleep helps my subconscious work on the things I want to create in my life. It's a practice which forces me to notice the behaviours that don't serve me. Noticing is the first step to letting go.
When we let go, we create the space for new opportunities in our lives. Often we think it is hard to create change, but personal growth is predicated upon it. One just has to find a way to start and take small daily actions to move forward. It may feel safer to stay stuck in the familiar, but it doesn't serve us.
We all deserve to shine, to be the best version of ourselves, but to make space for new possibilities, we need to let go. Starting a gratitude practice has helped me feel more positive, it has released stuck energy and that has given me the courage to loosen up a bit, to find the joy in the new and to start to see things differently.
I'd encourage you to give it a go and see what happens in your life.