On November first, while everyone else was perhaps recovering from their Halloween sugar rush, I came in overjoyed and announced to my 8:30am yoga class that we had finally arrived in my favorite month of the year. A curious “why?” was the response and my answer is easy. I love November because Thanksgiving isn’t commercialized (much), it’s not about gifts, or decorating a certain way, or anything other than gathering together, eating, and being thankful. For over a decade we hosted a Friendsgiving with 50-60 of our chosen family and friends gathered for a potluck… and while that’s on pause for this year, the energy behind it flows through the month. We’re not celebrating turkeys or pilgrims, we celebrate our people and spend moments together being thankful. I ended that yoga class with GT’s seasonal “Gratitude” kombucha for everyone.
The thing is that gratitude doesn’t just live on a Thursday in November for me, but it does for many which makes it an easier time to talk about gratitude. I’m in the middle of my fourth year of a daily gratitude practice, and while I’ve shared it a little here and there through the years that sharing has become a bit more this year. People are a little curious when you are new at something, and a lot more curious when you’ve written down well over 12,000 things you are grateful for. My practice is this: every day I write down, with pen and paper and in full sentences, ten things I am grateful for. It’s not easy. Some days it has felt impossible.
I’m just starting to share how and why this practice has changed my life. It’s a big statement, and not one I make lightly. It took years for me to understand how it changed things for me, and lots of reading and research to understand that a gratitude practice can do that for everyone. In sharing more deeply, I was just a guest on a podcast (to be released in 2023) talking for the quickest 90 minutes of my life about how I started and why I stayed with the practice.
And I’ll be sharing some of my practice and insights in my “Book to Body: On Gratitude” at Sunny Street Yoga this Friday Night (11/18). That’s a 60 minute (all levels) gratitude yoga flow followed by a 30 minute talk and discussion on why we need gratitude practices that is paired with their book of the month “The Gratitude Diaries” by Janice Kaplan.
I’m also excited to offer a Thanksgiving morning donation based practice at Gruvn Yoga at 9:30am on that official turkey (or tofurkey) Thursday (11/24).
I have much to be grateful for this year, and at the moment what’s toping the list is this:
- I am grateful for everyone who reads my blog and newsletter.
- I am grateful for Gruvn Yoga and Sunny Street Yoga for the spaces to create more gratitude.
- I am grateful for the beauty of fall leaves when they fall, and the sounds they make.
- I am grateful for fall flavors – not just pumpkin spice but things like sage on roasted squash.
- I am grateful for cozy socks on cool days.
- I am grateful for rainy days that feel just right for cuddling up with a book.
- I am grateful for Alexis who made the candle that’s sitting on my desk right now.
- I am grateful that my sickly beta fish is still alive and a lot more active over the last few days.
- I am grateful for pony tail holders.
- I am grateful for daily texts from my dad.
Happy gratitude month,
Alison