When times are hard and practicing gratitude is out of reach, a practice of spaciousness offers a more accessible, body-centered way to move toward healing.
Continue readingA practice of spaciousness
gratitude
What I’m grateful for this year
It’s been a year of losses and limitations, but I still have so much to be grateful for. Here’s a little of what’s on my list (and it’s all about YOU!)
What’s on your list?
Lament and thanksgiving
Our lives are a constant intertwining of loss and goodness, death and rebirth. The deepest, most genuine gratitude emerges when we are able to lament our losses while also appreciating the good in our lives.
Continue readingFocusing the lens of gratitude
Just like a camera lens can magnify whatever it’s focused on, what we choose to focus our attention on affects what we magnify in our perception of our world. Choosing to use a lens of gratitude to focus on the good helps balance out our natural tendency to see only the problems and broken places of life.
Continue readingStanding in the rain of healing
I longed deeply for healing in the midst of the brokenness in my life, but I then often tried to flee from the discomforts and challenges of healing when it actually arrived. What would it look like to stand boldly with gratitude in the “rain” of healing I’ve longed for even as it also brings the inconvenience of soaking me to the skin?
Continue readingWhen gratitude becomes a guilt trip
Gratitude can be a wonderfully life-giving practice, but when we force it on ourselves (or others) as a guilt trip, it can do more harm than good. As we approach Thanksgiving Day this year (in the US) let’s explore how making it a “should” can be damaging and how to avoid that.
Continue readingSavoring life’s sweetness: A gift of kintsugi gold
Even when life feels like a disaster zone of total brokenness, there are still small beauties and sweet moments all around us, if we pay attention. Learning to seek out and treasure that sweetness through gratitude and mindful appreciation is a gift that provides unexpectedly large dividends in the midst of brokenness and continues to grace each moment with greater beauty and peace long afterward. Learn more in today’s post about this gift of kintsugi gold and how to apply it in your life.
Continue readingWhen gratitude feels impossible
Sometimes when we are in the midst of brokenness, gratitude feel impossible. As healing as gratitude may be, it’s also ok (and normal!) to not feel it when overwhelmed with pain and grief. As we move into the Thanksgiving holiday (in the US) tomorrow, here are a few things that I have found helpful when facing times like that. I hope they make your Thanksgiving Day a bit easier!
Continue readingEmbracing the magic of AND
Choosing gratitude instead of darker emotions in difficult situations has never worked very well for me. The attempt to suppress those darker emotions left them stronger than ever through their resistance and made any attempt at gratitude feel like a lie. I’m learning that making space for both the darker emotions and gratitude to co-exist side by side boosts my happiness much more through the magic of AND.
Continue readingContagious gratitude
We’ve all heard about the many benefits of gratitude for our well-being, but often we find it difficult to access feelings of gratitude on difficult days just when we need it most.
Fortunately, it’s possible to use the contagious nature of gratitude to spark that feeling of genuine gratitude any time we need it, even on the most difficult of days.