Abundance: a very large quantity of something.
My 3-year-old self embodied abundance, gratitude, and being enough. What happened along the way?
This weekend in classes we explored a mindset of abundance, coming from from a place of enough rather than a place of scarcity. We talked about our patterns and stories, the culture of “you need this,” “you need that,” “this will make you whole and happy” — the presumption that in some way we are less-than or are inherently lacking, and we practice that mindset daily, surrounded by reaffirming messages everywhere we turn.
But what if we paused and decided to practice a different mindset? What if we recognize all that we have (gratitude)? What if we stay open to the riches of of our lives—relationships, how our body can move today, who we are today, what we have lived through and survived that has made us who we are today? What if we practiced cultivating and feeling abundance in our bodies? What if we boldly and radically accepted that we are enough?
We know what happiness feel like. We know what anger feels like. We know what sadness feels like. Do we know, deeply, what abundance feels like? There is a sliver of a memory within us, perhaps long ago, before we were told we weren’t enough by (you fill in the blank), and by the images that surround us, when we were just enough as we are—lost in the moment-to-moment of life. Can we reclaim that? I believe, with practice, we can.
Breath and gratitude practices can help shift our nervous system, and practice a different mindset.
Two of the simplest and quickest ways we can disrupt a story of scarcity and the stress response (often running hand-in-hand) is to use our breath and practice gratitude. Breath impacts our physiology, and taking slow diaphragmatic breaths breaths activates our relaxation response which allows us to pause, bring awareness to our mindset and choose what we do next. Cultivating gratitude shifts our mindsets to abundance and the good in our lives. With practice, intentional gratitude can interrupt our hard-wired negativity bias, unsticking us from narratives that can narrow our mindsets and limit possibilities.
Research suggests that gratitude:
Improves physical health;
Improves psychological health;
Enhances empathy and reduces aggression;
Improves sleep;
Increases mental strength.
Action: Take 10 diaphragmatic breaths (breathing deeply and completely enough to feel your belly expand as you breathe in, and slightly contact on your exhale). In your last 3 breaths think of something you are grateful for today, invite the quality of abundance, and notice what that feels like in your body.
Join us for new classes this Spring:
Yin, 6-7pm every other Tuesday with Isabelle (starting May 9)
Hatha, 6-7:15pm on Thursday’s with Karen (starting May 11)
The Bridge on Saturday’s at 8:30am with Karen returns in June (yoga, intervals and weights on your mat)
thewarriorwithin.net 