The full moon is a lovely reminder to cultivate gratitude for the wonders of each moment, and also to release anything that is not serving us. Many of us are experiencing things in our lives that are falling away naturally. But sometimes when we think of letting go, we can become fearful and feel a sense of loss. Our initial reaction can be to cling more tightly, even when the Universe is patiently opening the way. When this happens it is an opportunity to shift into gratitude and thank the Universe. We can hold gratitude for the way these things served at one time in our journey, and also have gratitude for how we are being called to release now. Instead of resisting or blaming, we choose forgiveness.
This quote from the Persian poet Rumi reminds us to trust that when we close a window another door will open:
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.” ~Rumi
The attitude of gratitude is one of the most amazing tools for co-creating with Spirit. We can give thanks for our most heartfelt dreams before they are in our lives. This form of gratitude shows the universe that we are ready for the miracles that are on their way.
Each morning is a gift and each sunrise is a powerful time for prayer and contemplation. In the hours before dawn, the sun’s rays begin to hit the earth in a rising perpendicular angle, and seem to amplify whatever it is we are focusing on, carrying it into our world. I love to rise before the sun comes up. My father always did this when we were children. And, it has been the yogi’s way for thousands of years.
If we want our days to be aligned with own highest aspirations, the way to begin is being grateful for them in advance. We can wake with giving thanks for simple things such as the ability to breathe freely, the greatness of being alive, our families, our beautiful friends, and all the goodness around us. We can use a gratitude journal, simply writing a few things we are grateful for in that moment. Consciously practicing gratitude opens powerful pathways of grace. When we sit in the attitude of gratitude, we find that abundance begins to build in our lives in the most miraculous ways.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is waking to our smart phones. I have experimented with this, and want to share with you how beautiful it is to sit in a gratitude meditation before doing anything else. Technology is so prevalent these days that sometimes we fear missing something if we do not get on our little devices right away. Yet in the act of turning off the smart phone and entering into the dimension of gratitude, and envisioning our heart’s work, we consciously are training our entire being to give priority to our soul more so than to little onscreen pixels.
While sitting in our warm beds, or finding a cozy spot to sit in our home, we can be silent, breathe and feel grateful. Here are some beautiful affirmations that I love to use:
~ The Universe always provides me with everything I need.
~ My life is full of blessings, and my gratitude grows everyday.
~ I am grateful for all the insights I am receiving daily.
Another practice is to close the eyes and visualize, feeling grateful for things in advance. Don’t let your mind creep in and start to make plans. The goal is just to allow the experience of gratitude. Here is a visualization exercise that I love:
Picture yourself in the most beautiful environment. Look around you at everything you have been blessed with. Include your greatest dream, and imagine it with you in your beautiful environment.
Inayat Khan was a profound mystic who was very ahead of his time, teaching a beautiful sense of spiritual unity of all humankind. He traveled from India to the West, married a beautiful woman from New Mexico, and settled in the Netherlands. I would like to share his wonderful writing about gratitude.
“Gratefulness in the character is like fragrance in the flower. A person however learned and qualified in his life’s work, in whom gratefulness is absent, is devoid of that beauty of character which makes the personality fragrant.
If we answer every little deed of kindness with appreciation, we develop in our nature the spirit of gratefulness; and by learning this we rise to that state where we begin to realize God’s goodness toward us, and for this we can never be grateful enough to God’s divine compassion.
The great Sufi poet Sa’di teaches gratefulness as being the means of attracting that favor, forgiveness, and mercy of God upon us in which is the salvation of our soul.
There is much in life that we can be grateful for, in spite of all the difficulties and troubles of life. Sa’di says, “The sun and moon, and the rain and clouds, all are busy to prepare your food for you….”
God’s goodness is something one cannot learn to know at once; it takes time to understand it. But little actions of kindness which we receive from those around us we can know, and we can be thankful if we want to be. In this way we develop gratefulness in our nature, and express it in our thought, speech, and action as an exquisite form of beauty.
May we practice gratitude. May we fill our hearts and resonate with the grace of God’s gifts, past present and future. Blessings to you this day, every morning and every evening.
Honoring the Light within while expecting Miracles…
Always from my Heart with Love,
~ Karena