#38: Gratitude for Neutral Things

Cultivating gratitude is almost always on our minds during this time of year, but the concept of gratitude is multifaceted. There are so many different ways we can be grateful! How do you express your gratitude? There are no right or wrong answers here. I just want to encourage you to look at gratitude from a different perspective in this daily dose of Yoga Inspiration. We are all grateful for those positive moments in our life, those big events and loved ones we've waited for. Unfortunately, our lives aren't made up entirely of amazing days. In fact, most of what you experience in life is neutral. Think about that for a moment… The brain innately reacts to every situation in one of three tones: positive, negative, or neutral. While positive experiences inspire feelings of attachment and joy, negative experiences can create patterns of aversion. But neutral situations garner no such reaction.  What does this mean when most of our daily experiences are neutral? Well, depending on how you react to the positives and negatives in your life can influence the way you interpret these neutral experiences. Each reaction stimulates certain patterns in the mind, and I discuss how your mental habits can be changed for the better by teaching you how to skew your reactions. How you react to any given situation is very important. Our reactions are our one true freedom.  We have the freedom to choose how we react, even when it feels like we can't control it. But that lack of control is just a habit that's set up shop in our minds. In yoga, we call this samsara. Samsaras are habitual reactions influenced by moments that happened in the past.  Yoga teaches us how to be present in the moment, which can help us recognize when past experiences are influencing our present-day reactions. More importantly, it can help us notice when negative past experiences are impacting our otherwise neutral day-to-day moments. You have the power to skew those moments of neutrality toward a positive reaction. If you can interact with a neutral experience in a positive light, you can start to change your point of view on life.  I'm sharing ways you can do this on the yoga mat and in your daily life to cultivate a new way of thinking. Get inspired and learn how to cultivate a new path for these neutral moments so you can be grateful all year round for even the most mundane moments in your day! Share the lessons - both positive and negative! - that you've learned on the yoga mat with me and my listeners. Send an email at [email protected] and tell me - what does yoga mean to you? You could be invited to guest spot on The Yoga Inspiration Podcast with Kino MacGregor!  Stay connected: @kinoyoga and @omstarsofficial View my teaching schedule, blogs, etc on Kinoyoga.com Get your free 30 day membership on Omstars.com& use code: PODCAST