Today, I feel grateful for the opportunity to participate in UL’s yoga class. It was an excellent workout for the body, mind and the spirit. 

UL is a good friend, whose journey I have been part of and her teaching strikes a chord with me. Read her blog and you will know what I mean. 

I am thankful for the enabler that technology is. Although we are states apart, technology allows me to be in her class when my schedule permits. If you are interested, do check her classes. I guarantee you, you will not want to stop with one. 

UL – thank you for being you and doing this very important work! Thankful for your friendship and your teachings. 

Today, I am thankful for the gift of growing up together with good old friends.

I am getting there in terms of reciting (not memorising) Vishnu Sahsranamam fluently.  I have very rudimentary knowledge of the language but that does not stop me from loving how the words roll on my tongue.  In some ways, not knowing the word by word meaning of the slokam adds to the underlying faith.  I have been wanting to recite the slokam fluently for years. And honestly, if you have some discipline, it doesn’t take this long to get here. All it takes is reciting one page for a week and in no time you are able to recite it. Yet, life is full of distractions, taking our attention away even from things that we hold close to our hearts. We need that determination, focus and discipline to go after what we set our intention on. 

Thankful for the journey. Thankful for the lessons. Thankful for the gift of slokams,.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Thankful for days like today where we get to slow down and just be.

Thankful for family, love and friendship. 

Thankful for food and shelter. 

Thankful to the divine, faith and the powers above.

Happy Birthday to Hari.  May you be safe and healthy. May you be happy and fulfilled. May you be kind and strong.  Love in lots kiddo. Be you, always!

I am beyond grateful for the gift of raising this child.  Thankful for all the little moments, fond memories, big dreams, and all the life lessons.

Today, I am thankful for the generosity of our neighbours who indulged Ram with purchase of holiday wreaths for his scouts fundraiser. I am also thankful that Ram does what it takes to get a job done and does not cut corners. Last evening, soon after coming home from school, he was heads down writing thank you notes with beautiful wreath drawings for supporting his troop. This year was our second year in a row and I am glad it’s done.

In his book Passage Meditation, Eknath Easwaran talks about gaining mastery over the mind. This means you don’t go in the direction the mind drags you rather your mind follows your command. In other words, when I succumb to the temptations of my mind, my mind becomes my master. When I say no, and the mind obeys, I am its master. Needless to say, this is easier said than done as the mind has the momentum to push and pull you in different directions. 

Today, I did a little experiment. I detest being out in the cold. However, we had to tie bows to the holiday wreath so Ram could deliver it to his clients as part of his scouts fundraiser. I told myself I am just going to do what it takes because that is what was needed of me in that moment. I put my foot down and the mind complied.

It is no big feat to brag about but it helped me understand what Eknath Easwaran meant by gaining mastery over the mind. In that moment, there is freedom, there is no resistance. 

Gratitude for this learning.

Thanks to UL for sharing Eknath Easwaran’s writings on FaceBook. I have been catching up on his writings and have been savouring his words of wisdom. He talks a lot about one-point attention, having mastery over one’s thoughts, and so much more to reflect on…! Don’t take my word for it…. Go explore and see if it resonates with you.  Check it out here.

Gratitude for this exposure.

This quote showed up on my LinkedIn a few days back… loved it! Grateful for the inspiration. 

“You must cultivate activities that you love. You must discover work that you do, not for its utility, but for itself, whether it succeeds or not, whether you are praised for it or not, whether you are loved and rewarded for it or not, whether people know about it and are grateful to you for it or not. How many activities can you count in your life that you engage in simply because they delight you and grip your soul? Find them out, cultivate them, for they are your passport to freedom and to love.” – Anthony de Mello Source: The Way to Love

Today, I ended up reading some of my older blog posts. From 2011, 2014, 2016… I smiled and thought to myself, “good old days!” I had forgotten half the things that I had written down. Yet, reading them brought back all those memories gushing out. So many years have gone by! Yet they feel like yesterday. The paradox of time. Thankful that I have these posts to fall back on. Thankful for the good times.