108 Thanks Salutations 2012

108 Thanks Salutations 2012  

The yoga studio I go to has a tradition for starting New Year’s Day with 108 Sun Salutations—one for each bead on the mala (an ancient ornament used for prayer and meditation, as the practitioner focuses intent on each bead, one bead at a time).  It’s a beautiful way to stay present in a meditative state as it incorporates the sense of touch (the body) into union with the intent.  Add the focus of the breath, and we have Yoga, which means “Union”, or the union of the body, breath, and mind.

Over the New Year’s weekend I was blessed to spend much of my time in yoga practice and in meditation, and I even taught a yoga class about my meditations over the holidays, called “Open Your Present”, where we acknowledge the gifts we may have received over the holidays, but most especially the gift that is always there for us, but often remains unopened, untouched, untapped—The Present moment.  So it’s time to tear into that pretty wrapping,  and get into it!  Open your present, and be amazed how generous the Universe is with each of us.  Every breath, every moment, is magic.

 So in keeping with this meditation, I would like to share some of my 108 Thanks Salutations, and hope you will add yours to the list if it’s in your flow.  Writing them down is bringing it into the physical (body) very much like touching each bead of the mala, or moving the body through Sun Salutations, in union with the breath and the mind (intent), and is a very real way of opening the channels between you and the Infinite in the most loving expression of thanks:

1                    thanks for  each breath I take

2                    thanks for good friends

3                    thanks for unexpected generosity

4                    thanks for laughter, especially big belly laughs

5                    thanks for kindness

6                    thanks for my dogs and my cats (family) J

7                    thanks for my yoga practice

8                    thanks for my yoga teachers

9                    thanks for such a gorgeous, amazing day

10               thanks for all the beauty that surrounds us

11               thanks for music

12               thanks for dancing

13               thanks for love

14               thanks for being able to change

15               thanks for being willing to change

16               thanks for health

17               thanks for abundance of all kinds

18               thanks for flowers and trees

19               thanks for the beach, the ocean, the sand

20               thanks for being able to sing

21               thanks for vision of all kinds

22               thanks for teaching me that the mind is a faithful servant of the heart

23               thanks for my meditation practice

24               thanks for smiles

25               thanks for brilliant sunsets and gentle sunrises

26               thanks for good food

27               thanks for wine, chocolate and other tasty decadence

28               thanks for adventure

29               thanks for fun, frolic and euphoria

30               thanks for handstands and other ways of turning things upside down

31               thanks for being able to go with the flow

32               thanks for the mirror that shows me I am you, and you are me

33               thanks for compassion

34               thanks for life!

35               Thanks for art and all forms of creativity and creation

36               Thanks for a planet filled with people who dream together of a better way

37               Thanks for all my awesome neighbors

38               Thanks for long walks on the beach with my dogs

39               Thanks for kisses and hugs

40               Thanks for peace and the practice of cultivating peace

41               Thanks for rain, for the dark night, for new moons, and empty spaces giving us a place to rest and grow

42               Thanks for the stars and for stardust,  earth, water and air coming together to form the fire of life

43               Thanks for the sun and its warmth and nourishment

44               Thanks for my home

45               Thanks for warm, comfortable, beautiful clothes

46               Thanks for heat, running water, refrigeration, electricity…and the internet

47               Thanks for feeling connected to so many wonderful beings

48               Thanks for my home office

49               Thanks for another wonderful year

50               What would you like to add here?