A Summing Up
Musings on giving thanks and a yoga class whose focus is exactly that.
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” ― Meister Eckhart
The strange elasticity of time always feels especially apparent at this time of year. Whereas the first three months of the calendar year seem to stretch, the last are a flurry, each one racing by quicker than the last until they near blur. It can be, at times, hard to keep up. It means too that we are only a few weeks from what will no doubt be a barrage of summaries; best ofs, main highlights, Spotify wrappeds and on and on, which now seem to be a ubiquitous part of any year end. In fact, these pivot points commonly find their way into our collective imaginations throughout the year; the new years, the early Septembers, the milestone birthdays and necessarily, the end of anything.
As far as seasons go, early winter feels as good as any to take stock. As a metaphor the whole ‘leaf shedding being a time for us to shed too’ can feel a little overdone, but in the last few years and in a way that feels wholly tethered to nature playing itself out, I have found that November - a pause between autumn’s abundance and the soon-to- be silliness of early December- pulls on my instinct to take stock and to start what will become a more fully fledged contemplation in the aftermath of Christmas.
I am anyway a lover of lists- quite apart from anything else it is the only way I have found to keep my innate chaos at bay- but the value of inventories run deeper than the delight of a highlight reel.
Life can very easily pass us by, and especially when the pace picks up. And it is the nature of a life that the longer it is the faster it goes, each day and month and year being less - as a proportion- of its total. The speed might feel to be only in our imaginations but it also has mathematical explanation.
Especially in this context, remembering becomes an act of preservation- which is why humans have prioritised the ritual of it for millennia. And rightly so- so much is contained in just the three words ‘lest we forget’. It is said too, that any death is a threefold thing. The first is the physical death- the moment the breath leaves the body. The second is in the ritual of burial or cremation. And the third is when we are no longer remembered.
Mostly what we seek to remember is less significant than this, but the remembering of anything has a validity that runs deeper than we might imagine.
This week sees the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Despite its dubious beginnings, it has incarnated over time via an honouring of the end of the harvest to its most modern version which gather friends and family around a table. But at its heart is an opportunity that is inherent in its name; ‘to give thanks’, which can be both a chance for remembrance and an inventory of gratitude. A way to preserve and a way to take good stock.
As one of my yoga teachers Max Strom suggests, there is no room in the heart for negativity when we are feeling gratitude. As a sentiment it has the capacity and the heft to crowd out everything else, and especially negativity. This is a clear and obvious positive in and of itself, but done with some intent has the added impact of training the brain in that direction. It can be useful to start with the big moments in the year; the things that have gone right or stand out as being key, whatever appears as most technicolour. But it would be unwise to pass over the difficulties. They need as much room as anything else, and as the Buddhists would suggest, contain huge and often helpful teaching- as unwelcome as they might be in the moment. Much fragile beauty is found in the aftermath of devastation.
But it is just as important to try and hone your attention as well; acknowledge the smaller things that - given a moment to think of them- somehow stand out. It could be a singualr conversation that you have carried as a solace. Or the kindness of a stranger that lingered with you for its generosity. It might be a scene that a presenece of mind has etched into your memory. Or maybe it was just a conclusion you came to, which has helped offer necessary lightness to your thinking, about yourself or a situation you have found yourself amidst.
Our diaries only ever tell a particular story, a side of life but much of it surface. When we look for what we have to give thanks for, a more complex and richer picture of our life very often quickly emerges. Which in a way that is positively reinforcing, itself becomes something for which we might also be thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate - and for the yogis amongst you, this weeks class and recording will be dedicated to ‘giving thanks’; a heart wide practice to fill us up before the silly season takes off in any earnest. Bookings below.
TUESDAY 25th November 9-10am A YOGA CLASS for GIVING THANKS
An hour long session live via zoom and/or sent as a recording which will honour this time of year and its invitation to take stock and give thanks. As always the session will involve specifically targeted asana, breath work, mudra and poetry and will be available for you to do as many times as you would like in the week.