The topic for this month Gratitude.

When we teach gratitude to our students some will comment the time we are to practice it is at Thanksgiving. This is certainly true, we tell them, however, practicing gratitude is not just for one day in November. It is a practice we can do everyday.

Did You Know? Gratitude helps to better manage stress. Grateful individuals report higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, greater energy and connections with people. Growing evidence indicates that the expression of gratitude can also improve one's physical health and immune functioning.

During my Master's program I took on this nurturing practice of writing down at least five things I was grateful for in my journal before I went to sleep. Nine years later I am still writing what I'm grateful for at the end of every day, but my list has expanded beyond five things. More recently, I started to practice gratitude in my morning meditation and find this habit of gratitude serves me all the time. I've sometimes been called Pollyanna for having such a positive attitude. I'm okay with that, especially with the facts stated above. I figure gratitude keeps me healthy and it certainly makes me feel good!

What are you grateful for? To get you started, I'll share some of the things our students tell us they are grateful for: parents, friends, pets, having a roof over our head, yoga, our teachers, school, learning, love, being smart, and being a kind person.

I am grateful for you- my family, friends, clients, customers, instructors (past and present)! Thank you for being in my life, being a part of YogaBuddies, helping us grow and make a difference for kids worldwide!

Peace and love,
Danay

PS- I learned that September 21 is World Gratitude Day! Guess what word we'll be talking to our students about next week?!

Facts from two online articles: "Boost Your Health with a Dose of Gratitude" and "Gratitude at Work"