There’s been a lot said and written on the subject of gratitude, how gratitude makes us happier, and actually brings more good to us. There are many ways to express gratitude, and speaking or writing about our feelings of gratitude for the people in our lives and for all the blessings we have is a good practice. In fact, research shows that expressing gratitude stimulates the parts of the brain that help us regulate stress and feel pleasure.

But here I’m speaking of gratitude in a simpler and deeper sense: the kind of gratitude that is felt in the body.

At any moment we can come back to sensing our bodies and our breath, and accept all that our body-mind has to offer us.

We can always pause and simply relax into the comfort of our very being, the being that is connected to the space around and within us, to the sky, to the earth, to the trees, to a sense of stillness and peace. 

If each one of us can find peace within ourselves, we have a better chance of creating peace in the world.

This Thanksgiving, I hope you will seek a deeper knowing, and feel gratitude for the moment to moment experience that is life itself.

“Breathing in I know that I am breathing in.
Breathing out I know that I am breathing out.

We do not need to control our breath. Feel the breath as it actually is. It may be long or short, deep or shallow. With our awareness it will naturally become slower and deeper. Conscious breathing is the key to uniting body and mind and bringing the energy of mindfulness into each moment of our life.”

 -Thich Nhat Hahn