Teaching of the Month. Kritajnata.

by Maureen Rae, RN, E-RYT

The Practice of Gratefulness and Appreciation

Kritjnata is defined as having a feeling of gratitude and appreciation toward other living beings and things (plants and animals) that have been helpful to us. It is this feeling which is at the basis of a law in India which prevents the killing of cows. Indeed, even the dust that a cow kicks up as it passes, is revered! We have so much for which to be thankful. Let us pause at the end of this year to give thanks to all beings/things who have made this year one in which to be thankful.

Consistently Expressing Sincere and Heartfelt Gratitude For What You Already Have Is The Underlying and Often Overlooked Force Which Opens Doors To Immeasurable Abundance and Happiness.

As this will be the last Newsletter of 2009, we thought to share with you some of our own Thank You's of this past year. We are grateful for our eighth year at the studio - and to see so many new yogis in our classes. We thank you, our students, for making the time in your life to find out, and to bring out the very best in yourself.

We thank our teachers for their ongoing dedication to our students, and for their continuing commitment to furthering their own knowledge of yoga. We especially thank our teachers for their very fine teaching of classes that were not their own over the past few months - where they filled in for other teachers who had to be absent. We have had our share of our own and family illness, moving challenges, and work-related issues.

Maureen is especially grateful for the invitations this year that have come from across Canada to instruct new teachers of yoga. During the past year alone, over 300 students have taken training in Calgary, Regina, Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, Kingston, Halifax and Moncton and of course, Toronto. Recently, the Canadian Armed Forces has become aware of the enormous benefits of yoga to their enlisted men and women. As a result Maureen is introducing yoga to 11 new yogis in the military at CFB Borden later this year.

Yoga is indeed spreading like wildfire. Imagine….If every yoga teacher brings yoga to 10 new individuals each year, imagine the collective result!

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetu