One day last week when I was doing my yoga practice, I was struck with gratitude for my knees. I know it sounds silly, but it’s actually important.

Think about all the blessings in our lives we take for granted - a reliable car, an old friend, food in the refrigerator - the list goes on and on!

Because I’m a yoga teacher who focuses on making yoga accessible for people with all kinds of bodies, I’m very familiar with the aches, pains, injuries, and conditions that are common to many adult bodies. I know that many people have knee issues - ACL and PCL issues, meniscus issues, knee replacement, bone spurs in the knees, weak knees, knees that hyperextend, knees that hurt when climbing or descending stairs, knees that hurt when kneeling, knees that hurt when they bend too far, knees that hurt all the time.

And so, in that moment when I was comfortably sitting in virasana and focusing on my breathing, I was struck with gratitude that my knees are healthy. I can kneel, I can easily get up from the floor, I can walk and stand for long periods, I can lunge, I can do all kinds of activities because my knees are healthy. And that’s something worth appreciating!

I think there’s so much value in taking time to recognize the big and little blessings in our lives. It’s easy for us to focus on everything that is wrong and everything that needs fixing, but what if we take a few minutes each day to notice what’s good and what’s going well? Appreciating our blessings changes our perspective and our outlook. It helps us realize that things are never as bad as they may seem, and we’re actually doing pretty well, after all.

What are some of the blessings in your life?

Love,