I’m personally very excited about The Dailey Method word of the month for November – Appreciate. It’s been a strong focus in my life recently and I’m grateful for the opportunity to talk about it.
Appreciation plays such an important role with respect to loving ourselves and others. When we focus on what we honor inside each of us and also within the people we care about, it creates deeper connections and an impactful day-to-day life experience for everyone. I also feel that the word Appreciation aligns so much with Gratitude that they need to be combined.
Practice:
Gratitude and Appreciation
On a daily basis, I work to instill the practice of steering my 3 amazing kids to focus on the positive things that happened to each of them. I also intend to help them see circumstances or events that went RIGHT in their day versus allowing them to give an imbalanced amount of weight to the things they perceive or felt went WRONG. I do this not as a means to hide from what didn’t work or what still needs attention, but to help them see the light in what was positive.
At dinner, we have a practice of taking turns around the table to share with each other 1 thing we’re grateful for and 1 thing we appreciate about ourselves. When I first started this practice with them, the gratitude came so easy but the self appreciation was much harder. It came out one night that once of the reasons it was hard for them to verbalize self appreciation is because they got caught up in their feelings of ego or bragging about themselves. It’s made for a great talking point, and now if they can’t come up with something they appreciate, everyone else at the table tells them something we appreciate about them.
Before I go to bed each night I make a practice of writing down 3 things I’m grateful for and 3 things I appreciate about myself. It’s such a peaceful way to end the day with an outward and inward sense of positivity.
Example:
I am grateful for the strength my body has to move through this world with grace and energy
I am grateful for my three beautiful children
I am grateful for my Dailey Method community and how they’re always there to support me when I need it
I appreciate that I’ve worked hard to create a Method that really works in healing peoples bodies from the inside out
I appreciate my sense of humor
I appreciate my resiliency – that even when things get hard I can focus on the positive and continue forward
Take time to pause and invite a similar practice into your life and also into your TDM classes. When you are in holds or asking your body to push past to a new threshold of strength, appreciate – first – where your body is. Take a deep breath and honor all it gives to you and then with as much commitment to finding ways to appreciate others, feel gratitude that you are incremental gaining newfound strength and muscle memory.
Remember, with gratitude and appreciation on the forefront and leading, we are all sure to succeed and become better versions of ourselves in body, mind and spirit.
I appreciate everyone of you!
Love,
Jill