Nov 23, 2011 In Person Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Service

I highly recommend this service on the night before Thanksgiving to those who are seeking to balance the upcoming shopping, feasting and football with spiritual sustenance. Gratitude … the giving of thanks … is a practice that exists across cultures and faiths and can serve as a way to bring people together. This particular service embodies that reality as you will have a chance to hear contributions from a Muslim imam, Catholic priest, Jewish rabbi, Methodist reverend … and the list continues to grow! I am hoping that the Buddhist teacher who joined the group last year, but had to miss the service due to illness, will be able to contribute to the celebration this year. Friends who have lived in Ventura County for decades, and have chosen to join me, are dumbfounded that they did not know about this well-kept secret. They all agree that they want to make it part of their annual Thanksgiving celebration.

Why do I share events such as this one, when my business is about meditation and yoga therapy? Because both traditions have long taught the transformative power of gratitude … which science has more recently proven … that both your brain and the neuropeptides in your body (the foundation for your physiological state of being, aka your Mind-Body Connection) change when you are in a state of gratitude. In other words, it isn’t about the words that you say, but rather your intention and mindset and state of being when you say them. You cannot be in a state of stress when you are filled with gratitude –physiologically, those states of being are mutually exclusive. Therefore, for Overworked Overwhelmed Overachievers, incorporating a daily cultivation practice that focuses on gratitude is a surefire way to escape the bonds of your To Do List and wake up to the richness that is Life.

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