celebrating lives greatly full :: shulamit day berlevtov

I first met Shulamit Berlevtov several years ago through mutual friends.  From the beginning, I knew she was a seeker and a healer - someone who wasn't afraid to do the work set before her on her spiritual path, and willing to share her experience with others.  She continues to carve her place in this world through her counseling services. She works as a psychotherapist in private practice who offers classes and one-to-one sessions in person in the Kemptville and Smiths Falls area.  Interestingly, she’ll be facilitating Explorations in Gratitude starting January 2014.   

Although we do not see each other often, we keep abreast of each other's lives through the magic of social media.  I am so pleased she agreed to share her most recent intentional practice: gratitude.  I am grateful for YOU Shula! 

What am I grateful for?

I am grateful for formal gratitude practice.

I post a statement about what I am grateful for to my Facebook status every night before bed. I remember the times when I had tried gratitude in the past. When I was feeling low, I’d make a list of “good” things in my life, things for which I should be grateful, and then I’d tell myself, “Look, you should be grateful!” and then berate myself for not feeling any better.

http://goldeneaglescoaching.com/life/benefits-gratitude-infographic/

My current approach started when I was having trouble sleeping. I'd seen this infographic and thought I’d experiment to see if gratitude practice before bed would help my sleep. I started by finding one thing each day that had made me smile. I’d recall what happened and smile. Then I’d pay attention to the feel of the smile, and to what other body sensations came along with smiling and the memory of the event. I’d sit with that for a while, savouring the sensations and resting in the memory. Then I would convey the experience by writing down a gratitude statement.

After some time practicing, as the hours move toward bedtime, thoughts of gratitude have started coming on their own. Sometimes they show up at random during the day. Feelings and sensations come with them that make the experience more vivid. When something happens in the moment and I’m grateful for it, the sense of it comes more fully.

Now that I’m awake to all that, spontaneous expressions of gratitude arise for me to share with people in the moment. The quality of my days and of my experience of living have changed. More joy, pleasure, ease and appreciation flow through me, even in the midst of difficult happenings. I feel low less often, and when I do, I can pause, place a gentle hand on my heart, and feel grateful for the ability to do just that. After all, that’s what I need when I’m feeling low! (I have yet to see an effect on my sleep, but at this point, who cares??!!)

Expressing gratitude directly to someone about something they have done is easy for me. I'm giving them feedback about how they have contributed to making life more wonderful for me. The effect my gratitude practice has had on others surprised me. I started doing it via social media because I wanted accountability. But what I offered to myself has become a giving. I still feel shy about acknowledging that. Accepting that this thing I do for myself is of benefit to others is the next frontier of my practice. I’m sitting with the shyness, and grateful for it.

be grateful... be quiet...

self-portrait by jag

The silence is there within us. What we have to do is to enter into it, to become silent, to become the silence. The purpose of meditation and the challenge of meditation is to allow ourselves to become silent enough to allow this interior silence to emerge. Silence is the language of the spirit.

— John Main, OSB in Word into Silence


In the fall of 2000, my life was in free-fall crisis.  I reached out to a friend and asked her if she knew of a place I could go and "hide" for a while.  I clearly remember saying: I need to step away from the world - even for just a few days.  She knew of a place... a silent house.  A place called Stillpoint House of Prayer.  It was small and welcoming.  Unstructured and affordable.  Easily accessible.  And when I called on that October day - at the height of fall colours season - they had a room available.  In hindsight, I believe that my Healing Place had been awaiting my arrival.

During that first visit - my first experience of unstructured silent retreat - I experienced unconditional love and acceptance.  I felt deeply that, no matter what would happen in the days ahead, I would be OK.  It was the beginning of an ongoing relationship with, and befriending of, Silence.  And that is a gift for which I am ever grateful.

This week, I will be returning to Stillpoint for a 5-day retreat into silent solitude.  I try to go twice a year, spring and fall, for a "spiritual tune-up".  No TV. No computer, iPad or iPhone. No radio.  Just me... Being. Attempting to become the Silence, to converse in the language of the Spirit.

Because I had both "gratitude" and "silence" in mind as I sat down to write this, I googled the two words together and, after a click here and a click there, I was lead to this video of Timber Hawkeye at TEDxHonolulu (2012).  In it, he states that the two concepts that will change the world are:

1. Be GRATEFUL
2. Be QUIET

I can attest that these two practices have changed MY world - I have no reason to doubt it could change yours too. 



gratefully yours,
jag

p.s.  Be sure to stop by the blog while I'm away - I've arranged to have some goodies delivered in my absence... :-)

the story of easter...

photo by jag

I was raised Catholic and I am grateful for the spiritual framework that has given me. I recently saw an expression that aptly describes me: it seems I am of the "jesus, yes - church, no" persuasion. That made me smile. :-) And it's pretty darn accurate, for today anyway.

More and more, Lent and Easter make me even more grateful for having been given this beautiful tradition. The narrative of the Easter story really resonates with me, all the more so if I take the time to step back during the season of Lent. This year was no different. Good Friday reminded me that all things come to an end. There is always a dying that is a necessary part of my life: death to my illusions, my ego-based expectations, my denial of what might be staring me right in the face. An ending. And Easter Sunday told me that every new beginning must start with that very ending.

Between these two extremities, there was Holy Saturday... a time of "darkness" where we are called to accept the loss. Call it grief, or surrender, or letting go, or acceptance. Yes, the message of Holy Saturday for me is that we need to sit in the unknowing sometimes. Most times actually. We need to befriend the darkness and trust the seeming absence of god. It's the time of "What the hell just happened here?! I don't know what to do with this!"

Did all this happen in 3 days?  Of course not.  And neither does the Easter story, IMO. It takes the time it takes.

This is powerful stuff. Good stuff.  I see that the Easter story is told in the very substance of my life. And most likely yours too. And this is what good sacred scripture is capable of doing - and for that, I am grateful.  Hallelujah!

gratefully yours,
jag

the practice of gratitude...

Today, as part of the "friday features" series, I wanted to share one of my favourite online resources.  Although I have been turning to Spirituality & Practice for inspiration and information for several years now, I feel I have only glanced at the tip of the iceberg!

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat have created a multifaith and interspiritual website devoted to resources for the spiritual journey.

The site's name reflects a basic understanding: spirituality and practice are the two places where all the world's religions and spiritual paths come together. While respecting the differences among traditions, we celebrate what they share in common.

Not surprisingly, one of the 37 spiritual practices they explore in great depth is Gratitude. I just love the way they introduce the practice:

The spiritual practice of gratitude has been called a state of mind and a way of life. But we prefer to think of it as a grammar — an underlying structure that helps us construct and make sense out of our lives. The rules of this grammar cover all our activities. Its syntax reveals a system of relationships linking us to the divine and to every other part of the creation.

Offering everything from poetry, to films, to journaling exercises, to music, art & prayers, I invite you to visit this rich and beautiful exploration of the spiritual practice of gratitude!

Do you have a favourite gratitude resource?

gratefully yours,
jag