On Sand Dunes, Surges, Running from Tigers and Gratitude

A few days ago I had the most delicious moment.

On a family vacation, my hubby, son and I were driving from Ojai, CA back to the Pacific Palisades.  Past Thornhill Broome Beach there is a long steep sand dune on the side of the mountain. We have passed this sand dune hundreds of times before, but this time we stopped and climbed the dune.

The climb was breathtaking (literally), the view was heart opening- endless ocean and mountains and sky and sand, jagged rocks, and there with me, my son Miles and husband Robert. My little family. Just the three of us, on top of the world.

Arriving at the peek, my sweet son Miles called a Gratitude Circle (I mean, really, what a kid!). We sat in circle (more like triangle) and each spoke of a reason why we were happy we chose to stay in California this month, and then again went around speaking of a reason we are grateful for life itself. At the end of the circle we each screamed as loud as we could, opening our voices and letting the wind carry our sound vibration out to the Pacific Ocean.

A creative surge ran through my body like an electric shock. In that moment, it hit me.  I AM free.

On the drive home I was more vibrant yet more relaxed then I have been in months, maybe longer.  My skin flushed, my eyes brighter. My breathing smooth and luxurious, my muscles relaxed. A live high.

As soon as that moment ended, I already missed it.

The drive home we sat in silence. I was stewing in the feelings of the moment. Grateful that my body had the strength and capacity to climb that hill of sand without pain. Grateful that my eyes had vision to take in that view. Grateful that we found the means and the freedom to extend time for our family journeying. Grateful that for the first time in possibly months, I felt my heartbeat and breath blend to the pulse of my husbands’ again. Grateful that our 8 year old son Miles thought to be grateful and asked us to do the same.

Yesterday I took a yoga class. In Warrior 2 pose, the teacher directed us to breathe deeply as we stretch the outer edges of our pinkies. As I mined through my interior landscape- the panorama from the back of my heart space out through my fingers,  I suddenly felt a zap–the warm wind and potency of the sand dune moment returned, bleeding into and breathing out of my pores.

Gratitude. Alive in the cells of my body!

I rode the high all day, feeling balanced and whole and healthy and happy as I had just days earlier on that ride home.

As my friend Elena says, “move a muscle, change a feeling“. And this is why I love yoga.

Scientific studies show that our brains can not decipher between an actual moment and the FEELING of a moment. In other words,  if we experience, or even visualize and conjure up sensations of an experience, our brain will then send messages to our body to respond appropriately to that situation whether it is actually happening or we imagine it happening.  That feeling is then filtered through one of our two nervous systems: sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous system translates into a response, commonly known as the “fight or flight“, which causes the blood pressure to rise, breathing to quicken, and stress hormones to flood into the body. Historically, this occurred to prepare the body for “running from the tiger”. But in today’s world, we experience this response from many of our daily tasks and normal routines- while we are sitting in traffic, getting our kids ready for school, or at a meeting at the office. Modern life, and the stress that comes with drive and seeking success, have put us under a perpetual state of fight or flight. When the sympathetic nervous system is over stressed, the systems of the body shut down, leading to illness, injury and imbalances in body and mind.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand,  lowers blood pressure and slows the pace of the breath. When the blood no longer has to rush to the muscles, it is free to travel to the digestive, reproductive, glandular, and immune systems — systems made up of organs more necessary to long-term survival. Thus an active parasympathetic nervous system leads to well-being and harmony of body and mind. The parasympathetic system is activated with breath-work, deep relaxation, laughter, meditation, happiness, and positive visualization.

Hmmm, seems simple…the more we can draw on the healing qualities of the parasympathetic system and not the harming effects of the sympathetic system, the healthier we will be. Thus, the more we connect with what makes us breathe better,  joyful, happy and at peace, the healthier we are. Or at the least, the more we conjure up the feelings of joy, happiness and peace, the healthier we are!

Why then do we often insist on living as we believe we must or should, not as we wish we could? Or at minimum, why are we focusing on what is wrong in our lives, and not what makes us happy? Why not practice less “bad attitude” and more “sincere gratitude”?

The yogis practice that every experience, habit or even the feeling or memory of experience is thought live within us as Samskaras, a sanskrit word translating as deep impressions that live in the cells of our body. These impressions may lay dormant within for some time, but eventually are released during the yoga practice. This explains why we feel sudden emotion during yoga poses, or why we may erupt in tears or laughter in a class.

Negative samskaras might be consciously ignored by us, but the subconscious and knowledge of the body are aware of the stresses of holding on to these memories and ultimately have profound physical, emotional and spiritual effects on the body. Just as with the sympathetic nervous system and stress, holding on to samskaras can lead to illness, injury, and poor health. Positive memories live in us as well. And serve us to be able to reconnect to a place of delight and joy.

And so we have the science of yoga- a discipline developed to get us to move, breathe, meditate on, shake, study, devote ourselves to, and PRACTICE GRATITUDE–all to heal the body, mind and spirit.

When we take the time to feel gratitude, really feel (not just suggest the feeling),  we become happier, healthier, and the divine energy of life flows freely through us.

So next time you have the chance, climb that sand dune, enjoy that painting, take a walk to the ocean, or marvel at the bird outside your window. ENJOY.

Or if the chance doesn’t present itself in your day to day, VISUALIZE a time when you felt most delighted.  Daydream. Feel it.

This might sound corny, but…Live IN JOY and be thankful. It’s great for your health!