Saucha: The Purity of Gratitude

November at Modern Yoga Studios

November is all about gratitude. Each year, our culture celebrates Thanksgiving — a day devoted to being thankful. Though it’s not just a day; it’s a whole season of gratitude.

As a culture, we’re obsessed with being grateful. Everyone wants to feel grateful because we know that feeling grateful can enhance our lives and shift our perspective. Being grateful is… a gratifying experience.

But Thanksgiving means so much more than simply focusing on gratitude. It carries its own yin and yang — the light and the shadow, the joy and the tension. Thanksgiving brings families together. It means traditions and good food.

And stress. Extra responsibilities. Stretched time, energy, and money.

The season of gratitude is also accompanied by the season of consumerism and commercialism. It’s a season of sales, shopping, and comparison — a billion-dollar industry designed to tell you that you need more. That you need something outside yourself to feel complete, to be happy. That what you have is not enough.

These ideas do not inspire gratitude.
So what does?

Drawing yourself inward. Being present. Awareness. Meditation. Movement.

As yogis, we already practice these principles on the mat. Gratitude is deeply woven into the fabric of yogic thought. The question is — how do we use our practice to inspire awareness and gratitude off the mat?

The Eight Limbs of Yoga include ethical restraints and observances meant to guide our daily actions.

The first limb, the Yamas, are the ethical restraints — how we relate to the world around us. They also play an important role in cultivating gratitude. But this month, we’re shifting focus to the Niyamas — the second limb of yoga.

The Niyamas are yoga’s observances — a perfect guide for practicing and truly feeling gratitude.

The first of the Niyamas is Saucha. Translation: purity.

“Saucha is an invitation to cleanse our bodies, attitudes, and actions. Cleansing prepares us for the greatness of our spirit,” writes Deborah Adele. “As we purify, we create space for gratitude to arise naturally.”

Whatever form purity takes, it always begins with an intention to lighten the load we’re carrying. As we purify, we create space for gratitude to arise naturally.

Sometimes it’s hard to find gratitude, despite the expectations this time of year brings.

If you Google mental health and the holidays, here are some of the words that pop up: stress, anxiety, depression, holiday blues, burnout, substance misuse.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year? It’s supposed to be — and we should be grateful for it.

Yet gratitude can feel heavy when our minds are cluttered or our hearts are tired. So how do we cultivate gratitude in those moments? How do we lighten the load?

Modern Yoga Studios Instructor MaryBeth puts it bluntly:

“I think sometimes, in this world where the pillows and wall art at HomeGoods all say grateful and blessed, it’s worth mentioning — to ourselves and to our students — that it’s OKAY to acknowledge tough days and situations, and not always employ what’s sometimes called toxic positivity. It’s okay to say, ‘Yeah, this sucks — but how can I acknowledge that even in this suckage, I can be grateful for X?’”

To acknowledge the hard moments is, in itself, a practice in purity.

It’s being honest with the moment as it truly is — not fixated on how we expected it to be, and not shaming ourselves for struggling to feel grateful when we know we “should” be.

When we let things exist as they are, instead of imposing our own ideas of purity on the moment, we free up energy to notice the silver linings.

For MaryBeth, this practice is about noticing and shifting focus throughout the day — finding gratitude in the small, often overlooked details.

“I try to be grateful for the weird things as I go through my day, to keep it from getting too general or rote. Throwback to the old Michael Stanley Band lyric: ‘Thank God for the man who put the white lines on the highway.’ Thankful for our first responders. Thankful someone is willing to work outside on freezing cold days to repair our power lines. Thankful that I have thick hair. Grateful that I was raised in faith. A prayer of thanks that I get to drive the car that I want and chose. Grateful someone long ago invented ice cream!!”

Josh, another Modern Yoga instructor, also practices shifting his focus to finding purity, presence in the moment, and ultimately, gratitude.

You may have practiced this shift with him during his class. While students are in Child’s Pose, just after flowing through Sun B, Josh asks all to focus on something they are grateful for:

“When you give your attention to gratitude, you strengthen your ability to practice being more grateful.”

He explains further:

“…My practice helps me live in the present moment off the mat. It’s not about chasing a spiritual high or avoiding the more challenging aspects of difficult human emotions. It’s about recognizing and meeting all aspects of life with balance, and being grateful that I can experience life without reactivity. Yoga helps me have choices in how I respond — and in choice, there is freedom.”

We find what we practice on the mat in our lives.

Stay tuned next month to learn other gratitude practices from your Modern Yoga tribe. And follow our socials for daily inspiration. Namaste.