Journey to Gratitude by DeAnn Barry
Hi Loves, I hope that you are doing ok. I hope that you are taking time to offer yourself deep care. I hope that you are giving yourself space to go slowly when you need to. I hope that you are allowing yourself to feel all the feels and reaching for gratitude when you can.
For me, it is not the default to offer myself deep care or to slow down or to find gratitude, especially when life feels hard. For me, my default can be to get tight, judge, and race against what feels unsafe. It is through sacred earth based and mystical practices like yoga, that I have been empowered to live a more peaceful and easeful existence. A cornerstone of these teachings is the practice of Gratitude.
Gratitude can help us to feel happier, content, and grounded. Cultivating a grateful heart reduces negativity, self-doubt, and anxiety. By practicing gratitude we imbue life with Joy.
Train the Brain
To, truly, feel a sense of gratitude we have to practice Gratitude. This is when the re-wiring starts!
Notice when you have a negative thought. With compassion, catch negative thought patterns as soon as they arise in the mind. When you have the awareness of a negative thought, shift to a helpful thought.
Again, this takes practice. Have fun with watching the patterns of your mind. Be curious and open about the process. Stay with it.
Shift in Perspective
With time and practice a shift in perspective occurs. This shift derives from a grateful mind and then an outpouring of gratitude from an infinite heart.
Gratitude as a Practice of Self-Care
Celebrate Life with Gratitude: little moments, big accomplishments, the miracles and beauty of everyday Life
Be Grateful for what you already have
Accept Compliments
Do at least one thing a day that you are proud of
Celebrate Accomplishments
Value Your Time: Who you spend it with and how you spend it
Make time to do what brings you a sense of Joy and nourishment
Follow Your Intuition
Say what you are Grateful for out loud. Make it a Celebration of Life!
A Note to Self
Write yourself a Thank You for the past year! Go ahead, find some stationary, sit down, and write it out. An old school THANK YOU.
Guided Journey to Your Gratitude Tree (click here)
I invite you to join me as I offer a container for your path of self-discovery, awakening your power centers of courage, wisdom, and peace. We are called to this path and to these teachings when we are ready for our own Soul’s Medicine Journey.
Sol Medicine ~ a wisdom journey around the sun (Green Yogi, Quarterly Series 2025 - 2026)
Embodied and Empowered through yoga, ritual, and the rhythms of Nature.
Sol Medicine is your soul’s journey of Self-Discovery, Courage, Peace, and Wholeness. These immersion practices invite you to slow down and connect deeply into your own Heart Medicine. Using the cycles of each season as your guide, renew your vital energy while fortifying your being on all levels: body, mind, and spirit.
Each practice you will build heat and tapas (devotion) through the sacred offering of surya namaskar (sun salutations). Rest and reset with deep yin shapes to offer a harmonious and balanced flow of prana (life force). These sessions will draw from the wisdom of the chakras, the essence of the elements, the sacred directions, yogic philosophy, and the energetic pathways of the traditional chinese meridian system correlated to each of the seasonal junctures - autumn equinox, winter solstice, vernal equinox, and summer solstice.
yoga asana and vinyasa krama
yin shapes and energy flow
guided nidra journey
sound attunement
sacred space & ceremony
transformational breathwork
space for reflection and integration
Join me to call in the cycles of the seasons and offer your own Soul’s Medicine as you journey around the sun.
September 7th ~ Tending to your Earthen Body (grounding and hip opening)
Enjoy an immersion practice with deep hip openers, strong standing sequencing, mantra, and mudras. Slow and steady we will open the energetic pathways in our earth body (annamaya kosha). This practice will bring a sense of stability and contentment activating the energy of your yang (active) meridian of autumn.
December 7th ~ Nourish (backbending and deep resting)
Nourishing heart openers, fortifying sun salutations, and guided relaxation offers a gateway into the season of deep rest and Winter. Bringing awareness to the back body and your yang (active) meridian of winter as a Guardian of Your Peace, filling your reservoir of Qi (vital energy).
March 8th ~ Reciprocity (twist & side bends)
With Spring we receive the energy of Hope, Renewal and Rebirth. This immersion practice will focus on gentle twists and side bends to move you forward on your soul’s path. The yang (active) meridian of spring cultivates your own inner courage, clarity, and initiative.
June 7th ~ Tranquil Fire (core connection, inversions & forward folds)
At the seasonal juncture of the Summer Solstice it is the element of Fire that offers warmth, radiance, and transformation. Our ritual practice will honor the Fire energy of the Heart and the yang (active) meridian of summer offering deep core connection while cultivating the tranquil qualities of forward folds and inversions to bring a sense of overall balance and equilibrium. Call to your Maha Vedi (fire altar of the Heart) while honoring the season of the Sun and the expansion of Light.
You are welcome to attend one, some, or all of these special immersion practices!
Get in touch with me via email at deann.barry@gmail.com or on my website www.KulaHealing.com
In Lak'ech Ala K'in,
DeAnn Barry
