Reflect on different parts of your body with gratitude and appreciation. Practice:

• Anytime to repair your relationship with your body. .
• When you are feeling discouraged by pain or illness, or critical about your body, to consciously choose friendliness toward your body. .
• After a medical appointment, to remind yourself that your body is more than its symptoms and diagnoses.

A full practice will take five to ten minutes, but you can practice the essence of this reflection anytime by simply reminding yourself of one reason you are grateful to your body.

When was the last time you felt gratitude for your body? For many people with chronic pain, the very phrase “body gratitude” can seem puzzling, even laughable. Gratitude for what? You can start with the simple fact that this body is your companion on this life’s journey. It deserves to be recognized and appreciated for how it has carried you to this moment and allowed you to experience everything leading up to this moment. This gratitude practice is an opportunity to reflect on how your body has supported you. Your body is not separate from your courage, your strength, or your journey through life. It is your companion, your home, and the instrument through which your life is expressed. Whatever strengths and experiences you are grateful for you can use to heal your relationship with your body. To begin this practice, bring yourself into any supported position, seated or lying down. As you become familiar with the restorative yoga poses described in chapter 6, you may decide to practice body gratitude in a gentle yoga pose. Take a moment to feel your whole body, including any sensations of discomfort or pain. You can take note of these sensations without letting them take over your full attention. Then, notice some part of your body that feels a sensation of comfort or ease. It may be your eyelid, your pinky finger, the soles of your feet, or the belly rising and falling as you breathe. It doesn’t matter where that sensation of relaxation and ease is. When you find yourself in touch with that feeling, stay with it for a few moments. Let your attention rest on how that part of the body feels. Then, one by one, reflect on different parts of your body with gratitude and appreciation. Ask yourself, “How has this part of my body supported me in life? How has it allowed me to engage in life?” Start with an area of the body that feels comfortable in this moment and eventually work befriending the body your way around the body to an area that typically experiences pain. Some areas to consider are (but are not limited to):

• feet
• legs
• hips
• belly
• back
• chest
• heart
• lungs
• shoulders
• arms
• hands
• throat
• face
• the sense organs: mouth, nose, eyes, ears

Your answers may be literal or symbolic. For example, the heart literally fuels the entire body, moving oxygen to every cell in the body. In this way, the heart supports every action you have ever taken. You might thank your heart for giving you the opportunity to experience each moment of your life. Metaphorically, the heart sings with joy, expands with love, and pounds with excitement. You might feel gratitude to the heart for allowing you to experience each of these emotions. Literally, your feet and legs help you stand and move through life. Thinking symbolically, you might reflect on the times you have stood up for what you believed in or on how far you have come in life. Trust whatever comes up, even if it seems silly or sentimental. If nothing comes to mind immediately, try focusing on today. What has this area of your body done today? Did it help you prepare and enjoy a meal? Turn the pages of this book? Smile and kiss your dog? Even if today has been so difficult that you have been unable to do much of anything, you are alive. Can you focus on gratitude for your lungs, your heart, and every system of the body that is supporting you right now? Can you feel gratitude for how hard your body is working to support you and give you the opportunity to experience this moment? Sometimes this meditation brings up sadness along with gratitude, especially if you find yourself thinking about things that your body no longer can do with ease. You may also find yourself feeling critical of some part of your body. Let these emotions and thoughts come and go without grasping on to them or rejecting them. Notice them, as they may be little flashes of the samskaras that shape your everyday experience of your body. Even as they arise out of habit, you can choose to return to the gratitude reflection. Finish this practice by bringing your awareness back to your breath. Place your hands somewhere on the body where you can feel the movement of your breath. Repeat to yourself, “Thank you for this breath. Thank you for this moment.”

excerpt from Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Chronic Pain by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.