“Looking for the Good” is a Practice
Body, mind, and spirit line up around our perception.
While I am away this week, please enjoy this lightly edited post from my previous blog, Elevate Align Inspire, originally published on August 7, 2024.
Do you have a practice around the way you see the world? Are you a glass half full, half empty, or overflowing kind of person?
The way we see things shapes how we respond to situations, how we feel about them, how we think, and how we engage with others. It is deeply important to gently investigate, and perhaps refine, the lens through which we are looking.
When I was doing my yoga teacher training in NYC in 2003, it was in the lineage of Anusara Yoga, developed by John Friend, who came out of the Iyengar tradition. In this particular way of teaching, great importance was placed on the theme of the class. It was a heart-centered practice with a strong alignment component. We were asked to help awaken our students to beauty and grace, and to support their whole body, mind, and spirit in coming into alignment with that awakening.
It was a beautiful way to learn.
And it changed the way I saw the world.
Part of our role as teachers was to offer something meaningful, such as a story, an example from a wisdom text, or an aphorism, that students could apply both to their physical postures and to their lives off the mat. Because I was new, I did not yet have a large toolkit of texts or quotations to draw from, so I leaned into my own lived experience.
This meant I began practicing something we called “Looking for the Good.”
I carried a small notebook with me to jot down moments of inspiration I noticed throughout the day. And because I was intentionally looking, I began to see inspiration everywhere.
Body, mind, and spirit tend to organize themselves around perception. The thoughts we choose, especially as we observe a scene or situation, matter. Not in a bypassing or denial kind of way, but in an orienting kind of way.
The practice of looking for the good is just that, a gentle and intentional seeking of what is beautiful, surprising, or quietly delightful, even in the most ordinary encounters. Over time, something shifts. The mind softens. The nervous system responds differently. Our engagement changes.
And that can change everything for the better.
May you continue to seek what is good, and delight in the beautifully mundane moments of life.
Much love,
Jessica