“There are two ways to live; you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle” - Albert Einstein

Whilst on holiday, I've been enjoying a book called Small Pleasures by the School of Life. It’s a lovely, uplifting read. Inspired by the book, I made a list of small pleasures that came to me this week whilst I’ve been abroad. None are related to being on holiday, but simple things accessed from most anywhere - mundane and rather uncomplicated:

Recent Pleasures

Sprinkling chocolate powder onto a cappuccino (lots of it)

Singing along to an earworm all day

Painting my nails very slowly and then admiring them

Watching Top Gun (the original), then Top Gun Maverick movies back to back

Cutting up a tube of toothpaste and getting every last bit out

Standing in front of a London tube sign admiring the typeface (I think it’s called Johnston)

Piping hot crispy chips. And cold, soggy chips

Quiet sounds of an early urban morning: cars on the road, radiators and old household appliances groaning

Smiling at a stranger

Getting up at the end of a yoga class - that exact moment

Re-enchant Yourself

It’s easy to find pleasure in the exotic and exciting - on holiday surrounded by sun and sea, everything seems a little happier and brighter. But one can find pleasure everywhere in everyday things we normally take for granted.

Being more aware of simple things that conjure an inner smile or warm feeling is a joy. The process, though, requires conscious stopping and noticing. Appreciating a small pleasure feels like a cross between a gratitude exercise and tapping into all your senses in a moment of mindful reflection and memory - a moment to re-enchant ourselves and see miracles in everyday things.

Gratitude Journal

The benefits of expressing and feeling gratitude have been known by spiritual traditions for years. And now, several studies have shown the link between a regular gratitude practice and improved well-being, happiness and some health measures. When I experimented with daily gratitude journaling (perhaps you've tried it, too?), I sometimes found it hard to think of anything new to write down - I thought I was repeating myself all the time after a while. Thank you for my loved ones, thank you for hot water and food on my plate. I started to think I wasn’t good at being grateful. But focusing on the very smallest of things helped. A lift of the spirits by a small detailed pleasure, however tiny, helped gratitude flow effortlessly.

Pay Attention

When you start noticing, there’s no end to the noticing. Small moments and seemingly ordinary experiences feel more like little miracles; you see them everywhere. Somehow small things become rather monumental. They become curiously as joyous in the inner experience as the more significant events in life.

I’m sure you all have small pleasures that are personal to you. Have you ever tried thinking them over a while and writing them down? If you've never heard of gratitude journaling, I found this great article on positivepsychology.com: benefits-of-gratitude

Go on; I’d love it if you shared some of yours with me.

Saturday Yoga Online resumes on 18th Feb.

Let’s practise.