A friend said it best, "Today I got a workout AND a therapy session."

Just about two months ago, I dove head first (you can take this literally, have you every seen a downward dog?) into the world of yoga. I've enjoyed the relaxation, stretching, and the subtly of a killer work out.

Most weeks I giggle to myself as the class chants and "oms", and the instructor talks about opening our hands to the earth and drinking the juice of the peaches, and connecting into and becoming one with the universe. This last Tuesday however, as the instructor began going through her flow of poses she mentioned that many of the poses we were doing were poses of gratitude, I found myself in a beautiful place of praise and worship to the Creator of the Universe, the earth, and even the juice of the peaches. In each mountain pose, with a slight backbend, I offered up my thanks the the Lord. As I laid on the floor in Savasana at the end of class, I was brought to a new place of gratitude. I was reawakened to all the things that God has given me, and found myself humbled in His glory.

Today was an especially, how do I say this, "earthy" class. If you don't know, today is the autumnal equinox: equal light, equal night. Our instructor talked about the balance and tension between these two very different things and finding the balance within ourselves. She came back to this theme more often that I could handle, but it is a refreshing reminder. I need to balance myself, as a mother, a wife, a chef, a maid, a friend, a person. She also was talking about seasons. She encouraged us as we entered into the fall season to leave our "stuff" behind: the struggles, the crisis, the frustrations, the lessons learned. I realized that I have things I need to leave at the door of this last season of my life and need to go into this next season with the newfound gratefulness. Here are a few of the things that I need to leave behind....

• self doubt
• guilt
• impatience
• selfishness
• want

What are some of the things that you need to leave behind you as you enter into a new season? What are some of the things that you have learned this last season that you can take with you on your journey?