By Auriella O'’Neill

Expressing gratitude and appreciation for what is in your life is one of the quickest ways to bring into your life more things and experiences to be grateful for and to appreciate. Feelings of appreciation and gratitude are just as powerful as the feeling and emotion of love.

Make each day a day to express thankfulness, appreciation, and gratefulness for what is in your lives. In doing so, you will create around yourself a vibration of abundance into which you will attract even more things to be grateful for in your life.

As you do this, it will become more noticeable to you what a wonderful life you have and the events in the past that bothered you will dissipate and not be evident at all.

Turn your thoughts to thoughts of appreciation and gratitude. Then take these thoughts and write them down. In this way you will reinforce that vibration of gratefulness and appreciation.

You have many things to be thankful for. Things that are most physically evident in your life probably come to your mind first. But delve deeper and appreciate that which is beyond the physical sight.

Look within yourself, appreciate, and admire the traits, characteristics, and qualities that are yours and in others. Be accepting of the differences of others and be grateful for the contrast that person presents to you.

You do not have to accept it as your own, but allow that person to be freely the unique individual they are. Appreciate their uniqueness and allow it to be.

Then go even deeper. Appreciate and be grateful for the mind that you have and the power that you have been given through your mind to freely create your life as you desire.

Be grateful that you are free to choose to create anything you desire to have. Be grateful that the power of your mind is unlimited. The only thing that limits you and your mind is your thoughts and beliefs of limitation.

Explore and use the power of your mind, remove your limitations, and you will discover a treasure chest of wealth beyond your wildest imaginations. Learn how to use your mind like a finely honed tool for it is a resource that will become more powerful and refined through your use of it. In doing so, you will then become more powerful in easily creating the life you desire.

Be thankful and grateful for the gift of your mind and all it is capable of doing for you. Appreciate that this ability to create is within you and not outside you. It is a gift given to you as a resource of creation.

About The Author

Auriella O'’Neill teaches & empowers people on how to use the power of the mind to create the life they desired. She is the author of The Divinity of the Mind: Writings for Inspiration and Empowerment. Find out how to be inspired & empowered in your life. http://www.UnlimitedMind-Power.com

By Paul M. Jerard Jr.

Alyssa began dealing with chronic back problems after the birth of her daughter. Because her pain was so intense, she was unable to embark on a post-baby weight loss program as she'’d planned. Subsequently, she was unable to return to her pre-pregnancy weight. Within months, Alyssa had gained five more pounds.

More weight put more stress on her back. Her worsening back problems prevented her from exercising. Alyssa began to feel depressed and anxious. In desperation, she visited a chiropractor who began treatments to alleviate her pain. He also suggested that Alyssa would benefit from doing regular yoga.

To her delight, Alyssa’’s health improved dramatically after she began yoga classes. Not only did her physical symptoms diminish, her mental health experienced a tremendous boost. Within a year, Alyssa had not only returned to her normal weight, her back pain was gone.

Alyssa was excited about the changes in her life brought about by yoga. So much so that she began to contemplate becoming a certified yoga instructor. Before having her daughter, Alyssa had felt that her current career had reached a dead end.

After returning from maternity leave, she felt more than ever that a change was in order. She had gained so much from her yoga classes that she wanted to share that experience with others. However, since she'’d only been back at work a few months, Alyssa knew that taking time off to take a yoga instructor’’s course would be impossible. But unwilling to give up on her new dream, she began to investigate alternative plans.

She soon discovered that she could become a certified yoga instructor through a home-study course. Though studying yoga at home sounded unusual at first, she knew that was her only alternative. She wondered if she would be able to get the same quality of instruction in a home study as she would in a classroom. She worried that not having a live teacher to demonstrate things like the yoga positions would make it harder to learn the material.

However, Alyssa was still determined not to give up on her dream. So she began comparing home study courses for yoga instructors. She realized that there were more home study training options than she had expected. In fact, the number of courses available was almost overwhelming. How would she choose the right one? She asked herself what was most important to her in an instructor training course. Once she developed her criteria, she hoped it would be easier to narrow down her choices. Alyssa looked for qualities such as:

* Comprehensive written material that is easy to understand. It should include the principles of yoga, as well as anatomy and kinesiology training.

* DVD’’s with clear, simple to follow demonstrations of positions and techniques.

* Information on how to teach yoga, not just how to do yoga.

* Affordability. Having a baby meant more expenses than ever before, and her money had to stretch as far as possible.

* Flexibility in completing assignments. With a new baby and a job, she would need it!

She knew that it was important to find a program with access to an instructor. After all, there would be times when she would need to clarify things that she didn'’t understand. She also knew that having an instructor would help motivate her to complete the course.

She was baffled to find that many home study courses did not include access to an instructor at all. Others offered only limited access. Feeling that support was critical to her success, Alyssa decided she wouldn'’t settle on a course unless it offered unhindered access to an instructor.

Her determination paid off. She was able to find a yoga teacher training course that met all of her criteria. In fact, it offered more than she'’d been seeking. The home study course that she settled on covered business training, something that most others she'’d looked into did not. Not only would Alyssa become a certified yoga instructor, she would have the ability to run her own yoga business.

One year later, Alyssa had quit her old job and was teaching yoga at a local fitness center. She was working closer to home and able to spend more time with her daughter. Instead of coming home from work tired and stressed out, Alyssa came home calm and relaxed.

Her new job was better than she'’d ever dreamed. Plus, she knew she was a better mother because of it. She even hoped to start her own fitness business one day. Grateful that she had been choosy when searching for a home study course, she knew she had made the right decision in becoming a certified yoga instructor.

Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

About The Author

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. He is an author of many books on the subject of Yoga and has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995.

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org