Intrinsically grateful

Holidays might be synonymous with festivities, family, food, and fun, but just as often, they can be synonymous with the struggle of a conditioned stress response. The good news? Underneath those grooves laid down by anxious energy, there's another instinct worth attuning to.

From Sanskrit, it's called sphoṭa, and it means "a bursting forth" of "true sounds." This is the intangible, unexpressed part of consciousness that can keep us grounded and awake to subtle forms of wisdom and understanding. It may guide skillful response to agitation and annoyance (curbing the compulsion to criticize the cranberries), it could help us find space for self-care (self-compassion when we feel we're the one being criticized), and in the presence of hate or anger (Uncle Oscar popping off with offensive views), it has the potential to tell us whether to walk away or confront with courage. In the realm of sphoṭa, we get "to the bottom of things," not with intellectual calculation, but with organically illuminated awareness.

While stress and all its attendant afflictions are a product of overthinking and enhanced storytelling attached to our worst fears of demise, the spontaneity of sphoṭa makes room for unconditioned presence. This receptive, attentive place reveals our innate potential for the subtle receptivity of grace and gratitude. And from this place comes our profound thanks for another year of serving this vibrant community of collective body-mind-heart-spirit.

With love,
Annie & Amir and the entire Sun & Moon team