As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, the Dolls take special care to cultivate gratitude – one of the sweetest practices in daily life. This month, Caitlin and Danielle are challenging themselves and YOU to participate in our gratitude challenge. Take a moment each day this month to give thanks. Make it a priority. Open your heart and share your gratitude on Instagram tagging the Dollhouse.

This is the time of year gratitude is on everyone’s mind – embrace it! We think about how lucky we are to have each other as best friends, for our families, for a warm and delicious meal, for the clothing on our bodies… for all the things that make our lives abundant. Expressing gratitude is a healing practice and something you can practice anytime, anywhere.

The practice of mindfulness is quite magical and there’s nothing like a great yoga class or meditation to help appreciate the reasons Dolls everywhere are #blessed. When you show thanks and appreciation for the little things – you gain big perspective. Cultivating gratitude can help calm your nerves, open your mind and fill your heart with self-acceptance and love.

Gratitude Meditation

1. Set an intention

The first step in a meditation practice is to set an intention – something you aspire to feel or achieve. Turn your focus inward and focus on a single word such as “gratitude” or an affirmation such as “I am abundant” “I am full of gratitude”.

2. Focus

Now, find your focus while meditating. Let your intention and your breath help you appreciate every moment. Focus on the positive.

Mindfully inhale one deep breath and exhale one deep breath. Repeat.  Savor the breath in your lungs, the air on your skin, and let a sense of calm wash over you.

Bring your intention to mind. With each inhale, recall one thing that you are grateful for. Which each exhale, know that you are worthy.

3. Find Grace

If your mind wanders, simply bring your intention back to mind with love and kindness. The point of meditation is not to eliminate your thoughts, but simply to become more aware of them.

When you are in a deep state of gratitude, you will often spontaneously feel the presence of grace.  When this state of selfless gratitude starts to blossom, your mind becomes more spacious, quieter, and your heart receives its first taste of the long-sought release from fear and wanting. This is grace.

Make a commitment to observe all the amazing things you CAN do and have done. This can be on your yoga mat, in your relationships, at work… Gratitude will fill your soul and spill over into complementary areas of your life.

We encourage Dolls everywhere to look forward and give back this holiday season. Find a cause that means something to you. Look to better the future. Give back monetarily or by offering your time, your energy, your love.

We have recently fallen in love with a luxury yoga apparel company that we feel GOOD about putting on our bodies. Joriki Yoga Apparel represents a community rich in ancient textile traditions. Generations of women from impoverished nations around the world contributed to the creation of each pattern through their own cultural traditions. GRATEFUL for the generations of women that have carried on this craft, Joriki has hand-picked a humanitarian organization in each of these communities to give back to show appreciation. It’s inspired global-connection. It’s inspired self-expression.

Caitlin and Danielle are both wearing the Look Forward Give Back Mantra Tank. This tank makes a bold statement and helps keep grace and gratitude close to our heart in our daily lives.

Danielle is wearing the Cool Cirebon Print Essential Leggings and Caitlin is wearing the Vibrant Cirebon Print Essential Leggings. The pattern on these leggings is derived from Indonesia’s ancient batik tradition. A culturally diverse port city in West Java, Indonesia, Cirebon is a coastal amalgamation of Indonesian, Sudanese, Chinese, Arabic-Islamic, Hindu-Buddhist, and European cultures.

A percentage of the sales of this product will go directly to the BaliWISE women’s education initiative to provide free literacy, English language, personal development, health, and vocational education to Balinese women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Shop the apparel online here and enter the code “doll15” at checkout for a doll discount.

From Downdog to Savasana, we are thankful for a mat that combines comfort, support, and functionality. Caitlin and Danielle are using WellnessMats FitnessMats for ultimate stability and comfort.

We are thankful this season for the fresh air that fills our lungs, for our physical being that let’s us practice the asanas of yoga, for the friendships that build us up and bring us love, and for you – our fellow DOLLS! On November 22nd, Caitlin and Danielle will be guiding a FREE yoga session at the Joriki showroom. Please RSVP here – we cannot wait to share this practice with you!

All photos of Caitlin and Dani taken by our talented & a-doll-able friend, Mackenzie Maeder.
Caitlin Campbell and Danielle Sommerfeld believe in the Joriki vision and are brand ambassadors. 
Once Upon a Dollhouse was gifted two Wellness Fitness Mats for review.