The mind is a very intricate machine. It can store memories, past impressions, grudges, criticisms, judgments. It can hold a lot of stuff. In general, it's only really good at holding onto one thing at a time. Which is why, when we have a lot going on, we feel sort of stressed and we feel tension because the mind is busy trying to figure out what it should focus on first.

Yoga is really the practice of seeing what's most important. Focusing on that first. Then it helps everything else sort of fall into alignment.

That's what I've found through yoga: yoga helps us to sort of rewire the mind so that we can literally become more mindful of the conversation we're having on the back end, what we're telling ourselves.

For me, my yoga practice is like putting a one in front of a lot of zeros. Without my practice, everything quickly becomes chaotic.

When we put gratitude first, what happens is we kind of shift the chemistry of the mind. We move from being acidic or egotistic to alkaline or divine.

When we're being grateful it means that we're acknowledging that life is a gift, that life is a blessing, that this body is only here for a short period of time and it really shifts the whole internal landscape of the mind and it puts things into perspective and it allows us to get our bearings. To get a firm footing in what's real, and then go from there.

The reality is that life, for all of us, is pretty stressful and we all need ways to cope.