Welcome to The Slow Newsletter, your weekly dose of dazzling, aha-moment-generating Vedic wisdom. The Slow is where we break down teachings on meditation and consciousness to inspire easy, abundant living—even in the most demanding times.

If you’d like to receive these insights directly in your inbox, click here.

Gratitude. It’s everywhere, isn’t it?

“Be grateful for what you have.”
“Practice gratitude—it’s the key to happiness.”
“An attitude of gratitude is a mindful acknowledgment of all we have been given.”

Wellness experts swear by it: write a gratitude list every morning and night, and watch your world transform. And don’t get me wrong—I’m all in on gratitude.

But have you ever felt a strange undertone sneaking into the conversation around it?

“I’m so grateful,” but somewhere in the background, a quiet voice whispers, “Am I sure I deserve it?”

Often, and especially when overemphasized, gratitude carries a shadow side of unworthiness—a subtle undercurrent of apology.

Think about it:

When we go on and on about how thankful we are, does a small part of it feel like we’re low-key sorry and sheepish for feeling happy? Like we’re saying, “I didn’t earn this. It was given to me, and I’m just lucky to be here.”

Turns out, even the wordsmiths are in on it. The Collins Dictionary lists synonyms for gratitude like:

• Beholden
• Indebted
• Obliged.

Hold onto your sweet wellness hacks: do we really need to feel beholden or indebted just to be grateful?

This is where Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, my teacher’s teacher, often offered a refreshing perspective when people talked about gratitude and luck:

Appreciate your well-deserved, self-created good fortune

Yes, gratitude is beautiful. But let’s not dilute it with unintended feelings of less-than-ness.

True gratitude isn’t just about appreciating—it’s also about honoring the role we play in co-creating the goodness in our lives.

What role is that? This thing called showing up for life:

• Saying yes to the right things.
• Saying yes to the hard things.
• Saying no to the things we knew weren’t good for us.
• Saying yes to the wrong things—and learning from them.
• Saying yes to meditation, even when it felt inconvenient—but was exactly what we needed to rest, heal, and expand.

When we see it this way, it’s clear that life isn’t just about luck. We’ve played our part in its unfolding, and acknowledging that isn’t hubris or boastful—it’s simply maintaining an expansive perspective and the aspect of our consciousness state that’s more aligned with our Universal selves.

As you move through today in gratitude—perhaps elastic-waisted, on your third helping of pumpkin pie, and maybe a football game or six—let’s take it one step further. Let’s also curve back onto our:

• Well-deserved
• Self-created
• Good fortune

It’s time to honor the part we play in shaping this beautiful, sometimes messy, and always incredible life.

Today, I’m especially appreciative of this community—and of you.

Thank you for being such a cherished part of my journey—both as a human and a teacher. Here’s to many more meditations, retreats, podcasts, and newsletters together.

And if the holidays feel like a lot for any reason, just hit reply. Let’s connect. ❤️