Welcome to Soulful Jewish Living: Mindful Practices for Every Day with me, Josh Feigelson.
I’m grateful you’re here, and I hope you benefit from our time together.
Just in case you didn’t recognize that number, that was the opening to Joni Mitchell’s 1971 classic, “Big Yellow Taxi.” (Funny story: My father-in-law’s best friend dated Joni in the 1960s but broke up with her supposedly because he thought she didn’t have any talent. Hah.)
It’s not just paradise that gets paved over for the parking lot. So often in life it feels like we don’t know what we’ve got til it’s gone. Places, experiences, relationships. There are millions of things we rely on and take for granted, from the air we breathe to the food we eat to the technologies we use. In so many ways we are blessed to live in the world we live in–and in so many ways, we can take it for granted.
Many years ago I spent part of a summer living in Silver Spring, Maryland. The rabbi of the synagogue I went to there had broken his foot and was hobbling around in a boot. Then, one Shabbat, he showed up without the boot. And I remember him sharing with the congregation, “You know, we have this blessing we say every morning that thanks God for enabling us to take firm steps on the earth. I don’t think I fully appreciated that blessing until today.” In the words of the prophet, you don’t know what you got til it’s gone.
I think the rabbi’s story illustrates a truth: Of all the things we have a tendency to take for granted, our bodies might be number one on the list. When things are working well, we tend not to notice them. But when something goes wrong, we’re reminded of just how miraculous it is that all of this works as well as it does as often as it does.
This is the second episode in our miniseries on gratitude. Last time, we talked about how the word Jew, which comes from our ancestor Judah, or Yehudah, comes from the word hoda’ah, gratitude. To be Jewish is, fundamentally, to be grateful. Today, I want to focus on the most foundational place to focus our gratitude practice, which is our bodies.
In a lot of our culture, and even in certain areas of Jewish thought, there has long been a tendency to downplay the value of the body. We might think of the body as the site of our baser drives—in Freudian terms, food, power, sex, pleasure. Some philosophies, including some Jewish ones, emphasize struggling against our bodily desires, conquering our evil inclinations.
Some other strains of thought, particularly in the modern period, emphasize the mind over the body in a different way. “I think, therefore I am,” said Descartes. Note he didn’t say, “My heart beats,” or, “I’m breathing,” or, “I tasted the most delicious chocolate ice cream this afternoon, therefore I am.” Like most of us do today, he put the emphasis on the mind. (Though I’ll add, in the age of AI, perhaps we’re going to rediscover that our bodies are a huge part of what make us special.)
Last week I talked about Modeh Ani, the prayer of gratitude with which we start every day according to our tradition. One of the very next prayers in our liturgy is a pretty incredible blessing of gratitude for our bodies. In Hebrew it’s known as asher yatzar. Here’s an English translation: “Blessed are You, our God, sovereign of the universe, who formed humans with wisdom and created within our body numerous openings and hollows. It is revealed to you in the deepest places that if one of them were ruptured, or if one of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in your presence. Blessed are You, God, who heals all flesh and performs wonders.”
How awesome is that? The body here isn’t something to be overcome or resisted. Instead, it’s an amazing creation—so intricate, so full of organs and blood vessels and cells that are constantly opening and closing in an intricate dance. It takes so much for all of that to work—and the fact that it does as often as it does is rather unbelievable when you stop to think about it.
So one practice to try this week is just reciting this blessing—traditionally we say it after going to the bathroom. But really, I’d encourage you to do it anytime. (You can find the text in the show notes—or, honestly, you can just google “asher yatzar.”)
For something a little more guided, here’s a short meditation practice to try.
Wherever you are right now, take a moment to drop your attention down out of your head and into your physical body. If it feels safe, close your eyes, or simply lower your gaze toward the floor.
Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose… hold it for just a beat… and exhale through your mouth.
Notice that while you just took a conscious breath, your body has been breathing for you all day long while you were doing other things. Your heart has been pumping without you ever having to send it a reminder email. Your nervous system has been managing millions of signals per second.
Take one breath just to acknowledge that quiet wisdom.
Inhale: I am held. Exhale: I am here.
Now, I’d invite you to bring a warm, gentle light of attention down through the body—not to judge or evaluate how it looks or performs, but simply to thank it for working on your behalf.
Bring your awareness to your feet and legs. When they’re working well, these limbs carry your weight, step over obstacles, and hold you upright on the solid earth. I’d invite you to say to them: Thank you.
Now move your awareness up into your torso, chest, and belly—the real action center of Asher Yatzar, where there are so many openings, organs, and channels. Feel the steady rhythm of your chest rising and falling. Acknowledge the digestion, circulation, and processing happening right now beneath the surface. Say to your inner body: Thank you.
Finally, bring your awareness to your hands and shoulders. Shoulders that carry heavy loads, hands that hold the hands of people you love, turn doorknobs, cook food. Soften your shoulders away from your ears, unclamp your hands, and say: Thank you.
Take one more full, expansive breath, letting your ribs expand in all directions.
As you exhale, see if you can gently let go a bit of critique or frustration you’ve been holding toward your body today. Your body is miraculous, just the way it is. It is here, it is functioning—and that enables you to be here listening, living, able to receive and extend love.
Don’t wait for the paradise to be paved over. As you move through the rest of your day or week, try to catch yourself in those micro-moments when a body part is simply doing its job. When you wash your hands, when you take a step, when you take a deep drink of water—pause for just three seconds and offer a quiet expression of gratitude to the vessel carrying you through this life.
Blessings for the journey. Know that I’m on it with you.
Thank you for joining us for Soulful Jewish Living: Mindful Practices for Every Day, a production of Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media, and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. This episode is sponsored by Jonathan and Kori Kalafer and the Somerset Patriots: The Bridgewater, NJ-based AA Affiliate of the New York Yankees. If you like this show, subscribe, share this episode with a friend, give us five stars on Apple Podcasts. Check out our website, unpacked.media for everything Unpacked-related, and subscribe to our other podcasts, and check out the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Most importantly, be in touch–about what you heard today, what you’d like to hear more about, or to dedicate an episode. Write to me at josh@unpacked.media.
This episode was hosted by me, Rabbi Josh Feigelson. Audio was edited by Rob Pera and we’re produced by Rivky Stern. Thanks for joining us.