By Celeste Smucker
We’ve come here to learn how to love.
–Master Charles Cannon
Google “daily gratitude” and you will discover a host of articles about the many benefits of a daily gratitude practice.
Most recommend gratitude journals, and many provide lists of prompts to help remind you about the multitude of things you have to be grateful for.
Activities like this can help you develop a daily gratitude practice that can enrich your life. But what is the best way to approach it?
One possibility is to define gratitude as a goal, something you seek.
Another, is that it arises spontaneously from inside of you as you release old fears and enjoy a calmer, more peaceful life.
Let’s take a look.
The Science of Gratitude
Gratitude is an expression of thanks for the events and people in your life.
Thanking someone for a birthday gift, or the loan of an umbrella on a rainy day are examples.
However, gratitude doesn’t have to involve another person. It also includes being grateful for a soaking rain after a long drought or for a loving welcome from a family pet after a tiring day at work.
The practice of gratitude has many benefits.
Studies demonstrate that its regular expression helps you enjoy more positive mental health.
For example, a study based on a meta-analysis of 64 clinical trials found that subjects who practiced gratitude showed fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.
These same subjects also found the more they practiced gratitude the more grateful they felt. In other words, regular expressions of gratitude can help you find even more things to be grateful for.
And these can include appreciation for events or experiences that may (at the time) seem challenging or difficult to accept.
Research also shows that expressing gratitude can actually change your brain.
It activates your sympathetic nervous system, reducing anxiety and interrupting negative thought patterns, shifting your focus to ones that are more positive.
Studies have also shown a positive correlation between regular expressions of gratitude and the parts of your brain involved with emotions and memory.
Gratitude As a Spiritual Practice
Science provides plenty of reasons to start a gratitude practice.
If you want to take it a step further, however, why not incorporate gratitude expressions into your daily spiritual practice?
Spiritual teachers tell us that the most authentic gratitude expressions arise naturally and spontaneously when you achieve a state of balance; when your physical, emotional, mental and subtle dimensions fall into alignment, moving you into the present moment.
As an example, imagine you are having a difficult day. You feel and express negative emotions, and your brain is on autopilot reviewing all the reasons why your life is off track.
Then something prompts you to take a break and go for a walk. The people around you breathe a sigh of relief as you take your negativity out the door.
At first you walk along with your head down still feeling gloomy.
Suddenly, though, a breathtakingly beautiful sunset grabs your attention. You stop and watch in awe as the sun gradually sets and the bright red and orange streaks in the sky begin to fade away.
Captivated as you are by this event, you forget what upset you earlier. Instead you find yourself thinking how lucky you are to have witnessed such an amazing display.
Maybe you even begin to realize things aren’t so bad after all remembering all of the good things in your life.
Over time, peak experiences like this increase your store of inner gratitude. And as it grows you begin to recognize even more in your life to be grateful for.
And don’t forget to include expressing gratitude for small every day events as well.
Things like the taste of your first sip of coffee in the morning, or the feel of cool water sliding down your parched throat in the middle of a long hike.
A cool breeze on a hot day or an unexpected call from an old friend are other examples.
What do they have in common?
Noticing them pulls you into the present moment and encourages spontaneous expressions of gratitude.
How to Increase Gratitude In Your Life
While a peak experience can activate a spontaneous expression of gratitude, what if you could enjoy a more sustained experience? What if you could be grateful all day long?
The path to a life of gratitude is balance: physical, emotional and mental. And living The Holistic Lifestyle® is one way to achieve it.
Here are some simple steps to get you started. Don’t try to do them all at once. Pick one or two to start and gradually add others.
- Adopt a daily meditation practice, which helps you:
- Reduce stress, balancing your physical body
- Feel good, promoting emotional balance
- Increase positive thoughts, helping to balance your mind
- Choose a healthy diet, exercise regularly and add breathwork to your daily routine.
- Practice appreciating whatever comes your way even if you feel it needs fixing or isn’t something you would define as positive.
- Shift your thoughts from negative to positive with daily positive affirmations, and by keeping a gratitude journal to remind you of all that you have to be grateful for.
- Learn to appreciate the lessons in the challenges that come your way and record them in your journal.
As you achieve balance in your physical, emotional and mental dimensions you create a foundation that opens the door to your subtle dimensions.
There you can experience pure consciousness (God), tap into your intuition, and begin to see and appreciate the good in yourself and everyone you meet.
And when you do so, spontaneous expressions of gratitude arise automatically all day long.
Imagine A Life Free From Fear & Full of Gratitude
Imagine waking up every morning full of energy, grateful for the start of a new day.
And imagine what it would be like to enjoy calm and peace rather than the usual ups, down, and emotional swings many of us often experience.
This creation is a life of gratitude. And it is within the reach of all of us.