Practising gratitude is said to improve sleep, reduce stress and improve mood. I think it also helps you find presence, for a moment, when you think about all the things you are grateful for you look back of course but you look at it from the present. The moment you are in, the moment that holds you that very second.
As you practice gratitude more often you’ll move beyond the material, the superficial and you’ll start to look at loved ones, experiences had, then lastly you look to yourself, your health, your body your worldly experience, your knowledge and what it has afforded you.
I believe having a gratitude practice can help you get closer to yourself. The more you understand yourself and make space for your needs the better you will be in every aspect of your life. This isn’t a quest for selfishness, it's a quest for stillness and inner calm from understanding and patience.
When teaching a yoga class I often set gratitude as the intention of the class, offering it as a focal point for the practice. Someone or something to be the reason for their practice on that day. At the end of the class as we move into Savasana, I offer a moment to take gratitude for themselves, the body they’re in and the space created within it, during the practice. Bringing people back to their bodies in this way brings a softness, that falls over the class. This simple prompt allows them to think this way about themselves, which truth be told we rarely do outside of practices like yoga. Their shoulders soften and their heart open, they find peace for a moment or two.
It’s a powerful thing gratitude, and if you are someone who doesn’t practice it often, may I offer you some simple ways to bring gratitude into your life:
- Gratitude jar: you may have heard about this, I heard it from Elizabeth Gilbert in an interview or maybe in her book Big Magic. Take a jar/bowl and fill it with moments of joy and gratitude. Each day we experience many moments that we would forget about the next but this jar is where you keep them. Write them down on a scrap of paper to keep. Whenever you need a moment of gratitude they’ll all be in the jar waiting for you.
- Journal prompt: My favourite journal prompts are Thoughts, Observations, Ideas and Gratitude. Use these daily to help get into the practice of thinking about things you are grateful for. As well as noticing your thoughts and laying down your ideas, gratitude will either end the day with a focus on the little wonderful moments, or start the day reflecting on yesterdays magic. (To read more about journaling)
- Show gratitude to a loved one, friend or stranger, be thankful and appreciative of the people or things that make you feel grateful. Show sincerity in your response, write a thank you note, tell them you appreciate them, buy them a gift, make them something. Let the thought of the response match the way their act made you feel.
- Meditation is another way to explore gratitude, instead of focusing on the breath, you can use visualisation to picture the things, people or experiences you are grateful for. Dedicate your practice to reliving the feelings you experienced when you remember these times.
- Curiosity, when walking in nature, think deeply about the things around you, how long the tree has been there how much oxygen it has provided for us over its lifespan, look beyond yourself to the nature that supports our life here, on this incredible planet. Be grateful for the ecosystem that makes our lives possible. It's all right in front of our eyes, but you have to be open to see it, to appreciate it. To be grateful for it.
Try one of the above today and when you have the practice, it will start to become natural to see the world through all the tiny miracles that had to happen to make everything possible. Your heart and mind will open up and what could be better than that?
Comment below if you have gratitude practices different from the above that you want to share.
