How To Practise Gratitude

There are plenty of reasons to practice gratitude, including benefits to your overall mental health and well-being. We have ample evidence now that the simple practise of gratitude ?it does quite a lot for our brains and mental wellbeing.

Practicing gratitude can mean different things to different people. From daily journaling to, a gratitude jar or having a gratitude buddy, to end of day prayer of gratitude the practice practice can take many forms.

This FB group is one place where whenever you want to you can express gratitude and so build up that muscle for yourself.

But first ?what does it mean to practice gratitude?

Gratitude is simply defined as the state of being grateful. It involves expressing thanks or appreciation for something, from surprise noticing of what is always there, to a gift or kindness to the wonder of living this life.

I cannot stress enough how really important to understand that gratitude is not about adapting a Pollyanna attitude or a false positivity. Part of being human is living through times of suffering and sadness. In our own lives and in the world around us bad things happen and there are periods of darkness. The practise of gratitude is not about putting our heads in the sand and pretending that this is not so. Rather it is the simple but powerful practise of building resilience by noticing what we are grateful for during:

·?????The ordinary, everyday

·?????The joyful ( automatic grateful) moments

·?????The difficult days

Gratitude involves recognition of the positive things in your life and how they affect you. This can range from acknowledging a lovely sky, enjoying a hot cup of coffee or being touched by the smile of another, or being able to endure suffering or enjoy the privilege of supporting a loved one through sickness.

What is the evidence base?

We know from research that gratitude can:

1. make us happier
2. enhance our positive emotions
3. increase our self esteem
4. improve the quality of our friendships and relationships
5. strengthen families in times of stress
6. make us more optimistic
7. help us to deepen our purpose and the meaning making aspects of our lives

8.????enhance optimism

1. improve sleep quality.
2. improve emotional regulation.
3. increase feelings of happiness and positive mood.
4. foster hope for the future.
5. reduce stress,
6. prevent or aid recovery from burnout,
7. help manage symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
8. increase resilience
9. improve our patience and our decision making
10. help us to be happier and to find more meaning in work
11. help us to better manage stress and overwhelm.

How do I do it then?

You can practice gratitude in lots of different ways, like:

• gratitude exercises, such as journaling, gratitude meditations, or having a gratitude buddy
• paying attention to the little things in life, and telling another or writing them down
• telling someone you’re grateful for them or for something they did, even if it was a long time ago
• doing something kind for someone to express your gratitude
• giving thanks through prayer, or a gratitude jar or tree in your home or place of work.

This Coming Home to Calm Through Gratitude Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/229974891806867997 is one?place where you can safely begin or strengthen your gratitude practice.

Here you can:

·??????write what you are grateful for

·??????read and get inspired by what others have written / how they are building their own

gratitude muscle

·??????use the posts in the group to support whatever gratitude practise best works for you

Some Gratitude practices for you to explore to find your own way:

Use Gratitude Prompts

A great way to begin to build your muscle of gratitude is to notice everyday something new you are grateful for. Starting a gratitude journal works because it slowly changes our focus – as the old saying goes where our attention goes energy flows. A great way to approach gratitude journaling is to make a game out of finding new things to be grateful for each day?- no matter what the circumstances or challenges of the day.

?

Start a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude prompts are a great way to get started, continue your practice, or kick-start a stalled gratitude practice. This is also a relatively simple exercise, with only one instruction: fill in the blank!

Below are some easy prompts to get you started. You can add to these as your practice develops:

• I’m grateful for three things I hear:
• I’m grateful for three things I see:
• I’m grateful for three things I smell:
• I’m grateful for three things I touch/feel:
• I’m grateful for these three things I taste:
• I’m grateful for these three blue things:
• I’m grateful for these three animals/birds:
• I’m grateful for these three childhood friends
• I’m grateful for these three family members:
• I’m grateful for these three hobbies/things I love doing:
• I’m grateful for these three people I work with:
• I am grateful for these three people I serve:

Gratitude Meditation

To practice gratitude reflection, follow these steps:

1.????Find a quiet place to be and adapt a relaxed yet alert posture .

2.????Begin by noticing your feet on the floor and the points of contact between your body and the chair. What sensations, if any do you notice?

3.????Now focus on your breath – by which I simply mean begin to notice the breath exactly as it is now, just this breath, and then coming back to just this breath each time you notice the mind wandering. The breath coming in, and the breath going out. As you connect with your breath and notice the rythym of life that is always with you simple express gratitude for this gift of life - keeping you alive, and connecting you with others every moment of your life.

4.????Next, bring to mind those people in your life to whom you are close: your friends, family, partner…. Say to yourself, “I am grateful to have ? in my life.”

5.???Now bring your awareness to yourself as you sit here. You may not often pause to notice or focus on the wonder of you but in whatever way you can, let's do that now.?Express gratitude for your life, your'e uniqueness, imagination, capacities, skills, and gifts, your ability to connect and to love, to learn from life's lessens, overcome sadness, pain and suffering, to endure, to build resilience, to experience times of great joy and happiness as well as boredom and frustration. Aren't we humans amazing? Say to yourself, “For this, I am grateful.”

6.????Finally, staying with your awarenes sof breathing, widen this awareness now to your whole body. So you have an awareness now of this whole ?body breathing - this one breathing body being part of and connected to all living beings. We do not just spend time in nature. We are nature. we are part of the whole. Say to yourself " For this I am grateful.

If you follow me at all you may know I am a fan of poetry and Mary Oliver is one of my favourite poets. Much of her poetry is expressing gratitude for life itself. I particularly like this one Mindful. I hope you do too.

Mindful by Mary Oliver

Everyday

I see or hear

something

that more or less

kills me

with delight,

that leaves me

like a needle

in the haystack

of light.

It was what I was born for —

to look, to listen,

to lose myself

inside this soft world —

to instruct myself

over and over

in joy,

and acclamation.

Nor am I talking

about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,

the very extravagant —

but of the ordinary,

the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.

Oh, good scholar,

I say to myself,

how can you help

but grow wise

with such teachings

as these —

the untrimmable light

of the world,

the ocean’s shine,

the prayers that are made

out of grass?

“Mindful” by Mary Oliver from?Why I Wake Early. ? Beacon Press, 2005.