With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s the time of year where we all start to feel a little more thankful for the things and people in our lifes. But, obviously, gratitude shouldn’t be limited to one season of the year. In fact, making gratitude a part of your daily life can have impressive benefits for your mental and physical health.
So why not use this time of year as an opportunity to get into the habit of expressing gratitude daily? Here are some of the benefits of a daily gratitude practice, as well as some easy ways to make gratitude a part of your daily routine.
What Is A Gratitude Practice?
A gratitude practice, at its most basic, involves reflecting on and acknowledging the things, people, or experiences in your life that you are thankful for. But the real power lies in turning your feelings of gratitude into an active practice.
Making gratitude a practice means that you actively and mindfully set aside time each day (ideally) to consider and focus on the things that you are grateful for in your life. From major things, like getting a new job or overcoming a health issue, to small things like a delicious cup of coffee or the sunrise.
By focusing your attention on the things in your life you are grateful for, what might have been a fleeting moment of gratitude turns into something that becomes a part of who you are and how you move through life.
What Are The Benefits Of A Gratitude Practice
There are a number of well-documented benefits to practicing gratitude that can positively impact both your mental and physical well-being. Here are 10 key advantages of incorporating a gratitude practice into your daily life:
- Improved Mindset: Gratitude practices have been shown to have a significant association with depression, with people who experience higher levels of gratitude showing lower levels of depression. Gratitude practices can help promote a more positive mindset and increase overall life satisfaction and happiness.
- Reduced Stress: Research has also shown that gratitude can help lower stress levels and promote a sense of calm in the face of challenges. It can also help improve your ability to bounce back from challenges or difficult situations, making you more emotionally resilient.
- Improved Relationships: Practicing gratitude regularly encourages you to focus your attention outside of yourself and, often, on the other people in your life you feel grateful for. This helps to foster a greater sense of empathy and compassion. It also helps deepen and strengthen your relationship with your loved ones (especially if you express your gratitude to them).
- Physical Benefits: The benefits of gratitude don’t stop at mental and emotional effects. Practicing gratitude has been shown to have a positive impact on your physical well-being too. It can help improve your sleep, boost your immune system, and even reduce pain and risk of illness.
How To Start A Gratitude Practice
There’s no wrong way to develop your own gratitude practice. The key is intention and consistency. Here are some easy ways you can practice gratitude every day.
Keep a gratitude journal
This is probably the most common suggestion you’ll find but that’s because it’s so effective. Every morning before you get going for your day or every evening before bed, spend a few minutes thinking of at least three things you’re currently grateful for in your life and write them down.
Express gratitude
Try giving yourself a goal each day to find at least one opportunity to express your gratitude for another person. And to really be effective, be as specific as possible. If someone does something you’re grateful for, don’t just say “thank you” and leave it at that. Express what you are grateful for, why you are grateful for it, and how it positively impacted you.
Mindful moments of gratitude
A gratitude practice doesn’t have to take long. And a great way to get into the habit of feeling and being grateful is to practice mindful moments of gratitude throughout your day. Try setting a reminder on your phone to go off at a random time. When you get the notification, stop for a moment, take a few breaths, and look around at your current situation. No matter what’s going on, try to find at least one thing you’re grateful for. It doesn’t have to be big. But even if you’re in the middle of a stressful situation, there’s always something you can be grateful for.
Do a gratitude meditation
Meditation has its own host of benefits. And during a gratitude meditation, you meditate on the things and people in your life that you’re thankful for. This type of meditation can have an incredibly positive impact and allow you to reap the benefits of both gratitude and meditation at the same time. Here’s a great 10-minute gratitude meditation from Headspace to try.
Focusing on gratitude doesn’t fix all the wrongs in the world or ignore any challenges or concerns in your current life. But by adopting a daily gratitude practice, it makes it easier to respond to life’s challenges from a place of positivity, gratitude, and calm.
Whether you start a gratitude journal or meditation practice, or commit to daily expressions and mindful moments of gratitude, there are lots of ways to start making a gratitude practice a natural part of your life. And now’s the perfect time of year to make gratitude a practice and carry it with you throughout your daily life.
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