How (and why) to develop a daily gratitude practice.
By now, we’ve all heard that practicing gratitude is good for your mental, physical and emotional health. Numerous studies have shown a connection with stronger immunity, better rest and decreased stress. Who wouldn’t want all of those things?
Once you’ve accepted that being grateful is good for you, the next step is figuring out how to go about it. If you don’t have a routine or practice of gratitude, it probably feels awkward to come up with things you are thankful for. It can be extra hard when you’re feeling depressed or burnt-out, as those feelings like gratitude seem out of reach.
So, what can we do to cultivate a sense of gratitude? The good news is: there are many ways to do it, so you can try as many as you like to see what works best for you. One of the most important things with any new habit is consistency, so start small and track your efforts. Make a notation when you show up to your gratitude practice and then look back after some time has passed to see how often you engaged in the habit. Also, don’t give yourself a hard time when you skip a day or forget- things happen! Instead, try using your next gratitude session to be grateful to yourself for not giving up, for being able to make time that day, for being willing to make mistakes and being willing to carry on anyway.
Some ways to practice daily gratitude that you might try include:
- Jotting down a short list in your journal every morning (or at the end of the day if that is better for you).
- Choosing a moment that happens daily (for example, waiting for the elevator at your office or waiting for the coffee to brew) and dedicating that moment to thinking of gratitude targets.
- Sending a thank-you note to someone (and the act of writing it!).
- Asking someone to be your Gratitude Buddy and send them a text or some quick form of communication with your gratitude target and receive one from them. This has the added benefit of nurturing that relationship, which will *also* lead to increased health benefits! Double win!
Our lives don’t need to be perfect for us to find something for which we can be thankful every day. In fact, sometimes being grateful for a challenge we are facing is to acknowledge the growth that is necessary to meet the challenge. We can have gratitude for the lessons we learn and even for the heartaches we experience, for the compassion and empathy that they teach us.
Even though it can seem a bit cliché and trite to go around the table on Thanksgiving saying one thing we are grateful for, we encourage everyone to do it anyway! It’s a place to begin (or continue) a daily gratitude practice, so why not let the holiday give you this opportunity?
PS: As I was writing this blog post, it occurred to me how grateful I am to have been creating these Moment of Bliss posts for the past 3 years, as it gives me the weekly task of finding out some good news and uplifting content and then sharing it. It’s enforced weekly positivity and I am very glad to have it.
