Practising Gratitude on a regular basis can improve wellbeing on so many levels, it can reduce stress and tension, lift your mood, decrease depression and anxiety.
It helps us change our perspective, teaches us to appreciate all we have in our lives and can bring an improved sense of wellbeing and optimism - and it's the easiest thing in the world to do.
All you need is to take a few minutes whenever you feel the need to and do one, or more, of the following:
As soon as you awake in the morning, before you even open your eyes, take a few deep breaths feeling yourself come back into your body after sleep and give thanks for the sleep you have enjoyed and the beautiful day ahead of you.
Give Thanks for all you Have - I do this every morning while we're out walking our dog. I start by giving thanks for this beautiful day and all the blessings it brings, then go on to list all the things in my life that I am grateful for - the big things and little things. This practise helps to set my mood for the day, and I highly recommend trying it!
Start a Gratitude Journal - Take time every day to write in your journal about all that you are grateful for in your life today. These can be anything that made you smile, like a hello from a stranger, a warm conversation with friend or the delicious meal you had for your dinner.
Change Complaints into Statements of Gratitude - this is about changing your perspective. When you find yourself complaining about something, switch it up. My favourite one is "Yay, I have a beautiful house to keep clean" when faced with a couple of hours of housecleaning! So when you find yourself complaining that you "Have to do..." or "Need to do..." switch it up for "Yay, I get to..." or "I would like to......now" and see the difference it makes.
Express Gratitude to Others - Every day take some time to thank someone in your life for their help, for being there for you or anything else that comes to mind. You don't need to call them, a simple text will do - you will brighten their day, and yours too!
List 3 Things you are Grateful for - this one is a good one to do just before you fall asleep. List 3 or more things that you are grateful for from your day. You'll fall asleep in a state of gratitude and wake up the same way.
Create a Gratitude jar - once a week write down something that you are grateful for and put it in a jar. Open it at the end of the month to remind yourself of the wonderful things that happened in the last few weeks.
Create a Gratitude album of photos on your phone. Every day add one photo of something that made you smile, or helped you enjoy your day - then make sure you use some of your scrolling time once in a while to go through it!
Make practising Gratitude a part of your daily routine today and discover the difference it brings!
