Gratitude is a hot topic in the health field these days. If you are someone who logs onto podcasts or videos pertaining to one’s health; gratitude eventually is talked about. My first introduction to Gratitude was in a book about historical spiritual disciplines. I had to read this book and practice the disciplines while obtaining my master’s in counseling. The practice of giving Thanks or Gratitude has been around for hundreds of years. All forms of faith practice gratitude which makes it a universal practice.
Nowadays, researchers are showing how impactful a Gratitude practice is for our overall health. They are finding that this practice helps heal the mind and body. Today, I am not going to talk about that part of the information around Gratitude. I would encourage you to go find those professionals that can explain that information better than I can. Today, however, I am going to talk about how to start a Gratitude practice.
Personally, I do a daily Gratitude Journal. A couple years ago I started one and completed it in 6 months. Recently, I started a new one of that same version. Personally, I feel that my daily focus has changed for the positive and my body is less stressed. When I say less stressed, I mean that when I feel stressed, I can manage the duration of those thoughts and feelings to being minimal. I can practice my mindfulness and positive affirmations more too.
Now, setting up your journal is as simple as getting a piece of paper and writing out things that you are grateful for in your life. In some ways, you are counting your blessings for the day or after experiencing your day. However, I want to provide you with the best information on how to setup a really effective gratitude journal that will help your mind, body, and soul. As the Mental Fitness Center is all about doing that for our clients.
First, it is important to know when Gratitude is the most impactful on ones self. Research has shown that the most effective way is when someone gives you Gratitude for something that you have done. The second best is when you watch someone receive gratitude. A research study was done where individuals watched Holocaust survivors talk about receiving help from others. The study showed that watching this created neural changes in the participants. This is the first step in your Gratitude Journal: Find someone’s narrative that is inspiring to you.
The second step to your journal is to begin to imagine what it was like to be that person in the narrative you are watching. That is you begin to feel into the experience of what it was like to be in their story as if it was your own. The key here is to get the emotions involved in your growth. Think deeply into all those feelings for about 1-5 minutes. It doesn’t have to be long. Just long enough that you are experiencing the feelings. It maybe helpful to ask yourself some questions to facilitate you getting into the feeling states. Here is a suggestion of some questions to ask yourself. First, ask “What was the struggle they were facing”. Secondly, “What was the help they received”? Lastly, “How does this story impact me emotionally”?
The keys to this way of doing Gratitude is that it doesn’t have to be a daily practice. It is suggested that doing this 3-4 times per week has a high level of impact on us. In addition, the genuineness of the feelings has to be real to you. Your brain knows when you’re lying and does not respond positively. This means you need to allow yourself to truly feel the feelings that match your experience.
If you can do this practice, I can affirm that it will begin to change your life for the positive. If you are doing with anxiety, depression, motivation, or relationship issues; you will most certainly begin to see the issues diminish over time. You will most likely being to see your perspective shift from a negative point of view to a positive point of view. When life gets tough, you may see yourself figure our solutions and shift to positive affirmations as well. Overall, I encourage you to start this practice 3-4 times per week or even daily.
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