Gratitude

It’s a buzz word now, I get it, but there is actually so much science behind how having a regular gratitude practice can rewire your brain. I listened to an awesome Calm Masterclass from Tamara Levitt which has five short episodes taking about the power of gratitude.

In its essence it’s just about pausing and reflecting and acknowledging things you can be thankful for. It could be as simple as someone smiles at you as walking down the street, or for having fresh clean air, or something big like meeting the love of your life, or being supported by friends and family through an illness.

If you think about it logically, the more time you spend focusing on the negative, the less time you have to reflecting on the positive.

I’ve definitely been guilty of listing off all the crap going wrong, or how people have done me wrong and going down a spiral. But having a daily gratitude practice and partner that also expresses gratitude has helped me enjoy life so much more.

I feel as though it’s a thing that the more gratitude and thanks you express, creates a flow on affect for others too.

The science of Gratitude

There’s an interesting read on Health.Harvard.Edu that talks about an experiment and the science behind gratitude.

Gratitude Countdown

This is a simple game, from the Calm Masterclass, that you can play with a partner, friend or child. You take turns starting at 10 and working down to one, saying out loud the things you’re grateful for.

Gratitude Journaling

As someone with perfectionist tendencies, concussion and anxiety it would be fair to say I’ve had a penchant for dwelling on all the shit going wrong in my life. And giving more weight to stuff going wrong, then stuff going right.

Having a daily gratitude practice, that I do each evening before before, is helping me rewire my brain. I don’t have a specific target or anything, I just write what comes up on that day.

Gratitude while eating

Another thing I listened to a podcast somewhere was to try thinking of all the people involved in getting a meal to a plate. So if you think about a meat and three vege meal, where did the meet come from. Who looked after the animal, who killed it, sliced and cooked it. And likewise with your vegetables, where did they grow? Who watered the crops, picked them, processed, packaged, transported, stacked on the shelf, worked at the check out - and then who cooked it (maybe you cooked it!). There are SO many people involved in just getting a nutritious meal to your plate. I just found this an interesting task to try one night.

Taking this example you can try it on anything you do regularly in your life - getting from A-B, voting, drinking water from you tap at home, walking around a local park… the list goes on!

For anyone who got this far, I’m grateful for your taking the time to read this. And I hope it helps!