Cultivating a habit of daily gratitude has been proven to bring many benefits, including a reduction in anxiety, increase in happiness and a greater appreciation and recognition of all around you.
Practicing gratitude is simple, takes very little time and is easy to fit into each day. There are many ways you can practice gratitude and you can find a way that best suits and resonates with you. Here is my guide for how to practice daily gratitude.
Benefits gratitude can bring:
- Reduction in anxiety, stress and tension
- Increase in happiness and self-esteem
- Greater appreciation of everything in your life
- Strengthens relationships
- Boosts energy levels
- Supports the immune system
- Improves sleep
- Enhances and maintains overall wellbeing
Ways to practice daily gratitude:
Recalling the events of your day
Recalling your day before dropping off to sleep each night is a great way to be thankful. Begin by finding at least ten little things to be grateful for. This could be hearing the birds singing, the food you have eaten, or a telephone call with a loved one.
Relax and say silently in your mind, “Today I have been grateful for…….”
Then to conclude say, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Doing this exercise each night will help to form this gratitude habit and it won’t take long before you are automatically recalling your day and giving thanks.
Become more aware of the outside world
When you are out and about and going about your daily life, take a moment to notice all around you. For example, the shapes of trees, buildings or flowers, and the shadows they may cast. What are the colours you can see? Can you smell any pleasant aromas? Are there any sounds? You may hear the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees. Or you may see the heads of flowers nodding in the breeze.
Becoming more aware and noticing the smaller things is a great mindfulness exercise, but is good for practicing gratitude too. As you walk through a park and the vibrant colours, sounds and sights of nature grab your attention, you may wish to silently give thanks there and then.
Bring awareness to the indoors
Bringing awareness to the little things around our home that we may not normally notice, can help us build our habit of gratitude.
Note things such as how the sunlight streams in through your windows. What patterns does the sun make as it moves from room to room during the day?
Give thanks for the roof over your head, the food on the table and the loved ones who may live with you.
Give thanks each morning
Create an attitude of gratitude by giving thanks each morning upon waking. Place your hand on your heart and say silently or aloud, “Thank you for another day.” You may wish to combine this with your morning meditation.
Drop a loved one a simple thank you
Let someone know you appreciate them by saying a simple thank you. Send a card through the post or drop them a quick message to simply say, ‘thank you for being you.’
Create a habit of writing in a gratitude journal
There are many different gratitude journals you could buy and these are great for recording your thanks for various things in your life. Many of them will include space to record your gratitude each day.
If you are a creative person, you may wish to create your own gratitude journal.
Some ideas of what to include in your personalised journal:
- Today I have been grateful for…….
- I am grateful for these people in my life…….
- The lessons I am grateful for learning this month are…….
- I am grateful for my favourite season of the year because…….
- I am grateful for the every day things (such as electricity, gas and running hot and cold water)…….
- I am grateful for my body allowing me to do…….
- I am grateful for the technology that allows me to…….
Starting off small will encourage you to continue to cultivate your habit of daily gratitude. Take one step at a time and gradually build up, or alternate the ways you give thanks each day. Have fun with this and please do let me know how you progress with your daily gratitude!
