Have you ever tried combining the two practices of mindfulness and gratitude into one practice? In this article, I explain the benefits of doing this and give you my step-by-step guide on how to practice mindful gratitude.
What is mindful gratitude?
Mindful gratitude is a practice that uses a combination of mindfulness and gratitude. In very simple terms, you give thanks whilst being in the moment.
It is very easy to practice mindful gratitude and you can do it for as little as one minute or much longer, depending on how much time you would like to give to it.
The process of mindful gratitude is to firstly bring yourself into the moment. Then you practice gratitude for all around you.
What are the benefits of mindful gratitude?
As with mindfulness, this practice can help to improve your mental health, by bringing a reduction in stress, anxiety and tension. This, in turn, can improve your physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Mindful gratitude helps you to focus on the smaller things in life, whether that’s simply taking a shower, a photograph of a treasured memory or relaxing with your favourite book.
Sometimes we can get caught up in the much larger things in life, such as reaching the top of the career ladder or buying a top of the range car. These larger things can take our main focus and we no longer notice the smaller things around us.
This practice of mindful gratitude brings your focus back to the here and now, allowing you to appreciate where you currently are and what is currently around you. In doing so, it can help you to refocus on moving towards your larger goals, but with a much gentler approach, as you begin to appreciate all in your life.
There is also a benefit with practicing gratitude in a mindful way, in that it raises your vibration, cultivates a positive mindset and allows more of what you desire to flow to you. How you feel is the main principle of the Law of Attraction; supporting you to manifest people, inspiration, ideas and material objects into your life.
How to practice mindful gratitude
It is very simple to practice mindful gratitude. The more you practice it, the more you notice around you, and the more you automatically appreciate the smaller things in your life.
Below is my step-by-step guide on how to practice mindful gratitude:
- For this, I am using the example of taking a shower.
- Take a look around you right now and note all that you see, feel, hear, smell (and taste if you are doing this exercise while you eat).
- Choose a few things from your list. In this example of taking a shower, I note below some things that are experienced during that shower:
- The feel and the temperature of the water as it runs onto the skin
- Watching how the shower gel foams into small bubbles
- The sound of the water running from the shower head
- The smell and texture of the shampoo as it’s applied to the hair
- What can be heard as the shower is turned off
- The feel of the towel as it’s wrapped around the body
- Simply focus on each element of a task and give thanks for all that you are experiencing in that moment.
You can do this simple exercise with any task, by carrying it out with a mindful approach, then appreciating each step of that task by practicing gratitude too.
Going deeper with mindful gratitude
If you wish to go a little deeper with this practice, then you can do so by following the steps below.
Work with one item at a time. You may choose to continue with other items in the same session or just give thanks for one thing each time you practice this.
- Start by creating a peaceful environment – turn off your mobile phone or anything that is likely to distract you. You may wish to play gentle meditation music, although that isn’t essential.
- Choose your first item and take time to think about all that is positive about that item. In this example, I have chosen an apple. One positive aspect of an apple is the health benefits it brings when you eat it.
- Next, take a few deep breaths, slow your breathing and when you are feeling relaxed, continue with the rest of the exercise.
- Take a look at the apple. What can you see? Note the colours, shape and size. Hold the apple and note how it feels. Smell the apple and taste it if you wish. If you are working with an item that makes a sound, note the sounds of that item.
- You are now in the moment and fully focused.
- Think again about the positives of your apple. Give thanks for the health benefits it provides.
- Now, think about how that apple has found its way into your possession. For example think about these steps:
- The person who brought the apple into your possession. Did they buy it from a supermarket and deliver it to your home?
- The person who worked on the checkout.
- The person who stocked up the shelf.
- The person who unpacked the delivery of apples.
- The people who made it possible for the apple to be delivered to the supermarket: The delivery driver, the person organising the transport, the person maintaining the transport, etc..
- The people who work picking and packing the fruit
- The tree that grew the apple
- Everything needed to sustain the health of the tree and the growth of its fruit: the sun, the rain, the earth.
- You can make these steps as simple or as complex as you wish.
- Now give thanks and gratitude for everyone and everything you identified in the steps above, in your apple’s journey to you.
- At this stage, you may wish to continue working with a different item, or stop and return to this exercise at a later time.
- When you have finished, take a few moments to note how you feel right in this moment. Do you feel relaxed and have a greater sense of peace? Do you feel good about being grateful for all the steps above? Is there noticeably less tension in your body, if at all? Just taking these few moments to check in with yourself, helps to identify the effects this exercise can have.
The more you practice mindful gratitude, the more you will appreciate the smaller things in life. You don’t necessarily have to do this with a physical object, you can do this for an act of kindness someone showed you, for the presence of someone special in your life, or simply the weather – even if it’s raining!
What do you think of practicing gratitude in this mindful way? Please leave your thoughts below. If you have given this exercise a go, I would love to hear how you have got on with it!
