4 Easy Tips to Cultivate Gratitude
As we move into spring, our minds naturally shift to cultivating. During this transition space between the winter and summer seasons, we begin to prepare our gardens, we tend to our homes, and we often feel a sense of renewal as the Earth springs back to life. This period of awakening is the perfect time to start cultivating gratitude as well.
There are countless benefits to creating a gratitude practice including increased overall happiness and positive emotions, improved mood and satisfaction, less burnout and greater resiliency. There are even benefits to our physical health such as improved sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of cellular inflammation. Gratitude encourages our development of patience, humility and wisdom, while decreasing our desire for trivial, material possessions.
According to the CDC, “Practicing gratefulness may be the best kept secret to help reduce stress and feel better. Practicing gratitude everyday can have a significant benefit to our physical and emotional wellbeing.”
But why do we need to practice gratitude every day? Simply put, in order to change our brains for the better. When we engage in learning, experiences and memory formation, new neural pathways are formed and strengthened in our brains. Similarly, neural pathways that are used infrequently become weak and eventually die.
The more we practice being grateful, the more significantly our brains will change over time, allowing for happier, more positive feelings and overall wellbeing. Like walking through a forest every day, the more you walk along the same path, the more visible that path becomes without having to think about it.
Practicing gratitude also encourages us to do good in the world. If we think and act with kindness and compassion, we will create neural pathways allowing us to always lead with these sentiments.
William Penn once noted, "I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."
So what are the easiest ways to cultivate gratitude? Sign up for my free 30 Day Gratitude Challenge, download the tracker and start with these T.I.P.S.
Thanks: First thing in the morning give thanks for sleep, a warm bed, water and food to nourish your body, family, or whatever speaks to you personally. Open your heart and pour the gratitude in.
Intention: Set the intention for the day including what you want to look for, what you want to see and how you want to be in the world.
Present: Set reminders on your phone to be present as you move through your day. Taking just 5 minutes to stop, breathe, look, listen, will open your heart to being grateful. What good have you seen today? What good have you done today? Consider taking pictures of things that delight you. Take a walk in nature, or just notice who or what makes you smile at work. Make note of the simple things that really make your life worth living.
Savor: Before bed, grab your tracker or a journal. Savor the day by recalling moments from the previous step. Look at the pictures you took, think about the beautiful moments of connection, feel the love emanating from the good you witnessed or created. And then write these down.
Go back to #1 and repeat these T.I.P.S. (give Thanks, set Intention, be Present, and Savor). By simplifying this life-changing practice of gratitude, you’ll soon start to feel real, significant changes. Slowly but surely, you’ll notice that you’re able to bounce back quicker during stressful times. You’ll catch yourself scanning the world around you for the positive, realizing the good, and spreading more kindness in the world. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose so make this commitment to improve your life.