The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude can change your life.

No kidding. A daily practice of writing down even three things you are grateful for will significantly change your life in many ways. In fact, research shows that people who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel less anxiety, respond to stress more calmly, sleep better, are more compassionate and even have stronger immune systems.

That translates to better self-care, right? It’s one of the most simple yet highly effective self-care practices.

And not only will it change your life, it changes the lives of those around you. Because just think about what would happen in your home or your office if you were sleeping better, feeling better and treating others more compassionately? And, expressing your gratitude to them and for them, helping them to create their own gratitude practice.  It has a positive, cumulative effect on everyone you spend time with.

There are a couple of easy ways to incorporate gratitude in your life each day.

• Gratitude journaling – taking a few moments at the start or end of each day to write down 3-5 things you are grateful for.
• A round-robin gratitude statement while making or eating dinner.
• Reflecting on or talking about the best things that happened during the day when you get home from work or school.
• Writing down one thing you are grateful for in a note, text or on a chalkboard where you and/or someone special in your life can see it every day.

Ready to begin or re-start a regular gratitude practice?

Figure out the best way for you to express your gratitude and begin right now as you are reading this. If you think you’ll have trouble remembering to practice gratitude statements daily, set yourself a little alarm or create a calendar event with reminder in your smart phone. Or tie it to something you do regularly every single day, like brushing your teeth or making coffee. Commit to 30 days of expressing gratitude daily and then reflect on the changes.

If you’re willing, take a few moments to come back to the blog or Facebook post and comment how this experience felt to you. Or if you’re a regular practitioner, just leave a comment about how gratitude has changed your life or the lives of those around you.

Today, I am particularly grateful for all of you who have messaged me, shared, commented, texted and otherwise expressed your happiness with these #SummerofSelfCare2017 posts. It means so much that it’s helping you. And I’m grateful to the coach who first introduced me to self care many years ago – Cheryl Richardson. Her book The Art of Extreme Self-Care is amazing and beautiful to look at too.

There are lots of ways to express gratitude.