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"Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, and your face will come to shine like a sun, and everyone who sees it will be made glad and peaceful.” ― Rumi
Practicing gratitude is akin to bathing regularly in a spring of contentment. Mystics have been saying it for centuries and modern science is only beginning to unravel its incredible health benefits.
It is as simple as thinking of the things that make your life beautiful, letting your body feel the joy they bring to you, saying them in your head or out loud or writing them down. Over time you will tune your mind to focus on the good stuff rather than the things that pull you down and your life will seem fuller with joy.
What are the benefits of practicing gratitude?
1. It is good for your health: Feeling thankful is associated with improved immunity, better sleep, and positive moods. Not surprisingly, because thoughts manifest in our physical body, focusing on the good things in life can decrease anxiety, depression, chronic pain and lower the risk of diseases. For example, a study found that cardiac patients who were more grateful reported feeling less tired and better sleep and had lower levels of cellular inflammation.
2. Strengthens your social bonds: Gratitude helps you ‘find the right people, be reminded of their goodness towards you and binds you to them.’
(i) Find: Research found that by attuning your mind to other’s thoughtfulness it can help you identify people who you can form meaningful connections with.
(ii) Remind: By bringing your mind to dwell more on what is important and good in your life, you invariably begin to value your relationships and friendships more than before.
(iii) Bind: These feelings of gratitude towards your friends and family, manifest in kind gestures and compassion towards them. The evolutionary desire to reciprocate kicks in and they support you in return, binding you closer.
3. A more satisfied, less materialistic you: Being thankful for what you have, makes you feel like you have more even though materially you may have less. This is a glass half full, kind of thing. The answer to how a poor person can be happier than a healthy, rich man.
How can you make practicing gratitude a habit?
Step 1: Decide a time of the day to reflect on the things that make you happy.
This should be a time when you are alone with your thoughts to reflect on and feel the warm fuzz of gratitude.
On the train to work,
In the shower,
During your evening walk,
While settling in your bed for the night, etc.
‘Whenever you are alone with your thoughts
channelise your mind towards moments, things, people,
aspects of your own self that you are thankful for.’
A good practice is to set a time in your routine aside every day for this. If you decide to do it on your way to work, then after a few days of practice when you sit down on your train seat and put your head back, your mind will automatically wander towards thoughts of gratitude.
Step 2: Everyday at that time;
(i) Close your eyes and let your mind think of the things you are grateful for.
‘You can say thanks for the same things every day,
but be open to thinking of new things that can come on your list.’
The idea is to acknowledge the joy the big as well as the small things in your life bring to you. It could be anything;
Someone’s kind gesture towards you
Your new shoes that fit so well
Being able to cuddle someone you love to sleep
Your parents being just a call away
The natural beauty around your home
Having a grocery store just a short walk from your home
Your circle of close friends, etc.
(ii) Let the thought make you smile. Write it down / whisper it to yourself
You want to save them somewhere either in your mind alone or in a notepad. The act of saying that you are grateful for something or writing it down not only commits it to your memory but allows you to relive it in your body, strengthening the neural pathways and making it easier for you to feel happy because of them again.
Whenever you are feeling down, go to that place in your mind or notes where you saved those happy thoughts. Open that memory box and allow your body to feel the joy they give you. Whisper it to yourself again; “I am grateful to be doing a job I love.”
Tip: To make it easy to recall moments of joy, whenever you feel good make a mental note of it and tell yourself something like; “I am happy right here, at this moment.”
3 ways to make practicing gratitude fun & social way
1. Save pictures of moments, people and things you cherish. Our smartphones in hand we try to capture moments we feel we must cherish. Create a gratitude folder on your phone, or place them in a good old gratitude album or box. Add notes behind or alongside the photographs to remember the moment better and why you are grateful for it.
2. Make it a ritual or game. Create a physical gratitude box and put in little notes and pictures of happy moments and those you are thankful for. Bring in your birthday, your wedding anniversary, or the new years by opening the gratitude box and going through all the notes you put in it. A more fun and enriching experience might be to do it with your partner, a parent or a close friend.
We are picturing you sitting on a carpet in your cozy living room going through all the sweet memories you put away for this day.
3. Share it. While gratitude journaling is often a private activity, many of the things we feel thankful for include other people. It could be your partner taking equal responsibility of your newborn baby, your mother knitting warm socks for you this winter, your colleague stepping in for you at work, a stranger on a train giving up her seat for you because you look exhausted, your best friend from college picking up your frantic call to vent even though she is at work.
Research shows that sharing gratitude makes the recipient happier than the giver imagines. It strengthens your relationship because it tells them that you cherish them.
Send the gratitude note to them over mail or as a text message
Tag them in a photograph you saved in your gratitude folder or send it to them with a note. The My Mood Circle app provides an easy and subtle way of doing this.
Simply said, this is the best way to spend quality ‘me time’ everyday. It’s good for your morale, for your relationships, and for your physical health. It is even shown to raise well-being for children and more grateful parents make more grateful children.
Do you practice gratitude? If yes, we’d love to hear from you on how you do it and what impact it has had on your life. Drop a message to us in the comments or dm us on instagram.
* * This article has been verified by a certified psychologist.
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