The benefits of gratitude have gone viral on the internet for the last few years. Especially in the pandemic, when nothing seemed to go right, many turned to gratitude to remind themselves of how good life can be even during bad times and to ground themselves.
If you’re new to the world of gratitude, here are a few benefits of practising it:
Increases happiness and positive emotions
Reduces stress and anxiety
Improves physical health and sleep quality
Boosts self-esteem and resilience
Enhances relationships and social connections
In this article, we are going to look at some actionable steps to start a gratitude practice from scratch.
Start small The key to building any habit or system is to start with a minimal commitment so that you are able to stick to it. While starting out, you can list down all the things you have been grateful for in the past month. When you are able to regularly stick to that, you can move on to weekly practice and then daily and so on.
Remember that its a journey When we are feeling down, it's not always easy to come up with things we are grateful for and that’s okay. This is where your previous gratitude entries can come in handy. Learn to listen to your body and mind to know when you should pursue your gratitude practice and when you should let it go. Our goal is to build a lifelong practice, so skipping one or two days won’t matter much. Remember that we are here for a journey with no destination in mind.
Put down your gratitude entries in some or the other format Even though we are practising a mindset shift with gratitude, it helps to note down our entries in a physical or digital format. If you maintain a journal, you can start your entry with your gratitude log. If you use Notion, you can create your own gratitude page. It will be fun to scroll through all the entries sometime in the future! You can go the extra mile and create a separate gratitude journal as well. In this journal you can keep a collection of written entries, photographs and mementoes of everything you’re grateful for.
Here are a few more actionable ways to practise gratitude:
Keep a gratitude journal and write down 3 things you're grateful for each day
Take a gratitude walk and notice everything around you that you're grateful for
Practice gratitude meditation to focus on the positive aspects of your life
Share your gratitude with others by expressing appreciation and thanks
Make a gratitude jar and add a note each day with something you're thankful for
Use a gratitude app to track your daily blessings and reflect on them
Create a gratitude board with photos and mementoes of things you're grateful for
Start your day with a gratitude ritual, like saying a thank you prayer or affirmation
Use gratitude prompts to help you think of things you might not normally consider, like the kindness of strangers or the beauty of nature
Join a gratitude challenge or community to stay motivated and accountable