Daily gratitude practice

This Thanksgiving, I thought I would call to mind the practice of gratitude, and the ways I have tried to incorporate gratitude into my life. I truly believe gratitude is one of the keys to living a happy life, and is important to think about all year long. My gratitude practice has been greatly influenced by my yoga practice, and especially by a few of my teachers who always call gratitude to mind during class.

Being grateful is a state of existing in which you don’t want anything, but are rather focusing on what you already have. It takes practice to bring this kind of state of mind into your daily life and focus your thoughts on what’s positive at the time. The act of counting what I have, rather than what I still want, has helped me overcome some trying times and reminded me that no matter what, I’m doing okay. I may not have everything, but I’m on the way.  

The following are a few different gratitude strategies I’ve come up with to incorporate in a way that works best for your life….

Write down three things you’re grateful for every day.

I used to think this would be hard, but once I started I found it to be a good challenge to really reflect for a moment on what I was grateful for today. It helps promote positivity to think of three good things about my day before I go to bed. I usually just list them in my journal before I write my entry for the day!

Replace any negative thoughts with ones of gratitude.

One of my yoga teachers taught me this strategy. If you find yourself thinking something negative about your body, for example, replace that thought with: I’m grateful I have a healthy, strong body that allows me to live. This can be applied to so many situations, but it’s one I’m definitely still working on. Our own conscience can often be our harshest critic, so why not take that negativity out with the help of gratitude?

Set an intention for your day, your workout, your chores, etc.

This is one of my favorite ways to practice gratitude. Often during yoga we set an intention at the beginning of the class, and I love picking someone in my life that I’m grateful for to give my energy out to for the next hour. This same tactic can be applied to anything throughout your day. By setting an intention to your action, you’ll find a lot more meaning in what you’re doing. 

I hope you find a way to incorporate these strategies into your life, in every season but especially in this one of thankfulness. Happy Thanksgiving! xxMaggie