Thank you

'As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’ John F. Kennedy

If this sounds a little easier said than done, I completely understand, we are but human after all. It can be very hard to feel thankful or grateful, especially when the chips are down, and a negative narrative becomes your default, ‘Well, of course it was going to go wrong…’  we are all guilty of doing it. But what if flipping this narrative could actually have a positive impact on our health and happiness?

With gratitude, we acknowledge the goodness in our lives. gratitude can help people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals, whether to other people, nature, or a higher power. In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships*. 

Sounds good to me! So what small changes can we introduce to our daily routine to help make gratitude part of our everyday lives? Here are my top 5 tips to help you get into the right frame of mind.

1. Shout it out! Make someone’s day and let them know how thankful / grateful you are for the things they do (or simply being themselves!) An experiment conducted by Soul Pancake, a company that works to discover the “science of happiness”, revealed when a group of people made a call to someone to say they were grateful for to express their thanks/gratitude, their happiness levels jumped from 4% to 19%.*
2. Give Back: Giving to others is a fabulous way to bring more gratitude into your life. Studies have shown that volunteering for the purpose of helping others increases our own well-being, and thus our ability to have more gratitude.
3. Keep a gratitude journal: Establish a daily practice in which you remind yourself of the gifts, grace, benefits, and good things you enjoy. 
4. Practice Mindfulness: Sit down daily and think through five to ten things you are grateful for. The trick is that you need to picture it in your mind and sit with that feeling of gratitude in your body.

​I’ll end this thought with a lovely, short meditation of gratitude to start you on your way!

• Sit down on the ground or on a chair. Keep your back straight and let your chin come slightly inward, as if in a prayer. Open yourself to your own heart space and close your eyes. Begin to observe what and more importantly, who occupies this space. Where does your mind go when you think about the important people in your life?
• Visualise them one by one. See their faces before you and allow yourself to be reminded of how much they mean to you. Allow any frustrations or conflicts you might’ve had float away, and repeat out loud the following: “I am loved.” And “I love.”
• With each person that filters through your mind, briefly remember one or two happy memories with them and feel your heart fill with gratitude for having shared those memories. As you go through the people, repeat to yourself the mantra: “I am loved” And “I love”

Wishing you a wonderful day and thank you.
Lots of love, Zoë xx
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 * Source: Positive Psychology | Harvard Health | ggia.berkeley.edu via get Jupiter 
Photo credit: Gabrielle Henderson @ unsplash