You may have heard from others that meditation is good for your health. Most of us associate meditation with sitting quietly in a dark room and clearing our minds for 20 minutes in complete silence. But gratitude meditation is completely different.
Gratitude meditation simply means focusing on and recognizing what you are grateful for. You can do it anytime, anywhere, making it super easy to build a gratitude meditation habit.
Learn more about what gratitude meditation is, its benefits, and how you can incorporate it into your daily life.
What is gratitude meditation?
Gratitude meditation is the conscious act of recognizing and being grateful for the things in your life that you are grateful for. This can be done in several ways. As with other types of meditation, you can take a few minutes each day to actively identify the things you’re grateful for, or write down a list of things you’re grateful for in a gratitude journal. can be recognized in real time. Because you are experiencing it.
The practice of gratitude has roots in both religion and philosophy, and actually goes back to our growth and progress as a species. It is thought that people who acknowledge the altruistic behavior of others are more likely to receive altruistic behavior in turn. This reciprocity is deeply embedded in our collective psyche and is why gratitude has come to be associated with so many positive effects.
You can also listen to guided gratitude meditations (there are many on the internet). Or you can design your own approach to gratitude. No matter how you practice it, you’ll notice the benefits of gratitude meditation right away.
Benefits of Gratitude and Gratitude Meditation
Practicing gratitude, or actively thinking about and acknowledging the things in your life that you’re grateful for, has been proven to increase feelings of happiness and well-being. In fact, research shows that conscious gratitude rewires your brain, helping you better cope with life’s challenges down the road.
Gratitude meditation has been proven to help everything from depression To improve sleep quality To increase trust in strangers. It can promote optimism and calm your mind when you’re feeling anxious or stressed. Focusing on the people, places, things, and experiences you’re grateful for, rather than what you don’t have or have lost, will improve your daily mood and increase your ability to see the better. Bad things can be strengthened. This saves you time worrying and we all benefit from it.
Specifically, gratitude and gratitude meditation has been shown to:
- Improves mood and mental health and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- increase sense of well-being
- Rewire your brain to better cope with future adversity
- Increase feelings of gratitude and compassion for yourself and others
- People with chronic illnesses have lower levels of depression
- Supporting recovery for people living with alcohol and drug use disorders
- Reduces stress and anxiety and promotes mental health.
- Increase trust in strangers and influence financial decisions
- Leads to positive outcomes such as post-traumatic growth
- improve sleep
Practicing gratitude can help you change your perspective on things that you might consider negative or harmful. This promotes acceptance of what you can’t change in your life, a determination to change what you can actually control, and, as the old saying goes, the wisdom to know the difference.
But how?
How gratitude meditation works
Sometimes we tend to be biased towards the negative. This allows us to be alert to danger and protect ourselves from it. But often this instinct becomes too much of a good thing. When we focus on what to do when bad things happen, we easily forget about the good things in life.
However, the purpose of gratitude meditation is not to forget or ignore the injustice and suffering in the world, nor is it to erase your own struggles.
Instead, gratitude meditation opens our eyes to the larger systems at work in our lives and helps us recognize our successes while also recognizing and honoring our challenges. Masu.
Practicing gratitude meditation can encourage you to see the big picture and help you “break out” of a place of self-absorption and anxiety. Maybe your loved one is sick. Remembering and being grateful for the good times you had with that person may help you get through this difficult time. Maybe you were passed over for a promotion at work. Acknowledging your efforts may encourage you to speak up for yourself and set goals to get where you want to be.
Does it always work?
It’s important to note that gratitude meditation is not a panacea. For example, a condition such as depression can make it difficult to feel grateful for anything. If you have a hard time feeling grateful and feel good about everything, know that help is available.
If you suffer from conditions such as depression, talk to your doctor about your options. A combination of medication and talk therapy can help overcome symptoms and put you in a headspace where meditation seems more effective.
How do I start gratitude meditation?
The great thing about gratitude meditation is that you can literally practice it anytime, anywhere. Although there are guided gratitude meditations out there that can walk you through the entire process, practicing gratitude only involves your own thoughts and feelings.
An easy way to incorporate gratitude meditation into your life is to create a daily routine. Take five minutes in the morning and think about what you are grateful for.
Some ideas are:
- your family, friends, partner
- your pet
- favorite colleague
- your job (or your favorite aspect of your job)
- your hobbies and passions, and your ability to pursue them;
Even if you find it difficult to pinpoint specific things to be grateful for first, always think of the big picture and start from there.
- you are alive
- you have a roof over your head and something to eat
- There are people in your life who love you
Of course, even these basic things that most of us take for granted don’t apply to everyone. This kind of gratitude practice acknowledges that. More importantly, no matter what obstacles you face, identifying at least one thing you’re grateful for will make those obstacles a little easier to deal with.
How can I maintain a gratitude meditation practice?
Another easy way to establish a gratitude meditation practice is to start a gratitude journal. Take a few minutes a day to write down what you are grateful for. Gratitude meditation can also be very specific. For example, while waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, you might try to be grateful that you have the groceries you need and can buy them.
However, it is important to point out that starting and continuing a gratitude meditation practice can be difficult. difficult.
Coming up with things to be grateful for can be difficult in itself, especially if you aren’t in the habit of doing so. This is especially true for those currently facing exceptional adversity.
This is why gratitude meditation emphasizes the importance of not criticizing yourself. It’s a great success for him to identify just one thing he’s grateful for, no matter what it is. But in practicing gratitude, you feel okay. It’s important to recognize your emotions and allow yourself to feel them without judgment. Being aware of those feelings and remembering them during your next meditation may help you let go.
conclusion
Once you begin practicing gratitude meditation, you will be able to access a different perspective on what is happening to you, allowing you to focus on what really matters most in life, which will help improve your happiness and well-being.
Not only that, but gratitude meditation can be done anytime and anywhere, making it very easy to incorporate into your daily life.
So if you’re feeling depressed, anxious, or need to step away from life’s circumstances and look at them with fresh eyes, try gratitude meditation.
