It’s that time of year again when we pause and give thanks. We gather together and take stock of who and what is most important in our lives. You may have even noticed the wave of daily gratitude movement on Facebook, which has been a wonderful opportunity to get caught up in this season of thankfulness. What if, however, we could make gratitude a part of our daily experience of life? What would that look like? How would it change our world? Our friends at the HeartMath Research Center in Boulder Creek, Calif. have challenged us to exercise daily gratitude. HeartMath shared these tips with us: Researchers have observed that the feeling of appreciation is the most concrete and the easiest positive emotion for individuals to self-generate and sustain for long periods. "Gratitude is an expression of the heart and it is a powerful and positive emotional energy that can add hope and resilience in your life,” said behavioral psychologist Deborah Rozman, author of Transforming Stress: The HeartMath Solution for Relieving Worry, Fatigue, and Tension. Nearly everyone can find something – whether big or small – to genuinely appreciate and stress experts say that the act of simply recalling a time of feeling sincere appreciation and then intentionally focusing on that feeling for a few moments can reduce emotional stress. Learning to self-generate positive emotions such as appreciation can also have a beneficial effect on attitudes and relationships. Gratitude in Focus Photos are a great way to summon positive feelings. Find a few photos that evoke feelings of appreciation. It can be a photo of a great vacation moment, a picture of a loved one or a favorite pet. Place the photos in locations where you will see them during the day – in the car, on your desk, the bathroom mirror, or your refrigerator. When you see the photos pause for a moment and connect with the feeling of appreciation. Blessing Reminders While you’re building the habit of appreciating more often, try using tools to remember your intention. Place a sticky note in key locations or set an alarm on your cell phone. Reminding yourself to pause for a moment or two can help reconnect you with your heart intention. During this short break find something that you appreciate that took place that day, it can even be appreciating yourself for your commitment. This practice starts to increase your awareness of what’s happening in your life that is good. Keep a Gratitude Journal Set aside a few minutes at the end of each day to write down a few things you are grateful for. It can be as simple as appreciating the person who held the door for you. The practice helps you see life more through the perspective of gratitude. Once you write your list, allow a couple minutes to focus on the genuine feeling of appreciation for the things on your list. Be consistent with the practice to get the most out of it. You might also consider adding a gratitude app to your smartphone so you can carry your lists with you and add to it as you move through your day. Incorporate Gratitude into Your Parenting I can't think of a better opportunity to expand the practice thankful living than to incorporate gratitude into our parenting. Teaching our kids to be thankful in childhood will expose them to the positive energy that is released when we share feelings of gratitude. Cementing this practice at a young age will establish positive patterns and healthy outcomes that they will carry into the rest of their life. As a mom, these tips really hit home. I thought about the ways to introduce this concept to your children:
Learn more about HeartMath’s gratitude initiative and their free gratitude resources at www.heartmath.com/thanks and on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/heartmath. What are you thankful for and have you shared that with some special recently? Let’s start a wave of gratitude right here, right now by leaving a comment on this article about with what you are thankful for today. |
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