Gratitude medicine .....

Right now with the situation we are in, feeling grateful isn’t the easiest thing to feel when so many people are experiencing a vast variety of things and feeling a wide spectrum of emotions.

Including loss of loved ones, or maybe even your job, so in terms of feeling grateful you may feel like you would have to dig deep.

Gratitude is medicine believe it or not, feeling grateful is a powerful way to shift your state and it can help us make the best out of a situation.

This doesn’t mean bypassing your feelings in any way, especially if you’re in a situation which isn’t ideal, but you can use gratitude to boost you and fill you up so you’re not caught in a negative spiral.

Most people will think they are grateful because they say thank you, but practising gratitude is realising you have way more to be grateful for than just saying thank you.

So where do we begin, twenty years ago I found my life changed over night through illness, the whole experience was very traumatising and I was in a very dark place.

Because I was stuck in bed most of the time isolated, I started to notice the pockets of light, when I could do a bit more and how this would make me feel or when my mum brought me a drink or fresh hot water bottle, or speaking to a friend on the phone.

So I started to count these things and to feel grateful for them as I noticed that focusing on this picked me up and felt good, I realised how the small things really did count. I remember the immense joy I felt being able to go out with mum for short drives or a coffee, it felt so good even if I had pay back after.

( A bit like how we will feel when we can get out of our houses properly, again right now we will feel grateful AF LOL . )

Now it didn’t make what happened to me go away over the years, I still had to do deep inner work, but I realised this was a powerful tool, so I began to keep a gratitude diary, writing a few things down that I was grateful for each day, this is something I still do now each day, it gives me a focal point to feel good for even the little things, even when I have rest days where I do very little.

Seven years back I even did an appreciation project where for a whole year where I posted something I was appreciative for each day on instagram, it was a really uplifting experience.

So yes we may well be stuck in our homes, and we may well be having intense or difficult experiences but let’s play the grateful game.

What are you appreciative /grateful for right now ?

Ask yourself this place your hand on your heart and feel it.

What light can we shine on the unique situations we are experiencing right now, by creating a gratitude list.

Heres some practical suggestions to begin a practice :

Keep a daily gratitude diary like I do, write a few things down daily.
Maybe if you're not so keen on writing and live with someone, share two or three things your grateful with each other, this is also a great way to practise with kids in a family, sharing things your grateful for with each other daily.
Make a gratitude jar and write one thing a day on a piece of paper and put it in the jar, and you can go back to the jar for reflection if you're having a tough day.
For modern day gratitude you could create a what app group with your friends or family and do daily gratitude with each other.
Or find your favourite crystal and once a day hold it and think of somethings you’re grateful for, this is similar to the gratitude rock game mentioned in the secret.

These are simple but effective suggestions, and the key here is to be consistent to your practise. Gratitude practice really does work, it really can help shift your perspective in all situations, and can help support you through them.

You may be thinking this all sounds a bit simplistic but try it, and share with me.

Jump on the appreciation train with me, because right now this is something we all need a bit more of.

Can I just extend my gratitude to everyone who reads my blog, supports my podcast, reads my news letter and all I do, it’s greatly appreciated.

Sending everyone who reads this good wishes.

All my love

Hannah X

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