Dear %%FIRST_NAME%%,
How are you getting on? We’re up to day 12 – have you managed to do one of the gratitude practices at some point, most days?
Even if you don’t get time to do the weekly project on a particular day, it’s really worth spending a few minutes doing last week’s activity – simply being still and thinking of things you feel grateful for, saying a silent and heart-felt ‘thank you’. If all you did over the coming months was that one exercise, you would still experience a major shift in your experience of life. Of course, the techniques each week help you go much further than that, if you want to. 🙂
Need a reminder to practice your gratitude? How about sticking a note on the mirror, so you can see it when you’re brushing your teeth?
How about putting a note next to the kettle, so you can practise gratitude while you’re waiting for it to boil?
Got any ideas or suggestions about how to remind yourself to do the practices? How about sharing them, over at the forum: How to remember to do your gratitude practice?
Gratitude For An Everyday Object
Today I’d like to share with you another technique, which is a truly potent way of bringing gratitude into your daily life, rather than saving it for the ‘big stuff’.
Here’s how to do it:
- Pick an everyday object – perhaps something you use several times a day, maybe a pen, your keys, your watch – whatever you see in front of you.
- Hold the object in your hand and really ‘see it’ – I mean be ‘present’ with it, rather than half-looking at it, while talking to yourself about something else…
- Become aware of its shape, its form, its colour, its texture, any sounds it makes, the way it feels in your hand. Allow yourself to notice the details that you perhaps haven’t seen before.
- Now gently allow your heart to soften as you say ‘thank you’ to this object. Thank it for the role it plays in your life. You don’t have to ‘tell a story’ or get into details; simply the words ‘thank you’, said from the heart, are what are needed.
- Continue until you feel the exercise is complete and, with a gentle smile on your face, continue with your day.
How did that feel?
Can you imagine how life might shift if you did this for a few seconds with random objects throughout your day? How about giving it a go?
I’d love to hear how you get on – there’s a special discussion thread for this gratitude technique:
Saying thank you for an everyday object.
Gracias,
Namaste,
Here’s Your Week Two Project & Useful Links
Bedtime Gratitude Spiral
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- Before you fall asleep, choose three things you feel grateful for, to use for this exercise.
It might be something that happened during the day; it might be something from your gratitude jar. It doesn’t really matter what you choose, as long as it helps you to connect with the feeling of gratitude in your heart. - Allow yourself to gently rest in the feeling of gratitude for the first thing.
- Really experience the grateful emotion. Feel the gratitude expanding and growing. Don’t force, just let it naturally work its magic.
- Really dive into the experience you are feeling grateful for. See what you would be seeing, if it were happening right now; hear what you would hear; feel the physical sensations that you would feel.
- Allow the intensity of your gratitude to increase, perhaps imagining that you have a dial you can use to turn up the feeling.
- If the feeling of gratitude starts to wane, move on to the second thing and repeat #2.
Then, just as you notice it start to wane, move onto your third thing. - You can keep going, if you want to, until you fall asleep.
- Notice how your mood is shifted.
Perhaps say a heart-felt ‘thank you’ to yourself, for choosing to do the Bedtime Gratitude Spiral.
It can help to anchor this process into part of your bedtime routine, to help you remember to do it. For example, you could tie it in with turning off your light. If you read before you sleep, you could anchor it in with putting the book down. Or you could choose to do it when your head touches the pillow.
You only need to do this for a few days and already you’re creating a life-long positive habit.
I’d love to hear your experiences of playing with this technique. Here’s a special discussion thread in the forum, for you to share your insights and ask any questions you may have: The Bedtime Gratitude Spiral.
Here’s the members-only community (private) and even the Facebook Page (public), where you can ask questions, share your experiences and support others who are joining in with the Miracle Of Gratitude.