One way to support our gratitude practice is through the smells and tastes that relax us. Right now, lavender, ginger and cinnamon all have aromas that evoke the holidays and celebrations. Inspirited Living’s cosmos flower essence, chicory flower essence, lavender essence and our small batch, hand-made Lavender chewing gum is super for supporting relaxation and a sense of well-being throughout the day.
We are uplifted this week by this article from Berkley University showing how gratitude can change lives. In a series of studies with children, different researchers found that teaching about the components of gratitude had long term benefits in happiness for children aged 8-11. Gratitude and joy can be taught and it changed lives. Bundled in the lessons, the children also learned about empathy, appreciation, compassion, and consideration. Not bad for 30 minutes a day for one week!
As we move rapidly toward Thanksgiving here in the US and the beginning of the Holiday Season around the world, I find myself a bit more reflective, and focusing energy on gratitude. One of Inspirited Living’s Daily Introspectives captures the sentiment for me.
It is in the gratitude for our many, many, blessings, that we discover joy.
Gratitude comes first. The joy comes only after the realization of gratitude; from our appreciation for, and awareness of all of our blessings.
It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the changing season. What we need to get done… and how much more there is to do. When we get caught in the doing, we forget to be in the moment, and notice all that there is. All that we have to be grateful for.
Let’s do a little exercise to strengthen our awareness. What are you grateful for right now, in this moment?
I’m grateful for …
I’m grateful for …
I’m grateful for …
Did it take you a moment to think about it? Did your thoughts interrupt as you were flooded with all that needs to be done? When you tried to slow down, were you suddenly aware of not enough and the need to acquire more?
You’re not alone. This very common experience is exactly why we need to focus on gratitude.
We can actually practice and get better at being grateful, and it turns out the benefits of practicing gratitude can reverberate through all aspects of our lives.
Brené Brown’s (PhD) YouTube video on gratitude is an excellent place to start when considering WHY it matters, and HOW it helps to take the time to notice and be grateful.
In her interview for Goop, Brené Brown’s talked about the role of gratitude in the lives of people who felt joy. Her research showed that: “Without exception, every person I interviewed who described living a joyful life or described themselves as joyful, actively practiced gratitude and attributed their own joyfulness to that practice.”
That’s a VERY powerful link between joy and gratitude.
Sometimes we struggle to develop a gratitude practice.
I promise; discovering what we are grateful for is a profound experience. To get you started, I thought it might be helpful to share the process I created at Inspirited Living to focus and find gratitude. Let me know if this helps, or if you have something that works, and you’d like to share with others!
First, I find it helpful to take a moment to ground myself. Some people have very deep grounding practices, some people take just a few moments to bring their awareness to the present.
I like to take a deep breath and focus on the immediate moment.
Not the future and not the past. Just the single moment of right now.
Suspended between what we could have done and what we should do, the present is something we can really shift our attention towards.
Focusing on right now; This one shining moment
The truth is that it can be extremely difficult just to let ourselves be in the present. Sometimes we have to work at it a bit.
I find that somatic cues – physical cues – help quite a bit. When I am able to get my mind to stop spinning, and my body to be aware of where I am in the moment, it softens.
Then I’m ready for the next step. I ask myself the simplest question: what am I grateful for right now? Sometimes it has to start with something as simple as, I’m grateful for the birds, or the trees; or the sun, or the moon or the stars. I find that if I can find at least 2 things that I’m grateful for, many more flow into my mind. It was fascinating for me to learn that this concept is also backed by science.
Gratitude and Joy: Practical Gratitude for the Over 50s!
My life has changed so much over time. I have discovered that as I’ve navigated different challenges and experiences my sense of wonder and gratitude has evolved. Since I turned 50, I have a deeper awareness that there is more to be grateful for than there is to be afraid of.
Our awareness of the past and the future can be overwhelming at times, so being present in this moment and focusing on my connection to my Higher Self, My Soul Self works for me.
For example, I ground, and invite myself to be aware that I’m connected. When I start with gratitude from that connected place, it doesn’t matter what I am grateful for, I become aware that I have more energy…. I notice more depth in the colors around me… more beauty in the mundane… more appreciation for others.
For example, I might feel grateful for the new day, and as I prepare my tea in the morning, my sense of smell is heightened when I feel grateful.
The beauty of gratitude is that it helps us get out of the fight or flight part of our brain and into our conscious awareness. As we focus on what we are aware of in the present, we become more aware of more that we can be grateful for.
For me, I feel the connection to my Higher Self, Soul Self, in gratitude that connects all my senses.
Practical Gratitude for the Over 50s: Not for the Faint of Heart!
Above all else, I have learned that practical gratitude for the over 50s is not for the faint of heart!
In earlier decades I might not have noticed my health or my physical strength, but as I do things like care for aging parents or helping my adult children, I feel a wash of gratitude that I can physically and mentally do this.
Like many of you, as my parents age, and I become more aware of what that aging looks and feels like, I find myself grateful that I have the emotional, physical, and spiritual strength to be there for them right now.
At this point in my life, I’m keenly aware that nothing is perfect. Some of my joints ache, I don’t have the same strength I had when I was younger. I have found that when I focus on what is not working, or what I don’t have, I get more of it. I experience it more deeply.
So, instead, I choose to focus on gratitude. I can focus my gratefulness around dimensions of my physical body. My health, how I breathe, the strength in my hands.
I may be grateful for a feeling: gratitude for the vitality and joy my golden doodles express when they bounce with sparkling eyes, the feeling that get in the moment, seeing their joy. Such a precious moment of gratitude.
Perhaps I am grateful for something I sense: that today I have the time to catch my breath, that I am safe, supported, and whole. No matter the conditions of the world around me, I can be grateful for my completeness.
Perhaps I am grateful for my resiliency, my deep-seated knowledge that no matter the conditions of the day, that all is well. No matter who needs support or comfort or tending to in the twilight of their lives, that I am whole, healthy, resilient, and that I know joy.
Practicing Gratitude and Joy may come to you very easily. You may already have a gratitude diary. You may have a ritual around sending thank you notes to sincerely express your appreciation to someone else for their kindness…You may write your gratitude on the fridge or say what you are grateful for at dinner!
You may have created a ritual just for you that intentionally puts gratitude into your day.
Or, perhaps practicing gratitude may feel….silly. Perhaps you feel like you are tempting fate, or you don’t want to draw attention to what you a grateful for in case something happens to cause you to lose that feeling.
Sometimes we even feel guilty about feeling grateful because we are fortunate enough to find things to be grateful for and we are aware that others don’t have as much as we do. Victor Frankel in Man’s Search for Meaning makes it very clear that no matter how much or how little we have, the most resilient people find a way to be present in the moment and be grateful.
Franke suggests that if we are to survive, or experience our best life, there’s really not a single good reason not to focus on gratitude. Not even when you’re in a concentration camp.
One way to help yourself is to ground the gratitude in the small, single, thing floats to the top of your mind when you say “gratitude.” Perhaps it’s a feeling? A physical feeling that tingles, a sense that there’s a little smile about something? Seeing the sunlight? Being exactly where you are today to hear a bird sing.
Gratitude isn’t a grand gesture.
We may have to let go of perfection. It’s not about impressing anyone else (or even our inner critic!) with how big or eloquent our gratitude is…the only one listening to you, is you. The most important connection you’re making is with your own soul self.
Take a moment today and figure out, what does gratitude feel like for you? Even if you don’t have a lot of practice with gratitude or it feels fleeting, evaporating when you start to focus on it, just notice that one small moment of the gratitude, and be grateful for it.
As your gratitude practice unfolds, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to send an email and let me know how it feels when you shift from focusing on the past and the future to focusing on what you are grateful for right now.
Many blessings
Lynne