November is national Gratitude Month. It culminates in the Thanksgiving Day holiday when American families and friends typically gather for a festive meal and maybe some conversation about people and things in their lives for which they are grateful.
In my book, The Power in Affirmations, I include matching gratitude pages for each affirmation page to support an integrated daily practice. When we talk about using the journal some clients report that they already keep a gratitude journal. Other clients talk about difficulty expressing gratitude or feeling very little gratitude in their lives.
If you see yourself in the second group, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday might be a strong source of stress and anxiety. Here are 5 practices that you can use to help you with expressing gratitude and bringing more gratitude into your life.
1. Begin writing in a gratitude journal as a daily practice. I suggest writing the things you are grateful at the end of each day along with your affirmations. If you need a copy of my book/journal, please let me know.
2. Make it a priority to write and send thank you notes anytime you receive a gift or kindness from friends, family members, or co-workers. It is amazing how appreciative people are of written thank you notes. Make a positive impression while you show how much you appreciate the gift.
3. Set up and use a thank you jar. Keep a jar or box with slips of paper and pen to easily jot down what you are grateful for each day. Once in a while, read your slips to remind yourself how great your life is.
4. Identify a person in your life who has never been properly thanked for what they have done for you over the years. Write a full page letter of appreciation and deliver it personally to that person. I’m sure they will be very happy to know they mattered in your life.
5. Find a prayer of gratitude that you are comfortable with and use it as part of your daily practice to start or end each day.
Is gratitude a concern of yours? I’d be happy to help you get on track toward a grateful and happy life. Please give me a call (818-929-4944) or join us any Wednesday on my Hypnotherapy Q and A. You can register here..
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0lfu6trjIvGNZ8XkMGblRSB97cmXEKVT6p
Enjoy Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Cinda
HypnoNews and Resources
For an outstanding, comprehensive article covering what is gratitude, origins of gratitude, individual and social benefits of gratitude, gratitude interventions and more, please see the following:
https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Gratitude-FINAL.pdf
You might also want to read this fascinating and informative article which covers how gratitude works and the neuroscience of gratitude as it may relate to anxiety, stress, grief and other conditions.