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You deserve a joyful life!

Life is full of challenges but they needn’t define our experience. How we navigate the rough spots determines the amount of joy we experience and who doesn’t want more joy? I’m glad you’re here, and I hope when you leave you feel inspired to explore how gratitude as a daily practice can change YOUR life.

Feeling grateful doesn’t mean that we pretend that everything is perfect but it reminds us to recognize that even when life is tough, we are surrounded by grace. It teaches us to seek out and notice the experiences, people, and things that lift our spirit and brighten our personal world.

Each of us handle life in our own unique way and this process is an inside job. The stories we tell ourselves, the tools we’ve developed, how aware we are in any moment, so many things influence our ability to handle life’s challenges and still have an inner sense of okness. Practicing gratitude increases our sense of well being and the amount of joy we experience.

This process accomplishes several things that support our best life.

Gratitude brings us awareness in the present moment. We can’t be worried about the past, or fearful of the future when we’re fully present in the here and now.
The energy we generate in this present moment flows into the next moment and the next. When we experience gratitude in this moment, we set the foundation for our next moment.
Gratitude expands the heart. We become more open, less guarded, more hopeful, less fearful. With our expanded heart, loving energy flows more freely into our lives, and from our hearts making this world a brighter place for all.

Whatever your challenges, you deserve a joyful life!

Whether I experience life as full of challenges or blessings is up to me.

~ I choose blessings ~

It is said that the brain is velcro for negativity and teflon for pleasure.

These simple techniques will help you become velcro for happiness and teflon for negativity!

What lends power to this practice is our willingness to linger in the uplifting feelings we get when we’re grateful.

Take Two Minutes

This little exercise is a simple way to expand your experience of gratitude and can take as little as two minutes!

Bring to mind a pleasant experience from this day. Something as simple as a green light or a parking spot where you need it will do!
If you have a journal, that’s great but a pen and paper is all you really need.
Set a timer and spend two minutes writing every little detail about this experience. Write about how you felt, what you saw, any smells that you noticed. You can make bullet notes or write full sentences, embellishing your reflection.
There’s no right or wrong way to do this … let it feel free and fun.

Allow yourself to bask in the sweetness of the experience long enough to record pleasant little feelings you enjoyed.

When your two minutes are up, you can continue if you like, or you can simply end your entry with a smile and continue to allow the feelings of the experience to flow with you through the rest of your day.

List Three Things

It can be nice to do this exercise while having your coffee or tea, before starting your day.

Jot down three to five things you feel grateful for (coffee is often on my list!) and reflect on these while having your coffee. This way, one can start each day on a positive note that stays flows throughout the day.

Something to note is that it’s not so much about the writing down these things as it is about lingering in the feelings associated with gratitude

One Gratitude Jar

What I like about a gratitude jar is that I can keep it in clear sight so it acts as a visual reminder to look for things I feel grateful for.
I like to use coloured paper and a clear jar because to me, it looks friendly.

I don’t often write more than a few words here. When I need a little pick me up … I open the jar and read some of the little bits I wrote. It always makes me smile.

Being Present

One of the benefits of practicing gratitude is that it helps us be more present throughout our day.

For many of us life has become so busy and hectic that we exist in a state of chronic stress. Did you know our brains are wired to focus on the negative? It’s no wonder we end up feeling unhappy and discontent much of the time without even noticing this has become our default!

The good news is, we can train our brain to focus on the positive. As we begin to actively notice our feelings of gratitude we spend more time in the present moment and begin to shift our focus in a positive direction. The more we train our brain to focus on experiences that make us feel good, the more we experience feelings of contentment and happiness.

Being fully engaged in the present moment is how we let go of the past and plant seeds for a positive future.

The energy you put into this moment naturally flows into the next, and before you know it most of your moments are filled with gratitude.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it, is like wrapping a gift and not giving it.

~ William Arthur Ward

STUDIES SHOW HOW GRATITUDE
IMPROVES
OUR LIVES

It seems incredible that by simply keeping a journal of what you’re grateful for, you can reduce chronic pain, experience fewer and/or reduced symptoms of physical illness and have fewer health complaints, but this study demonstrates this and more!
Journaling about gratitude has been proven to change your life and increase your sense of okness.

A restless sleep is often the result of a restless mind. Because practicing gratitude improves the quality of our thoughts and trains the mind to focus on what is good in our lives, we tend to feel more content, which helps us fall asleep more quickly and experience a more restful, healing sleep.

High cortisol levels are associated with heart disease, suppressed immune function, weight gain and many other concerning issues. Practicing gratitude is a simple form of emotional self management that helps eliminate negative thought loops, dramatically reduces stress levels and promotes a positive emotional state.

Like canyons that have been carved by the flow of water in the earth’s crust, our thought patterns create neural pathways in the brain and our thought process can beccome rigid and negative. We end up habitually focused on what’s going wrong in our lives. Gratitude helps us shift direction creating new neural pathways and thought processes for increased well being.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder increases the risk of depression, suicide, anxiety and addiction. Gratitude has been shown to improve a sense of well-being for those living with PTSD. Because the symptoms can be irregular and erratic, cultivating a mindful practice of gratitude helps to anchor the mind in the present moment and the heart on supportive experiences occurring in the here and now.

Lean into resources that help you feel grateful and inspired.

~ music ~ art ~ nature ~

We all know how important it is to eat well and to nurture our bodies but we seldom talk about nurturing the mind. By nature our mind will focus on the negative. The news outlets sensationalize horror and create a disproportionate view of what’s wrong in the world. Television and movies no longer filter what is portrayed and whether we realize it or not these things can shape our perception of our own experience.

Do you know that just by subjecting yourself to sensationalized tragedy even when it’s just on TV your nervous system shifts into fight / flight mode? Chronic stress is epidemic in our society and a non medicated solution is right here within our grasp!

Being mindful of what you feed your brain both nutritionally and emotionally helps you see that while there are horrors and tragedy in the world, there is also kindness and compassion. Becoming aware of the types of thoughts you choose to entertain and how they make you feel can be very empowering. Once you realize that you can control where you focus your mind, you can direct your attention to, and nurture the experiences that uplift and inspire you. The choice is yours.

I have shared below some resources that help me feel uplifted, hopeful and able to remember the many blessings that I am grateful for in my life. Spend some time in your favourite forest, walk the beach, or just lay on the ground for half an hour and let your mind settle into a gentle state of openness. Be mindful to cultivate thoughts of gratitude as you watch the clouds change shape in the sky.