Start your day with a gratitude mindset. A simple “I am grateful for another day” could be what you need to carry you throughout your day – plus grateful people sleep better. Yup, a 2011 study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being showed individuals who wrote in a gratitude journal had a better quality of sleep.
How’s about you try a gratitude practice?
What is a gratitude practice?
It’s about training yourself to recognise the good in your life to then then give thanks. Being grateful is a simple method to boost your outlook on life itself and it’s proven to have a wide array of improvements in mental health and well-being.
“The nice thing about gratitude is that it’s incredibly low-effort, and the barrier to entry is nonexistent. There’s no special technique to learn and no serious time investment.”
– Self.com
Minimal yet effective ways to incorporate a gratitude practice into your life
Even when we’re faced with difficult moments and life’s troubles, it’s great to know that you have a positive emotion like gratitude to lean on that can sustain you. Try these simple practices and see how you feel:
Gratitude affirmations
Repeating positive affirmations is a way to help you challenge and overcome negative thoughts. Create a list of gratitude affirmations that you’d repeat to yourself every morning and every night.
Gratitude affirmations may sound like this:
Thank you for this new day
I am grateful for another chance to breathe
I am grateful for who I am and what I have
Thankfulness and sincere gratitude is a part of who I am
Get in the habit of saying “thank you” to others
This brings forward the social connectedness of being grateful. Start saying thank you more often to a best friend, spouse, or family member. Self.com suggests the below pointers to make your “thank you” impactful.
- Describe what the person did
- Acknowledge the effort that the person put in, including if they sacrificed or forewent something
- Describe how it benefited you
When we do this the next person feels more validated and in return that sense of bond makes us feel good.
Keep a gratitude journal
This is a good way to track how grateful you’ve been and it’s a reflective time with yourself to look at the good that’s been happening in your life. Write down five things that you’re grateful for that happened that day. You can do it a couple of days of the week and especially when you need a reminder that you’ll be okay.