A Daily Gratitude Practice for Less Stress
The other morning I woke up and sipped a cup of ginger tea, and watched as the light started to pour in the windows and got caught up on reading my favorite newsletters. I know most people don’t necessarily love emails, but I do.
I have a short list of very intentional subscriptions that range from financial and investing advice to wellness trends, travel and just plain good writing.
Reading perspectives different from my own, inspiring quotes, uplifting news, interesting articles and just learning new things in general in the early mornings feel more nourishing than allowing my mind to run wild with all of my to-do’s.
On this particular morning, I opened a newsletter that reminded me exactly how powerful a regular gratitude practice can be. I’m a big advocate for a ‘5 minute journal’ style daily writing practice (keep reading to see how to start yours) but lately, I've gotten a bit out of my usual routine.
There’d been a lot of chaos lately, sick kiddos, our small community was hit by a category 3 hurricane, a bout of shingles on my face! (not cool in case you were wondering), but in the midst of all of it there was a lot of good too.
It was incredible to watch how quickly the community organized to support each other. Digging mud out of people’s homes, setting up go fund me pages for those who lost everything and an outpouring of support in the form of food, clothes and household goods for those in need.
And less than 72 hours after Hurricane Roslyn, the streets were once again lined with colorful paper flags fluttering overhead and the sound of music floated through the streets once again.
The sun rose again, like it does every morning. And I sipped tea and read despite barely sleeping all week and thought about how there is always something to be grateful for, even though sometimes it’s hard to see in the moment.
And I thought about these words “Gratitude is about finding the good in the chaos, not ignoring that the chaos exists.”
And how creating space for yourself to feel all of it, not only cultivates better relationships, and decreases feelings of stress and burnout. It also actually REWIRES your brain!
A large meta analysis even found that feelings of gratitude activate the prefrontal cortex in your brain, the area that influences mood, decision making and motivation. It helps us to more fully enjoy our lives NOW, and connects us more deeply to the people around us and the communities we live in.
And I know you’re busy, but maybe that’s even more of a reason to try this daily practice.
Because even on your hardest days, it’s harder to feel stressed when you’re in a place of gratitude. And sometimes your thoughts just need a place to live outside of your head, and getting those wild and wonderful thoughts out of your brain and onto paper can bring calm to the chaos.
Here’s how to get started:
Print this out and put it into a notebook or keep it on a list on your phone, copy the questions down into a journal. Whatever format works for you that you can consistently do.
I like taking a few minutes in the morning to help set the tone for the day and a few minutes at night to reflect back on the little bright spots throughout the day.
IN THE MORNING
3 things I am grateful for…
What would make today great?
Daily affirmation. I am…
The universe is always conspiring in my favor (my favorite)
IN THE EVENING BEFORE BED
3 Amazing things that happened today…
How could I have made today even better?
Let yourself feel grateful, pay attention to the beauty that shows up in your world everyday, and then share that energy with the people around you.
xx
Ashley