Our Guided Mindfulness Meditation on Gratitude
This meditation is about 15 minutes long and will guide the listener through a few gratitude exercises followed by quite periods for reflection. Some of the things covered include: feeling grateful for yourself, your body, others, the world around us, and challenges we face. To listen to the meditation, simply press the play button on the video above.
The lovely background track is Moon on the Lake by Rebecca Reads Recordings, used under her Standard Music License.
Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie (author)
Why is Gratitude Important?
Gratitude expert Robert Emmons, Ph.D. gives four reasons why gratitude is good for us:
- Gratitude allows us to celebrate the present and magnifies positive emotions.
- Gratitude helps block toxic, negative emotions.
- People who are grateful are more stress resistant.
- People who are grateful have a higher sense of self-worth.
Source: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good
Practicing Gratitude Has Health Benefits
There is a wonderfully, detailed article on PositivePsychology.com that lists 14 health benefits of cultivating gratitude. They are as follows:
For the individual:
– increased happiness and positive mood
– more satisfaction with life
– less materialistic
– less likely to experience burnout
– better physical health
– better sleep
– less fatigue
– lower levels of cellular inflammation
– greater resiliency
– encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
For groups:
– increases prosocial behaviors
– strengthens relationships
– may help employees’ effectiveness
– may increase job satisfaction
Source: https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
Ways to Foster More Gratitude in Your Life
According to Harvard Health, there are several ways to develop gratitude. They are all great ideas, however, we are partial to the last suggestion. (Of course we are!)
How do you cultivate more gratitude in your life? Please let us know in the comments below.
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