Gratitude: The Ultimate Key to Receiving

Gratitude is more important than you realize and it’s not just about saying Thank You when someone does something for you. There are many benefits to practicing gratitude including enhancing your relationship with God and increasing your health.

Mindfulness Gratitude Meditation

Gratitude is the key to facing life's challenges. The key to experiencing joy in mindfulness meditation and the secret to manifestation. What is so important about gratitude, and why is it mentioned so often? There can't be that much to be grateful for right?

In everything we do, we are to give thanks to the Lord as Colossians 3:17 says to ‘do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’ If this is what we are commanded to do in everything we do, then gratitude should be a part of our lifestyle.

Thich Nhat Hanh also stated, 'There is so much to be grateful for in the present moment when we take the time to settle in mindfulness'. Look around you. While bringing out positive emotions, you can change your perspective on life just by counting your blessings.

Mindfulness gratitude meditation is more than quick thankfulness. It is a continuous effort to include gratitude in everyday life, but with this effort, it turns into an attitude instead of a practice. With this attitude of gratitude, you will find many personal, social, and even health benefits.

Physical Health Benefits

Expressing gratitude releases happiness and joy and improves the quality of life. Don't believe me?

Harvard Health Publishing references a study by two psychologists [Emmons & McCullough 2003] who followed participants who wrote about gratitude. After ten weeks, the participants were happier and even exercised more. Some even went to the physician less during this time than the focus group that did not practice gratitude.

As you put in effort to work this part of the brain in gratitude, you begin to recognize more positive emotions in yourself. You are more tolerant of life's challenges and see the world in a greater sense because you are not shaken by inconvenience.

Obstacles to feeling gratitude

Stress can be an obstacle to gratitude because it has many physical aspects that trigger the mind and body. Your body reacts to this tense feeling of negative emotions causing symptoms like insomnia, high blood pressure, and headaches. If you can't understand why you can't seem to relax, it is because your body seems to be in fight or flight mode. Your mind is going a mile a minute, and you want to be anywhere but in the present moment.

Practicing gratitude allows you to acknowledge these unpleasant experiences full-on with patience and kindness. In the middle of this stress, you can see that you first can take a deep breath and list five good things you are currently grateful for at that moment. It seems odd to combat stress with gratitude, for the last thing on anyone's mind is to show gratitude toward stress, but this action calms these overwhelming feelings. Along with facing stress with kindness and gratitude, you are also negating the symptoms of stress by lowering your blood pressure and improving your sleep.

You are now cultivating gratitude so that it is no longer just a practice but a way of life. You have a deep sense of reason because your perspective in life has shifted. Life is no longer out to get you. You are no longer the victim of stress and misfortune. You have good fortune and are highly blessed. Things you used to see as inconveniences, you now see as in-depth lessons that shape you in many dimensions.

Mindfulness and gratitude exercises

Let's practice some gratitude exercises.

Gratitude Journal

I often encourage people to keep a journal because by taking a deep look into the recesses of one's mind, you are in meditation. Keep a gratitude journal that lists all the things you are grateful for. In the times you set aside to journal, include ten things that you are grateful for at the moment or in the day.

Practicing gratitude meditation before bed.

Something that stuck with me was when John Tesh said he lists things he is grateful for every night before bed.

Even on the worst day of his life when his father passed away, he still found ten things to be grateful for that day. To find something to be grateful for on one of the worst days imaginable means that gratitude was his lifestyle. With the lack of gratitude, I can find many things to complain about until I see my life as this grey fog instead of colorful and optimistic. The goal is to feel gratitude without even trying.

In this exercise practice, I had so much of my life to be grateful for. That helped launch me forward to continue to find more ways to cultivate gratitude and practice self-control and productivity. Seeing moments outside of myself allows me to experience such a deep and fulfilling life.

For example, I had a hearty laugh with my friend today while working on some blogging. I felt the tightness in my chest and the giggles kept creeping up my throat. It wasn't until after our conversation that I realized I needed that laugh. It was such a good moment to experience with my friend, and taking notice in moments like this is what increases awareness in life. In practicing mindfulness and gratitude, I begin to find even more reasons to smile. Gratitude is infectious, for when you find someone practicing gratitude in their everyday life, you want to be more like this person. You see their calm and forgiving demeanor that, somehow, gives off such an emitting light. This is the goal of gratitude meditation.

You have the social benefits of inspiring others to be more mindful of their lives. They can see in your appreciation that life is not a series of tough times but a symphony of lessons, laughter, and growth. Even if the development seems painful, gratitude is the recognition that you are a better person because of what you went through. Mindfulness is learning how not to be a product of the circumstance.

Take Away Trail

Though this post doesn't have much to do with manifestation, this is a very important foundation of manifestation. Imagine you have manifested this wonderful dream of yours, yet you lack gratitude and mindfulness. You can't even experience the true joy and pleasure of this desire because you are not sure how to treat it. Practicing gratitude enhances life's experience no matter where you are in your journey. Whether you've just aligned yourself with your dreams or you have everything you want. You can increase your quality of life just by showing gratitude towards it. A good steward of his/her blessings receives more blessings.

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