Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and showing appreciation for yourself and others. We aren’t just talking about being thankful at specific times of the year but finding things each and every day to be thankful for. Being grateful doesn’t cost you anything and doesn’t require any fancy resources or equipment…and the benefits of practicing gratitude are huge. Here are 3 reasons you should start a gratitude practice right now.
Gratitude improves your physical and psychological health. Generally grateful people feel healthier and have less body aches and pains. They are more active, fuel themselves with healthy food and maintain their regular health checks. Regular gratitude practice can help to reduce your blood pressure and improve your sleep while also decreasing negative emotions and improving self-esteem.
Practicing gratitude also tends to improve the quality of the relationships in our lives. Showing appreciation for others helps you build long-lasting, trusting relationships over time. Gratitude can improve our friendships, romantic relationships and our relationships with family members. Building quality relationships increases social support in all areas of your life which can decrease stress and help you get through more difficult times.
As a momma gratitude can be helpful in looking past the moments when you don’t get thanks and focus on the incredible things that your children do for you. It will improve your patience and kindness towards both your children and others around you and helps you find joy in the small things in life.
All of that is great, but how do you go about practicing gratitude? Well for starters you want to find a practice that works for you and something that you can commit to consistently. The positive benefits of gratitude come when it is practiced consistently. One of the easiest ways to practice gratitude is to take a few minutes each day and write down a couple of things that you are grateful for. These things can be anything, nothing is too small.
Other ways to cultivate more gratitude in your life include
- Telling someone how much you appreciate them
- Smiling more often
- Including a random act of kindness in each day
- Spend quality time with those you love
- Compliment those around you
- Try to see the positive in as many situations as possible
- Practice mindfulness
- Be thankful when you learn something new
Gratitude can bring more positiveness into your life, improve your relationships and make you happier so why would you not want to start implementing it today. Share how you are going to start implementing gratitude into your life today.
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