Cultivate the Healing Power of Gratitude -1

Cultivate the Healing Power of Gratitude -1

Gratitude is an immensely powerful force that we can use to expand our happiness, create loving relationships, and even improve our health. Many scientific studies, including research by renowned psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, have found that people who consciously focus on gratitude experience greater emotional well being and physical health than those who don’t. In comparison with control groups, those who cultivated a grateful outlook:

Felt better about their lives as a whole
Experienced greater levels of joy and happiness
Felt optimistic about the future
Got sick less often
Exercised more regularly
Had more energy, enthusiasm, determination, and focus
Made greater progress toward achieving important personal goals
Slept better and awoke feeling refreshed
Felt stronger during trying times
Enjoyed closer family ties
Were more likely to help others and offer emotional support
Experienced fewer symptoms of stress

If you want more happiness, joy, and energy, gratitude is clearly a crucial quality to cultivate. It is a fullness of heart that moves us from limitation and fear to expansion and love. What is a miracle? Author Marianne Williamson says a miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love. The root of the word “religion” is religion , which means to “bind back. ” I think the realm of consciousness we most hunger for is a return to something basic and fundamental within us.

When we’re appreciating something, our ego moves out of the way and we connect with our soul....it is like rebooting your soul.

Gratitude brings our attention into the present, which is the only place where miracles can unfold. The deeper our appreciation, the more we see with the eyes of the soul and the more our life flows in harmony with the creative power of the universe. Here are a few powerful gratitude practices for you to try:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal

Since ancient times, philosophers and sages from every spiritual tradition have taught that cultivating gratitude is a key to experiencing deeper levels of happiness, fulfillment, and wellbeing. One of the earliest advocates of a daily gratitude practice was Dutch philosopher Rabbi Baruch Spinoza. In the seventeenth century, he suggested that each day for a month, we ask ourselves the following three questions:

Who or what inspired me today?
What brought me happiness today?
What brought me comfort and deep peace today?

This practice, wrote Spinoza, would help us find more meaning and joy in our lives and would lead to profound inner transformation.

Om Namah Shivay