Hi,
This is Madeline.
Why is it that the nice feeling of gratitude is fleeting,
But feelings like stress or worry are not?
They tend to linger and grow.
Today we're going to discuss why that is,
Why it's important,
And what we can do about it.
So in essence,
What is a gratitude practice?
It's really two things.
First,
It's a way to help us amplify the goodness and the joy that we sometimes take for granted in our life.
And secondly,
It helps to imprint gratitude so it's not so fleeting.
It becomes a longer-lasting experience,
And this can actually change our brains and overall health.
There have been many studies on general mindfulness over the last 40 years,
Solid evidence for health claims like reduction of stress,
Boosted immunity,
Reduced inflammation,
Etc.
But there's a sister group of practices to mindfulness called heart-based practices,
And they've only been studied somewhat recently.
Gratitude is one of these heart-based practices that has been studied more recently.
We're now discovering the psychological and physical benefits to the practice of gratitude.
You may have even heard of the Gratitude Project out of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center.
It's a well-funded program designed to study and promote gratitude.
In fact,
They put out a white paper called The Science of Gratitude.
So there is a lot of scientific interest around gratitude and how it can benefit us in our daily life.
Practicing gratitude has been shown to improve our physical and psychological health,
As well as increase our happiness and life satisfaction,
And even decrease our desire or craving for materialism.
There's a couple of things that are present in our lives that often hinder us from really seeing and appreciating the things in our life.
One is something called the negativity bias,
Which is kind of like a headwind that's working against us in our day-to-day life.
It's working against us in the sense that our mind has a tendency to see things that are holding us back more clearly than the good things that are pushing us forward.
It's a concept known as the negativity bias.
The negativity bias is an evolutionary adaptation.
It served us well over many,
Many years,
Helping us notice what's wrong before we notice what's right.
But over time,
This can also hinder us from really noticing the good in our lives and being able to easily practice gratitude.
We also have a remarkable power of adaptation.
This is the simple notion that we tend to get used to things,
Even the things that we love,
Which often renders good things in our life invisible.
The very act of expressing gratitude helps us overcome adaptation or this sense of things becoming invisible because we get used to them.
So here's the good news.
We can work around these factors by cultivating wholesome qualities and uprooting the unwholesome ones.
In a sense,
We plant flowers and pull weeds in the garden of the mind,
Which means that we're gradually changing the brain for the better.
And mindfulness can help us see,
Feel,
And experience gratitude and pay more attention to the goodness and joy that we sometimes take for granted.
So today we're going to do a meditation that helps us notice these things throughout our day.
It's gratitude training,
If you will,
To help train our minds to look for the good and savor it when we do experience it.
We can't get rid of these enemies of gratitude,
The power of adaptation,
And the negativity bias,
But we can train our minds to work around them.
This is gratitude training.
We can incline the mind to recognize what's good so over time it becomes our default state.
Gratitude is a practice and with these skills it becomes second nature.
So let's do a meditation together.
We're going to do an exercise called five-point gratitude.
When you're ready you can close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you or leave them open with a soft gaze in front of you.
We're going to be relaxing our body.
With one exception it's helpful to have an upright spine which helps combat against sleepiness.
And bring your attention to your face,
Just letting the muscles in your face relax,
Allowing your jaw to drop down,
Noticing any tightness around your mouth,
Your chin,
Noticing any tightness the little muscles around your eyes,
Just relaxing those little micro muscles,
Relaxing your forehead,
And bringing your attention down to your shoulders,
Letting them drop down away from the ears,
And just imagining any tension in your shoulders,
Just rolling off your shoulders onto the floor like water off of a duck's back,
And bringing your attention down the front of your torso,
Down to the belly,
Just relaxing the belly.
This is often a place that we hold tight,
Just relaxing the belly,
And a couple more deeper breaths with the emphasis on a longer exhale.
This longer exhale signals to our body that everything is okay and it serves to help down-regulate the nervous system.
So we're going to bring to mind five points of gratitude,
And this is something you can do in a formal meditation like we're doing now,
Or even as an informal practice throughout your day,
Waiting at the car wash,
Waiting at the bus stop,
Anytime throughout the day that you have five minutes or so to work on gratitude training.
So when you're ready,
Bring to mind something good that has happened to you in the past week or past month,
Something larger like good health,
Or you finished a big project,
Or someone did something really nice for you,
Or one of your family members reached a milestone.
It can be something broad that you're grateful for in your life,
And reflecting on this one good thing,
Feeling gratitude in your body and heart,
And say to yourself in your own mind,
I am grateful for this one good thing.
I'm grateful for.
.
.
And now bring to mind our second point of gratitude,
Which is something small,
Something basic,
Something that you experience in your everyday life.
It could be a favorite meal or a daily ritual.
For me,
It's my favorite sheets and how they feel.
Just a simple,
Uncomplicated happiness.
Bring to mind this small thing that you appreciate,
And reflect on the gratitude you have for this small thing,
And say to yourself in your own mind,
I'm grateful for this small thing.
I am grateful for.
.
.
And moving to the third point of gratitude,
Bring to mind a person.
It doesn't have to be your main person.
It can be anyone who comes to mind who may have been kind to you or helped you out.
It could be someone at work,
Or a mentor,
Or a good friend,
Or a family member.
Don't overthink it.
Just whoever comes to mind is good.
Bring an image of their face to mind.
See their eyes or their hair,
And think about their kindness to you,
And just bask in your gratitude and appreciation for them,
And how much you appreciate that they are in your life,
Or they have been in your life.
And say to yourself in your own mind,
I'm grateful for this person.
I am grateful for.
.
.
And moving to the fourth point of gratitude,
Bring to mind one thing about yourself that you're grateful for.
It can be something simple,
A skill,
Or a trait,
Or just that you're making time for yourself to practice gratitude,
Or your health is good right now.
Just reflecting on yourself and bringing to mind an aspect of yourself that you're grateful for.
And imagine yourself doing this thing or resting with this quality.
Feel the appreciation and the gratitude towards yourself,
And say to yourself in your own mind,
I'm grateful for this thing or this quality about myself.
I am grateful for.
.
.
And for the fifth and last quality,
Quality of gratitude,
Please bring to mind one thing right now,
In this exact moment that you're thankful for.
Maybe something in the room you're in,
Or the place you're in,
Or a comfortable feeling in your body,
Or for this practice that you're learning.
Just anything that you know is good in this present moment right now,
And feel an appreciation for that right now.
And say to yourself,
I am grateful for this right now.
I am grateful for.
.
.
And now bring your attention to your body,
And just notice your overall mood,
How your body feels.
And as we move throughout our day,
We can stop any time to bring these five points of gratitude to mind.
And what's great is that they change each time we practice this,
And that's great.
The takeaway here is that we are building minds that see the good by working around some of the default states that we have that work against this.
Gratitude is to be cultivated as a habit,
Or an attitude of mine,
Not dependent on the external conditions of our daily life being how we like.
In a moment,
I'm going to ring a bell three times,
And you might just direct your attention to the sound of the bell ringing all the way out.
A gratitude practice helps to strip away the chatter,
The busyness,
And remind us of what's important in our lives,
So we can focus and appreciate on those things more.
And when you're ready,
You can gently tilt your head from one side to the other side,
And roll your neck around,
And begin to wiggle your fingers,
And slowly open your eyes first with a low gaze in front of you,
And begin to take in your surroundings.
I hope you enjoyed the five-point gratitude practice.
Thank you for your practice.
