As we enter the first week of Fall (while time may begin feeling like a construct of the mind more than ever), we are indeed entering into the Fall season. Perhaps it’s with the spirit of the Thankgsiving holiday to come, Fall gives us the opportunity to reset our priorities as we approach the holiday season and reflect and be more grateful than perhaps other seasons. This brings me into the topic of this blog post: Gratitude is a practice. Gratitude is something that I seek to practice consciously everyday of my life. The more I practice it, the most fulfilled and rooted in purpose I find myself in how I view and feel in my life circumstances. It’s truly the “half glass full” versus the “half glass empty” analogy put into practice. When you recognize how much you do have in your life, it’s much easier to reframe what you then may think as perhaps lacking – when you see how much you have to be grateful over, you will remember this more frequently and it will give you a deeper sense of fulfillment.

Practicing gratitude becomes easier with time. You can do this as you wake up and it can be as simple as being grateful for the gift of living another day. You can also become more structured about how you want to practice gratitude: for example, I have a habit now where I write down at least 10 things (anything!) that I am grateful for in a journal each morning. This helps me realize how much I am grateful for and helps set a great energy for the day to come. There is scientific research that backs how beneficial practicing gratitude is for your health. According to Happify, gratitude can do the following:

People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.

The Science Behind Gratitude

There is science to this; for me, I even believe that my gratitude practice reduces my stress levels. I think this is significant because I am able to put things in perspective right as I am beginning my day and this doesn’t give room to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for myself or sit with any feelings of jealousy etc. I already have set my intention for the day: I act with gratitude. I hope this inspires you to reconsider how you integrate feelings of gratitude into your everyday routine and to always think positively; this benefits your health on an individual level, and further, on a community level, you give the best of you to those who are around you.