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Don’t you love being able to move about in the world with some freedom again as restrictions from Covid-19 are lifted? (Despite masking and distancing…yuck. I feel sweaty and hot under my mask…)
However, these renewed freedoms many of us once took for granted feel fresh and new: to see family and friends and hug each other, to go to restaurants and movies, sign up for courses and walk freely on the streets.
Now’s the time to flow into fall with gratitude and appreciation.
Gratitude is about expressing thankfulness for what you have. We are hard wired to be grateful because it has a survival value of helping others and then in turn being helped.
Did you know that specific areas of the brain light up when we express gratitude, especially the prefrontal cortex? Gratitude also heightens sensitivity to future experiences of gratitude by teaching you how to recognize something as positive.
Studies that Dr. Martin Seligman, the founder of positivity psychology, and others, have done show an increase in happiness when you express gratitude…it’s so amazing how it all fits together, isn’t it?
Feeling grateful actually boosts your happiness and helps if you’re struggling with mental health issues too. Studies shows that shifting attention away from resentment and jealousy and consciously turning your mind to gratitude is a practice that benefits us tremendously.
Read more from Dr. Maidenberg here about her exploration of why practicing gratitude is so important, especially in these challenging times.
Our relationships with other people shape our daily lives, whether it’s a friend, parent, child, partner, or coworker. We can all benefit from turning our gratitude consciously toward the people who enrich our lives.
We can start with really acknowledging how well most of us have done during this chaotic and frightening time with Covid-19. Most of us have been kind to each other and I’ve loved that. The little rocks painted, the signs for our health care workers and supporting so many people who have lost someone. And let’s celebrate that 65% of Canadians are double vaccinated and more than 80% have had a single dose. Bravo!
I had the sweet opportunity to live in gratitude when my daughter, her partner and their nine month old daughter Rowan visit me for two weeks this summer. I had so much fun being with this little baby: she is so in the moment. She loved playing peek a boo, laughing and gurgling merrily. Then, after three or four rounds, you’d suddenly be playing by yourself as her attention had wandered to something else. I began to laugh playing peek a boo by myself. She is already fiercely independent and already cautious: you have to prove that you are worthy of her attention and that her parents accept you too!!
As many of you know, i love the wilderness and one day when i was paddling on Devil Lake, we came across an immature bald eagle: it was amazing! I have loved bald eagles since i was eight years old and saw one for the first time. It motivated me to write a column for our local paper about the climate crisis we are in…and feel such appreciation that I have the capacity to write and take action.
Every time we send waves of gratitude and appreciation to others in our lives, whether it’s for vaccinations, babies or wildlife, it comes back to us 1000 fold.
By radiating gratitude to others, it not only makes them feel good, but it reflects back to us. It helps to rewire our brain, soothe our nervous system and create feelings of calmness. These things can ripple out in our work, communities and connections.
1. Each day, practice gratitude with your closest people. The thing is, we don’t always notice. We need to pause and bring a mindful attention to how much others do. From the quick text of thanks for a card, to taking out the garbage, we can express gratitude over and over again. Watch my two minute video on practicing gratitude
2. Prioritize time to do things you love and be with people you love. Often, we get swept up in what needs to be done in our lives like work, chores, and just managing lives. By learning how to be more mindful of the present, our perception of time can slow down. You’ll love Marina Fleider’s article How to Slow Down Time
3. Appreciate the present moment. The more often you return your mind and body consciously to this moment, using your breath as the bridge, the more you can see and be with what is around you. Sharon Salzberg, a great Buddhist teacher, talks about returning to the breath over and over again. Each moment is the opportunity to notice: right now I’m in my head thinking about what i’m going to have for dinner or that i need to return that email to my colleague. We often live in tomorrow or yesterday. But we can choose to return to the here and now. Try this 10 minute breathing meditation to come back to your breath in this moment.
