The Power of Gratitude

 The regular expression of gratitude is a powerful practice on the spiritual path, that can spur growth and self-actualisation. It can lead to the manifestation of more soul-reflective and harmonious landscapes around you. However, if done in the wrong way, it can lead to self-denial and derailment, where you can actually block karma needing to activate, or where you’re not truly confronting reality the way it genuinely is. So how do we get it right and harness the practice for maximum beneficial effect in our lives?

When you’re in a position to be able to truly embody gratitude for key aspects of your life, and crucially, who you are, then you’re establishing an inner consciousness orientation (much deeper than a mindset) that of itself, is positively expecting the universe to shape and create for you. This orientation itself will shape reality around you in the most harmonious and positive of ways. It’s because you’re already informing the field that you expect benevolence to happen. And so it does.

The approach of gratitude practice is a well known theme in the spiritual mainstream. But there is a crucial problem with how it is often applied. How so?...<<<Read More>>>...

 

Practicing Gratitude During COVID-19 Pandemic

[Wake Up World]: To say that 2020 has been a challenging year for most of us is a profoundly serious understatement. While it’s easy to fall into quiet despair, now might actually be the best time to cultivate positive mental health habits, one of them being gratitude.

Paradoxically, suffering can yield a grateful heart, if approached with care and mindfulness. As reported by CNN Health:

“In his 1994 book, ‘A Whole New Life,’ Duke University English professor Reynolds Price describes how his battle with a spinal cord tumor that left him partially paralyzed also taught him a great deal about what it means to really live.

After surgery, Price describes ‘a kind of stunned beatitude.’ With time, though diminished in many ways by his tumor and its treatment, he learns to pay closer attention to the world around him and those who populate it

A brush with death can open our eyes. Some of us emerge with a deepened appreciation for the preciousness of each day, a clearer sense of our real priorities and a renewed commitment to celebrating life. In short, we can become more grateful, and more alive, than ever.”

Enhancing your well-being can be as simple as taking some time each day to reflect on what you’re thankful for. A simple and proven way of doing this is to keep a gratitude journal.4 Gratitude is neurally linked with happiness. Strengthen one and you automatically boost the other.

In one study,5 participants who kept a gratitude diary and reflected on what they were grateful for just four times a week for three weeks improved their depression, stress and happiness scores. In another study, people who kept a gratitude journal reported exercising more and had fewer visits to the doctor.6,7 Indeed, there’s an entire field of study looking at the health benefits of gratitude....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...