How to Practice Gratitude To Help Your Heart

Gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful.” It’s a strong emotion that one often feels towards loved ones, animals, nature and one’s self. Over the last several years, research has continued to prove that gratitude not only benefits your mental health but your physical health as well. And, similar to breathing, the feeling of gratitude can be random and uncontrolled but it can also be purposefully cultivated through a regular thankfulness practice. 

Here, we share five simple ways to practice thankfulness in your daily life.

Begin Your Day with Something You Love

Do you enjoy reading? Exercising? Knitting? Choose something that you enjoy and start your day by spending 30 minutes or more doing that activity. Beginning your day doing something you love will allow you to feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose right away, which can make you feel more thankful and happy throughout the rest of your day.

Spend Time with Good People

Think back to some of the best moments in your life and the people that were with you. How did you feel? You likely felt thankful and happy. While we all have busy schedules, taking time to spend with good people who are intentional and kind can make you feel more grateful, no matter how your day started.

Volunteer

Volunteering exposes you to new perspectives and challenges. It also allows you to bear witness to how your actions affect others, which can help you to feel more thankful for your skills, talents and individuality. 

Get Outside in Nature

Nature has long been an inspiration for artists, musicians and writers. Why should it not serve as a sense of inspiration for you? Spending time in nature can help you to see beauty in the most unexpected places. 

Keep a Gratitude Journal

All it takes is five minutes to write down a few things you are thankful for. Grab a pen and journal and just start writing. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you can write about!