“Gratitude has the power to profoundly change your life for the better.The energy of gratitude creates magnetism and expansion.”
Science is proving the many health and well-being benefits that come with the simple practice of gratitude. Benefits that include better sleep, lower blood pressure, fewer trips to the doctor, less aches and pains and much more. While the evidence is there to back up the power of gratitude, the question now is how we use the power of gratitude to reap these and other benefits in our lives. To answer this, 99FM’s MYD Heart spoke to Karen Powell a creativity coach and lifestyle mentor, who prepared the following for us.
Toolkit for Using Gratitude to Create Anything by Karen Powell
As children we’re taught that saying ‘Thank You’ when someone gives you something or does something for you is good manners. But there’s so much more to gratitude than just being polite. Gratitude has the power to profoundly change your life for the better. In fact, gratitude is the most powerful manifesting tool we have.
The energy of gratitude creates magnetism and expansion. Have you ever noticed how you feel when someone expresses how thankful they are to you for something you gave them or did for them? Doesn’t it make you want to do more for them? And alternatively, if you do something for someone and you can’t tell if they appreciate it or not, it doesn’t particularly fuel your desire to continue helping them. We naturally tend to direct our generosity to where it’s making a difference or being appreciated.
Likewise, if we express gratitude to others for what they do for us, and even for who they are, they will feel inspired to keep that flow going. Gratitude naturally fuels more to be grateful for.
Life responds to gratitude with that same magnetic pull. Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you ever said was ‘Thank You,’ that would be enough.” Being grateful for the blessings you receive fuels more of the same. The more you’re grateful for, the more Life gives you to be grateful for!
GRATITUDE IS THE OPEN DOOR TO ABUNDANCE
Here are some gratitude tools you can use to create an abundance of blessings in your life:
1. Bring your blessings to life by making them visible.
Keep a Gratitude Journal. Every day write down 5 things you’re grateful for in your life. Then next to each one write why you’re grateful for it. Or instead of a journal, you could write down the things you’re thankful for on small pieces of paper and put them into a Gratitude Jar each day. Or you can create a collage of pictures representing things you’re grateful for, or do a Mind Map of Blessings. The different ways to make your blessings visible are endless. Use your own creativity to find one you enjoy.
2. Do a week of Negative Abstinence.
It’s hard to feel grateful when you’re pouring negativity into your life. Try this: For one week do not complain, criticize, gossip, watch or read negative or violent tv, news, movies, videos, etc. Throughout the week and afterward, pay attention to how you’re feeling inside.
3. Dig a little deeper.
Express gratitude for things you may have taken for granted. This can be for the shoes on your feet, the clean air you breathe, the dentist, the sunshine, the intelligence of each cell in your body doing its job… You can even express gratitude for the lessons learned during the difficult times in your life.
4. In relationships.
Even if you’re having challenges in a relationship, instead of focusing on what’s ‘wrong,’ make a list of all the things you’re grateful for in that person. Then every day express one of those to your partner. Watch what happens!
5. In matters of money and finances.
Instead of complaining about your bills or lack of money in the bank, shift the focus to how fortunate you are to be able to pay for whatever it is you can pay for. When you pay a bill, feel gratitude for the goods or service you received for your payment. What you focus on expands, so if you’re focusing on lack, you’re going to create more lack. If you focus on what is there, even however small, then you’re going to attract more of that.
6. Gratitude is the most effective natural remedy for insomnia.
If you can’t sleep at night do a mental list of all that you’re grateful for. You can start with your body: ‘Thank you for my eyesight. Thank you for my hearing. Thank you for my heart. Thank you for my lungs. Thank you for my arms. Thank you for my legs….’ Or you can list off all the people in your life. Just continue listing one after the other. You will soon become relaxed and drift right off to sleep.
7. Allow the full flow of gratitude.
If someone thanks you, be gracious. Don’t negate it or minimize it as “nothing.” Likewise if someone gives you a compliment, don’t turn it away or tell them all the reasons why they shouldn’t be complimenting you. Just say ‘Thank you.’
8. Use gratitude to bring your passion or purpose into being.
Visualise yourself living your purpose. Then mix the feeling of gratitude into that picture as if it’s already happening. This is your most powerful way of allowing something into being.
Make Gratitude the bookends of your day. Before you open your eyes in the morning say Thank You. As you close your eyes before you go to sleep at night say Thank You.
To truly transform your life, try to use gratitude not only as a reaction to an event, but more as a constant state of being. Then watch how you become a magnet for blessings of every kind to show up in your life!
For more from Karen Powell, listen to her view on Gratitude on the MYD Show by clicking here : The MYD Show with Karen Powell
Or you can reach Karen via her website here : Karen Powell
