Set The Tone For Your Day - With Just 5 Minutes of Gratitude
Set The Tone For Your Day - With Just 5 Minutes of Gratitude
Try this quick and powerful method for counting your blessings before you even get out of bed in the morning, and set the tone for your entire day.
What is the very first thing you do in the morning? Be honest. Check your email? Open Instagram? Brush your teeth? Meditate? Your sunrise thoughts and actions are incredibly important because they set the tone for your entire day.
Going immediately into an intention practice before you do anything else is like setting your internal GPS. It sets you up to navigate your life with greater grace and ease, regardless of what unexpected twists and turns arise.
The holiday season is a time that generally inspires more gratitude, love, and a sense of family and community. However, for many it can also be a time where tensions arise from clashing perspectives, conflicts occur, and if we are not present unkind behaviors and words may be expressed.
So how can we stay calm, centered, and compassionate towards all regardless of external circumstances or factors? - By intentionally starting the day with the essence of gratitude.
Here’s how to get grounded, centered, and grateful in just 5 minutes before you even leave your bed,
Feel Gratitude
“Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life”
Rumi
Generate the feeling of gratitude with Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose)
With both hands over your heart, from a kneeling position, sit back onto your heels. Keep your spine long.
Place both hands over your heart and take 5 deep Ujjayi breaths, (inhaling and exhaling through the nose) feeling a sense of gratitude for your body and this brand new day.
Doing this practice before you do anything else is transformative because it makes you smile with your whole body.
Write Gratitude
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
Eckhart Tolle
Grab a specially dedicated notebook or journal and write down the following…
3 things you’re grateful for
3 things you’re grateful for about your body
3 things you’re grateful for in others
And if you want to take it a step further, you can continue the practice of Gratitude for your whole day...
Share Gratitude
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
John F. Kennedy
Carry the attitude of Gratitude into your day with simple actions...
Practice daily acts of kindness
Giving to others without expecting in return is one of the biggest forms of gratitude. Tell someone you love them and how much you appreciate having them in your life. Help a neighbor carrying his/her groceries or let a stranger go in front of the line in the supermarket. Thank a colleague or a client for the great work done. Whatever you decide to do, do it from a place of gratitude. Wait and see the positive energy you generate from these acts of kindness.
Stop complaining, start complimenting
Leave complaining and gossip aside. Appreciate yourself for your many blessings, talents and strengths. If you made a mistake, turn it into a growth opportunity. Compliment a loved one when they look good. Say or text something nice to a friend to show how much you value them. Pay attention to your language and communication style, do your best to avoid negative self-talk and bring more positivity to every conversation.
Whatever is on your daily list, soak into this feeling of being grateful first thing, and you can’t help but smile. After this simple morning practice I feel light and bright, and so incredibly thankful to just be alive - It starts my day off on a beautiful note.
When my first thoughts of the day are focused on the good that I have in my life, I don’t feel the need for anything else. I feel complete. I feel wealthy. I feel grateful and blessed, and I feel like I always have enough. All from those first 5 minutes in the morning. Magic!
Try it for a week and see how you feel :)
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