The Healing Nature of Gratitude

A daily habit of gratitude has a positive impact on our wellbeing and attracts abundance and joy into our lives

Hi, I’m Sue and I write about the beauty and ingenuity of Nature, and how we can deepen our connection for our optimum health and wellbeing. Discover more Nature-inspired content on Spiral Leaf, Twitter and my video Nature Channel.

As we know, spending time in Nature provides the perfect opportunity for us to wind down, relax and clear the mind. When we take in the natural healing frequencies of Mother Earth, it gives us a boost as we appreciate Nature’s gifts of natural beauty, fresh air, outside space and natural sunlight.

It is our conscious connection that brings the full benefits of spending time in Nature and this is greatly enhanced when we take time to reflect on our appreciation for the natural world around us.

It means allowing our mind to think about all the ways Nature sustains us, delights us and helps us to thrive. Deepening our relationship in this way is so important because being connected to Nature is vital for us to survive, enjoy life and fulfil our potentiality as human beings.

It follows that we can put this time to good use by extending our appreciation for Nature into other things, people and beings that we feel thankful for in our lives. We know we are truly grateful when we experience a warm fuzzy feeling of love, warmth and appreciation. It’s the kind of feeling that fills our heart with joy, completely taking over the moment.

Gratitude is a feeling that comes over us, significantly increasing our frequency and often accompanied by a satisfying sigh, gentle chuckle or beaming smile.

Feel the feeling

To fully experience the feeling of gratitude, take a pause for a moment to think about someone or something you love.

Take a few deep breaths and allow yourself to bask in the feeling that washes over you. You will find that there is no room for anything else at this point, only this good feeling. Your body will experience a natural high, your atoms will sparkle and you will feel immediately replenished.

The key is to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible and remember to rinse and repeat throughout your day. You will find that this gradually becomes a habit which your mind, body, spirit and soul - and those close to you - will be grateful for too.

This is because being in gratitude is a bit like your body being alkaline whereby both these things create the perfect state for your body to do its best work to keep you healthy, happy and strong.

Moreover, gratitude equates to a feeling of acceptance. As Eckhart Tolle says: It is the inevitable ‘is-ness’ of now where your inner state is no longer ultimately dependent on what is happening or not happening outside. This is a vital transformation of consciousness, where the external world no longer determines your state of consciousness.

It is a truism that cultivating a daily habit of gratitude has a positive impact on our mindset and overall sense of wellbeing which in turn attracts more abundance and joy into our lives.

No excuses

Gratitude can be as simple as being heartened by someone smiling as you pass them on the street or someone saying thank you. It can come as a tremendous sense of relief when things turn out right or better than expected or it can come from a beautiful surprise or an unexpected act of kindness.

There are so many ways we can feel gratitude that there is no excuse to not feel grateful, thankful or appreciative every single day.

This can be a very difficult thing to do when we are not feeling our best or when things seem to be working against us. Feeling grateful during such times is one of the hardest things to do which is why it can have the most powerful effect.

When we are able to feel grateful for the tests and lessons presented to us, when we can see hard times as an opportunity to learn and grow, when we can simply be thankful to be alive in any situation, gratitude becomes a true friend that will see us through the worst of situations and help us to heal and feel whole again.

Whenever I was in the depths of despair during my teens, my dearest Mum used to say: Think of those who are so much worse off than you. And then she would reel off all the things I could be grateful for if I chose to. She would make me smile with her gentle humour and I am forever grateful to my Mum for teaching me these things. It’s one magical drop of goodness in an ocean of gratitude that has become my world.

For many of us there is no excuse to ignore our blessings, especially when when we are not living in a war-zone, not starving or hungry as so many of our fellow humans are at this time, and when we have a roof over our head, friends to spend time with as we choose and food to put on our table.

Gratitude is super-good for us

Not only is being thankful a lovely way to be, it has also proven to be extremely good for us.

This is because gratitude causes synchronised activation in multiple brain regions and lights up parts of our brain's reward pathways and the hypothalamus.

When we are truly grateful, the feeling inside boosts neurotransmitter serotonin and activates the brain stem to produce dopamine - commonly known as the feel-good hormone.

This is confirmed in a superb article written by medical researcher, Misty Pratt, for Mindful - The Science of Gratitude - bringing us up to date on the latest (or lasting) research and findings relating to this profoundly important subject.

The conclusion: Cultivating gratitude can open the door to a different perspective, one that values the goodness in our lives. With practice, we can learn to see the bigger picture and navigate adversity with greater resilience.

A great start (and end) to the day

Thinking about the things we appreciate, love and feel thankful for immediately makes us feel better which is why it is such a good idea (as a minimum) to make a concerted effort to think about things we are grateful for at the start and end of our day.

The trick is to embrace the feeling of thankfulness entirely so that you can feel the warm, comforting feeling it generates.

This is when feeling gratitude has a tangible and physical effect on our mind, body and soul which is uplifting, healing and energising. It means starting the day on the right foot with an increased boost of loving energy or ending the day in a relaxed and contented state of mind as the precursor for a good night’s sleep.

A daily gratitude routine

I have come up with an easy way to start the day in gratitude by creating a printable that I use daily for noting down various thoughts I know will make me feel better and focus my mind on my inner wellbeing.

Having these prompts makes it really easy to do either first thing in the morning or last thing at night so that you can start the day in the right mood and clear your mind before going to sleep.

The added bonus is that doing this every day helps to estabish this exercise as a healthy habit that becomes second nature where we endeavour to see the good in everything and everyone rather than focus on the negative.

Free for you!

The following breakdown sets out what I include in my Daily Gratitude routine every morning and what the different sections are for.

You are welcome to try my Daily Gratitude printable from the ‘Free Downloads’ page on my website or you can create your own daily Gratitude Journal using the prompts below as a guide.

1) Today I am grateful for …

There are so many things we can feel grateful for and very often the smallest things mean the most to us. As you jot down the first things that come to mind, emerse yourself in the feeling of being thankful and notice how comforting, peaceful and uplifting this feels.

2) Today's weather …

Gauging the weather at the beginning of the day is a great way to check-in with Nature and think about how your plans might be affected. This is useful to use with the mood monitor (below) when it might be helpful to think of something nice to do to lift your mood or to do something creative and cosy on a cold, cloudy or stormy day.

3) Today's mood …

This is a good way to keep an eye on mood levels when we can hone in on anything that might be causing us to feel down, afraid or out of sorts. A good 10 minutes of quiet meditation provides the inner space we need to put things into perspective or we can allocate quite time to work things through and regain our equilibrium.

4) Notes and inspiration …

The more time we spend in quiet reflection, the more ideas and inspiration come to us. This is because the process of meaningful thinking, day dreaming and meditating (or visualising) opens the mind to new realisations that we might not have thought of before. Fleeting thoughts and ideas come from our intuition when we are least expecting them so it's a good idea to get into the habit of making a note of them.

5) Things I want to achieve today …

The best possible way we can be kind to ourselves is to recognise our achievements, especially the smallest ones. When we do this we boost that same part of our brain that produces dopamine when we feel gratitude. This is why it’s a great idea to set yourself some easy targets so that you can enjoy the smaller wins as well. 

6) Things I love and feel proud of …

This is another great way to bring happy thoughts and memories to mind and to boost confidence. The best things to feel proud of are things we do in kindness without anyone having to know. They say it's very healthy (and kind) to carry out at least one good deed a day without telling anyone. It leaves the ego out of things and allows you the privilege of feeling quietly pleased with yourself on a regular basis.

7) Things I am looking forward to …

There is always something to look forward to whether it's the sun rising in the morning or a friend coming over for a cup of tea and a chat over the weekend.

If we don't feel we have anything to look forward to, this is the perfect opportunity to create something to look forward to by calling a friend, offering to help out with something or making a date to spend some time in Nature (indoors or outdoors) - every single day.

I hope you enjoy thinking about all the things you are grateful for and are looking forward to as we begin this new month of May on the cusp of the Summer season.

May I extend my gratitude to you for being here and reading this post - I look forward to seeing you again soon.