Wellbeing Through Gratitude

“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles” – Anonymous

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness.

This is the time of the year when most of us sit back, reflect and pay thanks for the year gone by. We donate to charities,  non-profit organizations, and buy gifts for family, friends and colleagues.

When we shift from practicing gratitude only during a specific season of the year to practicing gratitude as a way to live and lead, science shows that the health benefits are abundant.

Compassion & Kindness

People who regularly practice gratitude, by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for, experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.

Gratitude does not need to be reserved only for momentous occasions. We certainly may express gratitude after receiving a promotion at work, but we can also be thankful for something as simple as a delicious piece of pie.

Research by UC Davis psychologist Robert Emmons, author of “Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier”, shows that simply keeping a gratitude journal — regularly writing brief reflections on moments for which we are thankful — can significantly increase well-being and life satisfaction.

Holistic Health

Gratitude enhances our holistic health – mentally, physically and spiritually. Many healing traditions around the world have adopted gratitude in their holistic rituals. It is proven to have a calming effect and helps reduce stress, anxiety and depression by increasing the feel-good neuro transmitters in the brain, shielding it from negativity and stress.

When we are grateful, we build on our mental strength and are better equipped to deal with challenging situations that life poses on us. Gratitude guides us and gives us a better understanding of who we are in the present and to appreciate what we have. It strengthens our minds to enable us to tap into the spiritual aspect of our existence and lead to a multi-dimensional growth. Try out The Gratitude Experiment.

Connecting with gratitude personally leads to holistic well-being:

Gratitude starts with noticing the goodness in one’s life.

When we do, we are able to exude and amplify gratitude in the lives of others.

Once we cultivate an attitude of gratitude in each moment of life, we will naturally live and lead from wellbeing.

Here are some ways to foster gratitude personally:

• Keeping a journal or note big and little joys of daily life.
• Writing down “three good things” — identify three things that have gone well and identify the cause.
• Writing “thank you notes” to others.
• Thinking about people who have inspired us and their significance.
• Engaging in “mental subtraction.” Imagining what our life would be like if some positive event had not occurred.
• Meditation: worth trying this short gratitude meditation.

Final thoughts

With a discipline of conscious practice, it’s just as easy to make love, happiness, peace and thankfulness the norm.

At Jiva Spa, in the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, all treatments are ended with presenting the guests with a garland of tuberoses and saying the following words with hands folded in Namaste: “Thank you for receiving the treatment. This garland is to respect the divinity within you“. This is taking gratitude to a level where we have seen guests folding their hands in Namaste, giving their heartfelt thanks back.