Turn what you have into Enough
A Gratitude Challenge
“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have” – Lord Buddha.
Overview of the Challenge
Every morning for the next 7 days you are to practice a short guided gratitude meditation
You will connect with one thing daily that you are grateful for
Every day you will journal 3 pages
You will hand write a letter to someone you are grateful for
Why Gratitude?
Making a conscious effort to appreciate our blessings in life, makes us feel good - and who doesn’t want that?! And while we notice the changes a gratitude practice has on our moods, positivity and emotional reactivity, science has noticed the changes a gratitude practice has on our brain.
‘Gratitude meditation brings in feelings of heightened positivity and happiness that lasts forever. The peace that we derive from being grateful in the meditation session gives us the power to realize that happiness does not lie in momentary pleasures and that we cannot be happy if we equate it with mundane gains and profits. (Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. 2003).’
Gratitude and the Brain
Did you know, the mind is unable to differentiate between real events and imagination? This is why our thoughts have such a massive impact on how we feel. Combine this with the fact that Neuroplasticity explains that the brain has the power to shape and reshape itself according to our thoughts, feelings, and environment…AND
A guided meditation, where you are lead to imagine something good, your brain takes this as a real experience. It forms neural networks making us feel the real emotions associated with the imagery. If we spend time focusing on negative thoughts and internal stories, in a way, we are strengthening those pathways. This is why a regular Gratitude practice can be life changing, we are strengthening pathways that make us feel good, and then this becomes the normal go to.
By changing the way our brain works, guided meditation has the power to alter our psychological functioning. The narrations can activate our muscles, change our biological functioning, and improve the way we combat stress. Guided meditation reprograms the mind by accessing the subconscious and the unconscious layers and resolving the underlying conflicts that we might not have been consciously aware of.