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.

woman-wearing-white-tank-top-meditating-3317224.jpg
 
thank you.jpg
 

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

  • If you did the Yoga Nidra challenge, continue with your intention

  • 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.

Tips For Practice

  1. Daily practice – Consistency is one of the most important parts for success in any meditation.

  2. Location and time – Ideally, find a comfy spot, that does not have too much going on. Low light, low noise, so you are not going to be as easily distracted. The brain works in strange ways, so trying to pick a time that you can practice each day leads to more benefits.

  3. The right posture – Meditation can be practiced in any position that feels comfortable for your body. You commonly see images of people meditating in the typical ‘seated on the floor, legs crossed position’. This position is just ot comfortable for most of us, and I think it is one of the factors that stops people from forming an on-going meditation practice. I always tell people to find a position that is comfortable for you. You can sit on the floor, on a stool, a chair, against a wall or lie down. One of the main benefits to finding a way to sit, rather than lie down, is it helps you stay awake and focused. If you do find a seated position that works, makes sure that you are not slouching, or holding your body tensely in an upright position. You want to feel relaxed position. Allow your skeleton to support you and your muscles to relax.

  4. Acceptance – Accept whatever the meditation looks like for you. One day you maybe able to hold your focus for the entire session, but chances are your mind will wander off, repeatedly. One of the most common misconceptions of meditation is that your thoughts will completely switch off, leading people to think they have failed and cannot meditate, if they end the session to realize they spent the entire time planning what they are going to have for dinner. Accept that this is what happens, you are training the mind, some days you will end your meditation feeling relaxed and calm, other times you may come to meditate and feel frustrated that you cannot concentrate. Do not get disappointed, just accept and let go of judgement.

 
 

The Challenge

  1. Guided Meditation

You will practice the following meditation daily, ideally first thing in the morning, for the next 7 days.

2. Daily Journal

You are going to journal daily in the morning (before or after your meditation, I prefer journalling after, but see what works for you) using a technique I truly adore called ‘The Morning Pages’. This is a way to empty the mind of all of the clutter so you can move onto other things.

You will write 3 full pages every morning - no more, no less, using pen and paper, and no shorthand.

You do not write anything in particular, there is no wrong way to do this, just write exactly what you are thinking. If that is “I have nothing left to write…what is that noise outside…I need to change my sheets once I’m finished this” that is what your write.

This is not meant to be poetic or even good pieces of writing. You do not go back and read these pages (If you really wanted to wait at least 6 months.) The Morning Pages are not meant to be clever, deep, meaningful - of course they may be, but you just write every thought that comes to your mind, do not censor any of it.

When we get all of the things out of our head first thing in the morning, just watch what starts to happen, and hopefully this is something you will continue to do every morning.

Start and end each journal entry by writing down your Resolve.

3. Gratitude

You will write down one thing you are grateful for, which came from the meditation. This can be at the end of you Morning Pages entry. Or write it on a small piece of paper, put it into an empty jar or box, and keep adding to it daily (even after this week challenge is up)

4. Thank YOU

This is a simple, yet powerful gratitude tool. By the end of the 7 days, you are to hand write a letter to someone you are grateful for. It is beautiful how much this means to the person receiving it. We often tell other people, how much someone means to us and why we are grateful for them, but forget to tell the person directly. To have something written, which you may or may not have told the person, is an amazing thing to receive.