Thanksgiving with Heart: The Power of Gratitude Practice

This is not my first post about Thanksgiving and Gratitude, considering it is my favourite holiday it’s not likely to be my last 😉.

Now for those of you who are American, you might be thinking HUH … ‘Thanksgiving is not until November’ You may not know that Canadians have their own Thanksgiving which is not related to the US Thanksgiving at all!

Canadian Thanksgiving predates US Thanksgiving, but it also is more connected to the European celebrations of the Harvest, nothing to do with pilgrims, etc.

I did a more in-depth post about that a few years ago which you can read here. 

I also did another Thanksgiving post several years ago here where thank you, my students, and offer a brief guided gratitude via video.

My personal gratitude practice has been going fairly regularly since the late 90s when I discovered the book Simple Abundance.

So for the first several years, I did exactly as recommended in that book and filled the pages of cute little Journals with my Gratitude lists.

Then several years later when packing up to move to a new apartment I realized how much space those journals were taking up.  And how difficult it was to recycle or throw away these pretty journals. But I also didn’t want to be paying for a storage unit someday just for old journals 🫣 so I recycled them and decided to switch my gratitude practice to online.

I started sharing my gratitude list on social media at night, but as my Facebook ‘friends’ list grew this started to feel a bit too personal to share publicly every night.

So I went back to writing them for a while…had the same aha again about the journals 😜 and switched once again.

I tried making a deal with a friend that we would text our gratitude to each other each night. That only worked briefly, I learned it’s best not to rely on others for practices like this if they are important to you.

So right when I was pondering how best to evolve this practice I had a bit of a health scare, one that made me more anxious than not as I awaited surgery, and then test results.

It was then that I remembered the work of Rick Hanson and the book Buddha Brain which includes the science behind why and how a gratitude practice can change your life

Some of the Researched and studied Benefits of Gratitude:

1. Makes us happier

2. Increases psychological wellbeing

3. Enhances our positive emotions

4. Increase our self-esteem

5. Improves our relationships

6. Makes us more optimistic

7. Connects us with spirit

8. Makes us more giving

17. Reduces impatience

18. Improves decision-making

19. Reduces depressive symptoms

20. Reduce your blood pressure

These are just a few you can see more and the links to the research and studies on gratitude here.

The Evolution of My Gratitude Practice

So as I mentioned above a recent health scare brought me back to my gratitude practice but in a new way!

Now as I lay in my bed at night before I fall asleep I cross my hands over my heart and go over all the people (like each one by name), places, and things I’m grateful for.

“Thank you for (insert people place or thing by name).

Every night without fail! Not only did this help with the nighttime anxiety while I was waiting for surgery and test results but I have kept at it and it helps me fall asleep with a happy, relaxed heart and mind and I stay asleep better too!

In honour of Thanksgiving, I recorded this guided Gratitude Meditation for you 👇🏻

I hope that you find it helpful and revisit it anytime you need a mind and heart shift.

Do you have a gratitude practice? Let me know in the comments what that looks like for you.

With Gratitude,

nyk