Gratitude Meditation: What, How and Why?
- Alexandra Uren
Table of Contents
For many of us, it’s easy to be grateful when things are going well. We might feel thankful for a home-cooked meal, a great holiday or a sunny day. What’s not so easy is feeling grateful when things in life aren’t so rosy.
Of course, there will be times in our lives when feeling grateful for anything at all can be tricky. Whether you’re stuck in traffic or struggling with something a lot heavier, cultivating gratitude can be a huge challenge. But incorporating a regular gratitude practice into your life can bring about a host of benefits; strengthening relationships, self-esteem and resilience.
There’s a number of ways to cultivate gratitude, and a short gratitude meditation is just one of the ways to manifest appreciation and bring joy to your day.
Make Mindfulness Easy
Join over 50’000 people on their meditation journey.
- Large Library of Classes Taught by Expert Teacher
- One on One Teacher Support
- Transformative Approach to Meditation
- Request a Courses You Want to See
- 60 Day Money Back Guarantee
- Large Library of Classes
- One on One Teacher Support
- A New Approach to Meditation
- Request a Courses
- 60 Day Money Back Guarantee
What is Gratitude Meditation?
Manifesting gratitude can make us feel happier, improve our wellbeing, increase self-esteem and strengthen relationships.
One of the best ways to manifest gratitude is by practicing a 10-minute gratitude meditation. Even when it doesn’t seem like it, there is always something to be grateful for.
Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist teacher and best-selling author, regularly cites the importance of gratitude. We should not only be thankful for life’s blessings, but also its sufferings.
Without the bad, we cannot appreciate the good. Suffering is a part of being human, and even if we cannot be grateful for the sufferings themselves, we should try to be grateful for the lessons they teach us.
A gratitude meditation is a type of meditation that focuses on manifesting and expressing gratitude for your life.
While making gratitude lists in a journal each day is a great way to cultivate appreciation for the little things in our lives, a gratitude meditation can be even more powerful.
Just a few minutes spent reflecting on what we’re grateful for can help to dispel negative emotion and bring a greater sense of joy to our day.
How do you Practice Gratitude Meditation?
Gratitude meditations can be practiced in any number of ways, and they are accessible to anyone.
Whether it’s a few moments spent reflecting, a guided online course or a 10-minute meditation, consistency is key.
A short morning meditation can be done independently. You may find it helpful to quietly give thanks for a few of the things in your life that you are grateful for.
This could be gratitude for your morning coffee, for the health of your family, or gratitude for nature.
If you’re struggling to cultivate gratitude, you may need a little more guidance. MindEasy’s Sound Awakening course aims to encourage you to live your very best life, filling your day with joyful energy and positivity.
This course consists of 5 lessons, and it should help to reignite your sense of wonder and encourage you to live life to the full.
A 10 minute gratitude meditation can be practiced at any time of the day.
- To begin, find a comfortable and quiet spot. Sit in an upright and stable position.
- Allow your eyes to gently close and take a slow, deep breath to bring yourself into the present moment.
- Spend a few minutes focusing on your breath and finding your centre. If your mind starts to wander, simply return it to the rise and fall of your chest. It can help to smile gently.
- To start, think about how lucky you are to even be here, in this moment. Consider that someone has taken care of you and brought you up. Focus on the beat of your heart, and remember that if your heart is beating, you already have so much to be grateful for. Your body is working hard to keep you alive, and it deserves thanks.
- Begin to think about everything we have today that makes our lives easier. We have electricity, drinking water, enough food and a range of free resources to help us live our very best lives.
- Consider those around you that make a positive difference in your life. This could be family members, friends, a pet, or even the barista who makes your coffee every morning.
- Spend a few minutes working through everything else that you are grateful for – small or large.
- Rest quietly for several minutes, noticing how your body feels compared to the start of the meditation
How does it Feel to Practice Meditation and Gratitude?
At the end of a gratitude meditation, you may feel as though your body is warmer and brighter. Many people feel happier, more confident and with increased energy.
Those who are dealing with heavier issues may struggle with a gratitude meditation at first. The key is to keep practicing just a small amount each day.
Finding something to be grateful for, no matter how insignificant it might seem, can bring about a huge range of benefits. .
What are the Benefits of Gratitude?
Cultivating gratitude on a regular basis can unlock a range of benefits. Examples of gratitude benefits include emotional benefits, social benefits, career benefits, health benefits and so much more.
On an emotional level, a regular gratitude practice can make us happier and increase our psychological well being.
We may feel more confident, positive, and motivated. We’ll be less likely to become hyper-focused on toxic emotions and negativity, instead seeing the good in each situation.
Gratitude can also help us socially. You’ll likely be a better person to be around, less likely to complain and find it easier to maintain relationships.
People are drawn to those with positive energy, and a regular gratitude practice will make you the person others want to spend time with.
Being grateful for what we have can also help us in the workplace. Cultivating gratitude can make us better leaders and decision makers, and you’ll be able to get through the day with less work-related stress.
You may find it easier to find meaning and joy in your work.
Both mental and physical health can be improved by cultivating gratitude. A regular gratitude practice can reduce symptoms of depression, lower your blood pressure and improve sleep.
Research has shown that those who practice gratitude are generally healthier, both physically and psychologically.
Key Facts
- It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well, but not so easy when things aren’t going our way!
- Cultivating gratitude can lead to a huge range of benefits; whether that’s social, emotional, physical or psychological.
- There are different levels of gratitude. We may feel grateful for a morning cup of tea, or a kind gesture from a friend. Alternatively, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude from simply existing. Even being alive is a gift, and we should be grateful to our bodies for striving to keep us alive and healthy.
- A 10-minute gratitude meditation can help bring joy to our day and disposition.
- MindEasy’s Sound Awakening course focuses on building gratitude, filling your day with joy, purpose and love.
Common Questions
Gratitude meditation practice is a type of meditation that is done in order to cultivate gratitude.
The goal of the practice is to use it as an opportunity to recognize all the things we have that make our lives easier, both physically and emotionally.
The benefits of gratitude meditation include: psychological benefits, social benefits, career benefits, and health benefits.
Psychologically we feel happier and more confident. Spiritually we get in touch with our feelings of gratitute and become less focused on negativity. Socially we're more agreeable people to be around with better relationships. Professionally it can make us better leaders and decision makers leading to less work-related stress.
We're also healthier both physically and psychologically because personality traits like feelings of optimism or meaningfulness are linked to good health outcomes.
A gratitude journal is a daily gratitude diary where you write down all the good things that happened during your day.
It's a gratitude practice that helps you feel happier, stop complaining and appreciate everything in your life.
Gratitude is the sense of appreciation for what one has.
Most people experience gratitude when they are grateful for something they receive, but there are also some people who have a deep gratitude that comes from simply existing.
Deep gratitude can be in the form of feeling grateful for the very act of living or being grateful to oneself.
Many people find it hard to maintain this deep sense of gratitude because life throws challenges at us.
It is difficult to stay positive and feel appreciative when we deal with these heavy issues.
A happier disposition and stronger psychological mental health.
Less likelihood of becoming hyper-focused on toxic emotions and negativity, instead seeing the good in each situation.
Reduced symptoms of depression, lower blood pressure, better sleep, and increased health.
Yes. By actively practicing gratitude we cultivate it with ourselves.
Cultivating gratitude can lead to a huge range of benefits, including social, emotional, physical and psychological.
On an emotional level, a regular gratitude practice can make us more content and increase our feeling of happiness.
