Thanksgiving is coming up soon and with Thanksgiving, a lot of people think of gratitude and thankfulness. Practicing gratitude has been shown to improve mental health in individuals. Here are five ways you can practice gratitude.
Practicing Gratitude
You may not think about it that much, but gratitude helps your mental and physical. According to American Brain Foundation, gratitude reduces “stress, anxiety, depression,” and improves “emotional resilience, focus, immunity, and sleep.” [1]
How To Do It
Here are five practical ways you can include gratitude in your everyday life.
#1 Journal
Keeping a journal with the things you are thankful for is one practical way to practice gratitude. At the end of each day, write down a list or a couple of things you were grateful for that happened.
#2 Saying It
If writing isn’t exactly what you want to do, at the end of the day, think of three (or more!) things you were thankful for that happened during the day. Try not to be to broad like “food” or “health” or “family.” Instead, try, “I’m thankful for the fresh pineapple I had today”; or “I’m thankful for the ability to walk and run”; or “I’m thankful for my sister who always brightens my day.’
#3 “Thank-you!”
A third way to practice gratitude in your life is by saying “thank-you” to those around you. Sometimes when we think of saying thank-you, it comes with big things like receiving a gift or eating out; but really, we can say thank-you for the small things like getting a ride somewhere (from your parents, sibling, or friend), someone bringing you a drink (even from the kitchen), or taking the trash out.
#4 Change Negative to Positive
A fourth way to practice thankfulness is by changing negative or pessimistic thoughts and words into positive or optimistic thoughts and words. When we think on negative things, we go down a rabbit hole where all we think about is everything negative; try catching yourself when you think negative, and instead think of something positive (it can even be the three things you’re thankful for for the day!).
#5 Thankful Wall
The final way to be grateful is to have a thankful wall or notebook for the month. If you have space on a wall, put up a long piece of paper; if you don’t have wall space, put a notebook somewhere that you pass multiple times a day. At least one time a day, write on the paper on the wall or the notebook one thing you’re thankful for. If you want, you can do it multiple times a day. At the end of the month, you can look back and see all the things you’re thankful for.
Bonus: Write A Note
A bonus way to practice gratitude is by writing a note to someone you appreciate. The note can be as simple as “I appreciate you!” or it can list several specifics of why you appreciate them. Give the note to your parents, a friend, a teacher, an employer, a sibling, your pastor, or someone else you appreciate.
