You may have heard that it’s good to keep a gratitude journal. Do you know experiencing gratitude in your body activates the energy making you healthier and happier? Gratitude actually changes the chemistry of your body. In this post I explain how to energize your gratitude practice even if you’re a bit cranky.
My intention everyday is to feel good. It is the most important work I do.
The basic premise of the law of attraction is we are vibrational beings. We are like a radio signal broadcasting and receiving. When we broadcast love, peace or gratitude we send that energy out into the world. Since we are on that signal we attract people and events that give us the feeling of love, peace and gratitude.
I do my best to choose thoughts that create emotions of gratitude, appreciation, peace, and satisfaction. I love the way those emotions feel in my body. They activate my parasympathetic nervous system. My hormones are in balance, my digestion is strong and I have calm, steady energy.
Practicing gratitude can be helpful. But over the years I’ve found just saying I love my pen, I am grateful for my house, or I appreciate my cat did not shift the way I feel.
In order to activate the potency of gratitude and create an emotional shift we want to feel the pleasure of gratitude in our body.
Yeah but…
You might say ‘That sounds really great and I want to embody the pleasure of gratitude BUT…
I can’t feel gratitude when my body hurts or I can’t feel gratitude until I have more money or a good relationship. I’ll feel grateful when …. happens”
I totally understand. It’s something that comes up for me often.
I have found even if I make a gratitude list when I’m worried, cranky or anxious, it doesn’t work. There is too much resistance. It’s like putting ice cream on poop. The poop is still there. There is no emotion in the gratitude, it’s just a list.
So what can we do…
Activating the Potency of Gratitude
Step 1: Affirm all of your feelings.
Start by checking in with yourself. What are you feeling?
In order to actually having an activation of gratitude instead of just writing a few grats on a list, start by HONORING WHERE YOUR ARE right now.
Are you sad, calm, lonely, joyful, depleted, excited, safe, afraid?
We have been taught to disconnect from our emotions. As women, if we’re angry they call us a b-i-t-c-h. If we get too excited they tell us we’re out of control.
As a result we often disconnect from the way we feel, especially those feelings that are considered “bad.”
Sometimes even when we feel joy and excitement we get scared thinking “I better be careful, it’s not safe to feel this good”
So the first step in activating gratitude is to lovingly affirm all of your feelings with radical self approval.
The Law of Attraction says we attract the same energy we broadcast. Click here for more details. I know this to be true. But for years I realized I was using it against myself. Telling myself I am bad if I’m not feeling joy. But now I know loving myself even when I feel, angry, sad or hopeless is a higher vibration than than judging myself. Approval feels better than judgment.
I feel free to jump for joy, knowing it’s safe. I approve of all of my feelings.
Step 2: Embody Your Feelings
The idea is to feel your feelings in your body. Here is how.
- Take a few deep breaths, relax your shoulders, bring your awareness to your body. Feel your butt sitting on the chair, feel the temperature in the room.
- ‘Hi body, how are we doing?’ Just receive this moment, embody your feelings exactly as they are. All of your feelings are there for you to embrace right now. Welcome what is arising in you.
- You can name your feeling and express it with your body – jump for joy, dance with excitement, cry or scream. If you feel judgment, welcome that, if you feel energized and uplifted welcome that too!
- I like to give the way I feel a number; ten (10) feeling joy, happiness, excitement, one (1) feeling anger, judgment, despair. Whatever you’re feeling is here for you to embrace right now. Usually we’re somewhere in the middle. Pick a number, don’t over think it.
Step 3: Breathe and If Necessary Give Negative Feelings A Voice
- If you’re in a low vibe, meaning your number is less than 5, you have to honor that first. If you try and feel gratitude when you’re in low energy state, it’s just more judgment and self abuse. There is too much resistance to feeling gratitude.
- If you want to activate the potency of gratitude, first drop into what you are feeling and acknowledge where you are, as you are.
- You can use your breath to feel the feeling in your body. I feel fear in my stomach or anger in my jaw.
- SWAMPING: Sometimes when my number is really low I write down everything I am feeling. I acknowledge all icky stuff. It’s a process called swamping. Things like ‘I’m never going to feel better, I’m not good enough, I have to be better, I can’t accept myself and I’m bad for feeling like this.’ For this process write all the negative stuff, acknowledge it. Give it some space to move. Breathe as you do it.
- You can’t get to feeling grateful if you don’t first acknowledge what is here. You have to be where you are first. This is what it means to BE HERE NOW, MAKE PEACE WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT.
- DON’T TRY AND BE POSITIVE it doesn’t work, trust me, I’ve tried. It’s much better to air out the darkness, giving it light. It’s different than complaining, it’s opening up the door to a part of you that wants to be heard. Giving space to the thoughts, feelings, ideas that have lived in your system that are not serving you.
- It’s okay you’ve been thinking and feeling this. Having these thoughts and emotions and accepting them is a higher vibration than having these thoughts and emotions and suppressing them or trying to make them go away.
- Now that you have welcomed how you feel, there is a little more ease. Maybe just 2%, that’s fine. You are ready to move into the gratitude.
Step 4: Activate The Energy of Gratitude
Now think about something you appreciate, feel grateful for, love or are excited about.
Then think about WHY. Why do you appreciate or love this thing you’re grateful for?
Feeling the WHY activates the energy in your body.
Feeling the WHY actually changes your chemistry.
See if you can activate a few of your senses to feel the WHY. This brings the energy of gratitude into your body. Feel the pleasure.
TOUCH, SEE, SMELL, HEAR, TASTE
For example: I love my wood stove.
- TOUCH: The sensation on my skin is soothing. It’s a warm and cozy feeling. The heat on my face helps me relax and unwind.
- SEE: Watching the flames flicker lets my mind enter a peaceful state that is relaxed and free from distraction. As I look at the golden flames my body also starts to relax.
- SMELL: The mild woodsy fragrance of oak burning gives the assurance of comfort, safety and toasty shelter from the cold.
- HEAR: The sound of crackling logs in a wood-burning fireplace frees my mind to wander in a meditative state as I relax.
- TASTE: This sense might be more activated when I love the delicious dinner I made last night.
WHY gets the feeling of gratitude into your body.
WHY activates the potency of gratitude. Don’t leave it out.
WHY expands your experience.
If you’re feeling really crappy do the swamping first. You’ll have the lightness of ‘I am willing to look at what is here with kindness. I’m willing to welcome it and say it’s okay I’m feeling this.
Put It All Together
I do this practice almost every morning. It feels good in my body. My health has improved and I love my life, I love being me. Yes, I have challenges but that’s okay.
- Take a breath and tune into your body. Notice how you feel. Connect to yourself. Give it a number.
- If you have a low number, take a few moments to honor your feelings with love and kindness or swamp it out. If you feel pretty good you can skip this step.
- Write down or say out loud to your partner or family 5-10 things you’re grateful for, love or appreciate and WHY. Feel the energy in your body.
TIP: Simple things are just as powerful as big things as long as you feel the WHY. It gets the energy into your body.
I’ve taught many of my clients to do this practice and magic shows up for them.
One client had a friend she wanted to spend time with but was not returning her calls. After a few days of activating the potency of gratitude, her friend called to see her. She wasn’t thinking of it. Her high vibration attracted it into here life.
This is the Law of Attraction in action. Getting momentum going of the high vibration of gratitude is a powerful energy. You’ll see things flowing more easily in your life. Little things like the best parking space opening up for you when you pull into the parking lot. It’s so much fun.
Follow these steps to activate the potency of gratitude.
Feel it in your body. You’ll be in the high vibration of love and appreciation. You’ll feel healthier and happier. LOA will bring more of the things you love and appreciate into your life.
