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Here are a couple of research articles if you are interested in further reading... Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It’s Good to Be Good by Stephen G. Post, 2005 "Kind and Grateful": A Context-Sensitive Smartphone App Utilizing Inspirational Content to Promote Gratitude by Asma Ghandeharioun, et al, 2016 At the start of this with you I quoted Brené Brown, and in reading her book, Atlas of the Heart, I was introduced to Robert Emmons, who is a gratitude researcher. “Research on emotion shows that positive emotions wear off quickly. Our emotional systems like newness. They like novelty. They like change. We adapt to positive life circumstances so that before too long, the new car, the new spouse, the new house—they don’t feel so new and exciting anymore. "But gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it [we’re going to talk about those benefits more this week-j.s.]; we’re less likely to take it for granted. "In effect, I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life. We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life. Instead of adapting to goodness, we celebrate goodness. We spend so much time watching things—movies, computer screens, sports—but with gratitude we become greater participants in our lives as opposed to spectators." ~Robert Emmons Can we really be TOO grateful for nature? Here's a yoga nidra to walk you through nature. And an invitation to get out there and experience the real thing. Here is the link to AJ Jacobs' TEDTalk (if you haven't found it yet). And to his book, Thanks a Thousand. Music: Christine and the Queens Tilted Gratitude is “a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives … As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power” ~Harvard Medical School Today is part 1 of a 2 part practice. I say that because we’re just going to do the first part, and I think that the practice is incomplete without the second part, but because of our short time to practice together each day, I’ve divided it up. Putting into practice what we did yesterday to explore gratitude for someone in your life. Gratitude happens in the present moment. We can use the breath to anchor ourselves in the present so that we are paying attention and don't miss moments when we can experience gratitude. We begin our Season of Gratitude with a focusing exercise into feeling gratitude in our bodies. “Gratitude is an emotion that reflects our deep appreciation for what we value, what brings meaning to our lives, and what makes us feel connected to ourselves and others.” ~Brené Brown, from Atlas of the Heart Movement practice: Free movement to the song Swing by José González |
Jennifer SnowdonBeginning in October 2022, I embarked on a 46 day gratitude practice (from Canadian Thanksgiving through to American Thanksgiving), hosting a live session each day where we did 3 things: movement, learned something or were inspired by someone, and then had a short gratitude practice, often journalling with the prompt coming from what we had learned that day. Categories
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