Discover the relationship between gratitude and happiness

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner? I'm thrilled that I'll get to spend this Thanksgiving in person with family and friends (unlike last year). What're your plans?

Thanksgiving is associated with giving thanks, with showing gratitude. While 2020-21 hasn't been what we expected, there're still plenty of things we can be grateful for.

Showing gratitude is an important practice and is scientifically shown to be a powerful tool to make us happier. Even if you have to start by pretending to be grateful, go ahead and do it. It works! It's the fastest, easiest way to feel better almost instantly and it's one of the most powerful tools for creating a more joyful life.

How can showing gratitude make your life more wonderful?

When you say thank you, your brain assumes you're appreciative and releases those feel-good hormones known as endorphins. When you're grateful with intention -- taking just a micro-second to consciously feel thankful -- your body releases even more endorphins, resulting in an even stronger sense of feeling good.

You might think that this idea is stupid. "How can my life become happier by simply expressing more gratitude?" Instead of arguing whether it works or outright dismissing the idea, I invite you to try it for a few weeks. If you choose not to try it, you'll never know how good you could feel.

Throughout this holiday season, I invite you to practice saying thank you as often as you can. Find very little and big reasons you can think of to be grateful for. Express your gratitude openly and without hesitation.

Say thank you to your family, to your friends, to your colleagues. Say thank you to your pet when it snuggles up for a rub. Say thank you to every cashier, grocery bagger, and waitress. Say thank you when your cup of coffee or tea tastes perfect. Say thank you when you finish a great yoga class. Say thank you when you had a good night's rest. Say thank you to the falling leaves outside. Say thank you when you catch every green light on your way to the hairdresser. Say thank you when you watch a great movie.

Let me use this as an opportunity to thank YOU for letting me share my thoughts on wellness and yoga with you every week. Thank you if I had the privilege of having you in my classes. Thanks for being part of my life!

Of course, it's more challenging to be grateful when your roof leaks, when your cat destroys your favorite chair, when your boss is being a jerk, when your partner forgets to run an errand you asked him/her to do, etc.

When that happens, take a deep breath and ask yourself if this current agitation will still matter one month, one year, or ten years from now. This will give you some perspective and might make you realize that the current issue isn't as detrimental as you first might have thought. It will pass.

Then focus your entire attention on finding something positive in the midst of these bad circumstances and feel actively grateful for it. It really works!

Take a moment right now to think about 3-5 things you're grateful for today and write them down.

Here is a word collage we created a year ago based on what we were all grateful for at the time:

Finally, I know that meditation isn't everyone's cup of tea. If you're into meditation or want to give it a try, I've prepared a 5 minute guided meditation for you that's focused on gratitude:

>> LISTEN to Guided Gratitude Meditation (Audio) >>

Best,
Christine

P.S. I invite you to sign up for my weekly wellness newsletter. As a bonus, instantly receive a free video series ("Yoga Bites"), where you discover effective yoga tools to relieve stress and regain your energy in just 5 minutes!

Wellness & Yoga with Christine

Inspiring you to bring wellness into your life and providing you with the tools to do so.​​​​