Moving forward, past COVID-19; we want to re-establish our sense of community and family connections to feel better mentally and emotionally.
Gratitude
There is a large amount of research showing the benefits of being grateful, or even taking a few moments in your day to reflect on gratefulness:
- Increased immunity
- Decreased anxiety and depression
- Improved relationships
The best part about establishing and practicing gratitude is that it is so simple! Not only is it beneficial for yourself, it is beneficial for those around you.
Here are some simple suggestions to establish a practice of gratitude
Gratitude journaling:
Writing things that you are grateful for. This can include things that happened today, people you are grateful for or just reflecting on life
Picture boards:
Having a picture board of all of your favourite things or memories somewhere in your house is a very powerful way to access gratitude (particularly if you are a visual person)
Prayer or meditation:
Focus on things, people and/or events that you are grateful for and use this time to reflect on them and what you learnt
Integrating love and gratitude into your conversations
Showing gratitude through a gift, or an act of service:
Helping someone who is going through a tough time. By helping them with simple tasks we may consider mundane is another way to show that we care and are grateful for that person. Not everyone requires a material gift; often the gift of time goes a long way.
Purpose and community
- One way of building up from a base of gratitude is to have a sense of purpose within your community. The happiest and healthiest people often are those giving back or contributing to their community
- The Blue Zones book by Daniel Beuttner is a great read for learning about the longest living cultures in the world and some of the similarities they possess.
- Being integrated into your community and actively taking part in activities you enjoy with people you love offers the best chance of having a longer and healthier life.
Week 10 Challenge
How can YOU build up your sense of purpose, gratitude and community? Pick one of the examples above or come up with your own way to increase gratitude levels within.