What happens when two practices meet each other, perhaps unexpectedly?
Gratitude and Mindfulness are two intimately intertwined gifts. On their own, they’re powerful and nourishing. But when they meet each other, hold hands and walk along the journey of life, their relationship becomes an upward spiral of growth, peace and joy.
How does that happen? Simple. I sum it up as a MEGA-GEM: Mindfulness Energizes Gratitude And Gratitude Energizes Mindfulness.
How mindfulness energizes gratitude
When you pay attention to where you are and what you’re doing and feeling in the moment, you realize that there are a lot of aspects of life—physical and mental—to be grateful for. Mindfulness is like a flashlight you can use to find gifts that often get overlooked.
How gratitude energizes mindfulness
When you experience something good—like gratitude—there’s an innate desire to have more of it. And as you keep on having more grateful moments in your day, that desire keeps building up. Your mind gently reminds you: “Hey, if we want to keep enjoying these sweet fruits and flowers of gratitude, we need to be more mindful. That’ll help us find them more quickly and more often!”
And thus continues that nourishing dance of mindfulness and gratitude, with each one motivating the other.
Get started with MEGA-GEM
Curious as how to get started? Let’s practice it right now, as you’re reading these words.
Whatever device you’re reading this article on—a phone, a tablet or a computer—is beside you right now. Notice its presence and be thankful for the many ways it helps you on a daily basis.
Feel your fingers touch the screen as you scroll through the words. Notice their movement and feel grateful for the amazing miracle your body is, along with how your mind and body co-ordinate so faithfully to help you read and interpret the words. That feeling of gratitude will, perhaps, ease your body and make you feel relaxed.
Feeling peaceful and being aware of the wonders within you may make your mind go: “Hey, let’s seek more of these hidden gifts. I want more happiness!”
Next, look around and notice the chair you’re sitting on. Remind yourself that you’re glad for its presence and think about any other times you’ve used it that day. If you’re standing, you can switch that awareness to your legs and how their committed resilience is helping you read the article’s words.
As you’re thinking about the chair (or your legs), perhaps a thought comes up about home chores or some other task you need to finish soon. Maybe you start feeling a bit worried about how it’ll get done, and your mind might start to ruminate a bit.
You can briefly acknowledge these to-do tasks, but to stay mindful, remind yourself of the importance of living in the present moment and gently bring yourself back to the here and now.
A few breaths later, you’ll likely realize that the anxious feeling about the home chores has dissolved. This is akin to how all thoughts, feelings and experiences come, stay and then go.
How mindfulness helped you find gratitude
During this practice, because you were mindful, you observed and acknowledged the role that your phone (or tablet or computer) plays in your daily life. You also gained more insight about the miracles that your mind and body are, and how even a simple act of reading is a marvelous blessing. It’s very easy to ignore these aspects of life that are often taken for granted, but thankfully, a mindful mindset will remind you to pause, pick up the flowers of gratitude and boost your moment.
How gratitude built up mindfulness skills
Motivated by a desire to find more gratitude, you built mindfulness skills throughout the practice by noticing and appreciating the chair you were sitting on (or the legs you were standing on) and by being aware of your thoughts—even if they wandered around—and their eventual impermanence.
As you can guess, this is a two plus two equals five practice:
- Mindfulness leads to finding gratitude and feeling peace and joy.
- Stronger mindfulness skills lead to more gratitude and contentment.
- More gratitude and contentment lead to more mindfulness, and this all eventually leads to a better day and a better life.
Endless possibilities to explore
The practice above represents just one example of how you can mix mindfulness and gratitude to enhance your life. There are actually endless possibilities to explore.
You can utilize mindfulness and gratitude to help you get through tough times, like going through the loss of a loved one (I’ve been there and experienced that), and together, the two can also lead to inspiring, awe-laden moments during activities you might do outdoors in nature—such as stargazing.
About two years ago, I started doing a daily practice during which I mindfully thought about what to be grateful for. Over time, the act of seeking gratitude grew to a point where I didn’t have to actively think about it or list items; instead, my mind just went for it. It’s like drinking water: You don’t ask yourself if you should drink water when you’re thirsty. If you’re thirsty enough, your mind and body just go for it and lovingly keep you nourished and healthy.
Thank you, gratitude and mindfulness. You both are a MEGA-GEM in my life, and you light up each day in a variety of ways.
I hope that you, too are able to pick up and leverage this simple and beautiful practice, or others like it. Life has a lot of gifts with your name written on them—it’s just a matter of noticing their presence, picking them up and feeding them to your mind, body and soul.
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image: Kunal Mehra Photography
