Health and Wellness Review

It’s healthy to focus on the things that make you feel grateful

A simple way to bring more balance into our everyday lives is to shift our focus from what we lack to what we already have. Often we spend so much of our time thinking about the past or the future that we miss the gifts in our lives that are waiting to be opened.

Working with the concept of gratitude can lead to a wonderful pathway towards the present moment. Practicing feeling grateful for even the smallest details in our lives can have a profound effect on our wellbeing. It can even lessen our stress and boost our levels of happiness.

So how do you practice gratitude?

An easy way to weave gratitude into your routine is to set aside time each day to write down those things that you are grateful for. I find that doing this right before I go to bed, in a journal set aside for my gratitude practice, is a nice time for reflection.

Simply list five aspects of your life that you feel thankful for. If it helps, you can begin each sentence with the phrase “I feel thankful for…” On a difficult day, you may list things like the roof over your head or the meal that you prepared for dinner. In times of happiness, you may find yourself having a hard time choosing only five items.

Try not to judge your list. Each day will be different, and, regardless of what you are grateful for on any given day, simply taking the time out to feel thankful will begin to shift your focus from lack to abundance. From this space of abundance, you will begin to feel more content, not only with the life you have worked so hard to create, but in the knowing that no matter what twists and turns life takes, you will have strengthened your ability to see beyond what could be to the beauty of what already is.

About the Author:

Christina Adler is a yoga and meditation teacher with her master's degree in psychology. She has lived in Sydney, Australia for the past thirteen years where she was the manager of a well-known yoga center. She has recently moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband where she enjoys her work as a life coach, writer and yoga teacher.

Learn more about life balance by visiting Christina's website at www.everydaybalance.net.

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