Gratitude meditation Gratitude meditation

A Detailed Guide On Gratitude Meditation For Beginners

Gratitude is considered one of the most powerful expressions in the world. Therefore, no wonder gratitude meditation has garnered such momentum in the past few years. 

Gratitude is a deeply undervalued quality, especially at a time when we are indulging in a technology-driven, fast-paced lifestyle. However, practising gratitude is the most effective way to improve one’s life and bring success, harmony, and happiness to it.

Through this article, we are going to talk about gratitude meditation and how it can create a positive impact on you. Please continue reading the article as we share with you all the details of gratitude meditation.

1. A Detailed Guide On Gratitude Meditation 

1.1. What Is Gratitude? 

gratitude meditation
Image by jcomp from freepik

We will be getting into gratitude meditation shortly but before that, let us understand what is gratitude and what are the benefits of expressing gratitude in the first place. 

If put in simple words, gratitude is the act of being thankful. It is acknowledging and appreciating all the circumstances, things, and people in one’s life.

For example, you feel gratitude when someone surprises you with a bouquet of flowers on a bad day. Or when someone passes a random compliment on your way when you are feeling especially down.

This surge of gratitude when someone experiences should be passed on as it helps bring more happiness in one’s life.

We always do not need extreme situations to express our gratitude for the circumstances around us. We can exercise gratitude every day by celebrating the simple things in our lives that we often take for granted.

1.2. Why Should One Practice Gratitude Meditation?

How Gratitude Can Change Your Life | Weekly Wisdom Episode 13

As mentioned earlier, we should express gratitude as much as possible, especially the things that we take for granted. And one of the most effective ways to do so is by practising gratitude meditation.

If you wonder why we are hyping gratitude meditation, then here are a few reasons for you to consider:

  1. When we focus on a positive emotion like gratitude, it also helps in encouraging other positive habits to blossom within. 
  2. Inculcating positive emotions in life helps in cultivating health and happiness. It also spreads among the people around us. 
  3. Practising gratitude meditation helps in strengthening friendships and solidifies bonds among loved ones. 
  4. Encourages humility and reduces feelings of envy and jealousy. 
  5. Increases fulfilment and improves physical, mental, and emotional well-being. 
  6. It helps in creating a healthy balance between body and mind.
  7. It boosts self-esteem and enhances empathy and emotional intelligence.
  8. It helps connect with the higher powers—practice gratitude for the blessings to usher into your life.

1.3. Gratitude Meditations That You Can Try for a Better Life

Practitioners of gratitude meditations believe that practising gratitude is the path to a healthier and happier version of oneself.

If you are curious to start gratitude meditations, listed below are two gratitude meditations that will guide you through the process.

1.3.1. Grateful Mantra Meditation

Life is full of ups and downs. Most of the time, we are caught up in difficulties and get bogged down by challenges.

In such tiring situations, it is always easier to focus on the negatives rather than the positives. Well, it is human nature, and it is completely natural too.

But we often tend to ignore that the more negative we think, the more negativity impacts our lives. 

However, through this meditation, we will focus on the little things in our lives that we always take for granted. Through meditation1, we will focus on these little things that are going right in such dire situations.

For the meditation, please follow these four steps:

  1. Find a peaceful and comfortable place and position. You can be either on a chair or on a flat surface. 
  2. Now take some time to calm yourself down completely. Centre and focus on yourself. Switch off all the technologies around you. If possible, you can also close the door of the room you are in so that no one disturbs you. 
  3. Now take a deep breath. Inhale through the nose and fill your lungs with air. And then exhale it through the mouth. 
  4. After that, practice the gratitude mantra. The mantra 2is I am grateful for… … … 

Simple right? You have to fill in the blank with the things in your life that you are grateful for. 

Initially, you may find it a little weird. But trust us when we say that, once you start thinking, you will be surprised at the vast number of things that you can be grateful for while others are fighting for the same.

You can be thankful for the food on your plate. Or the roof over your head and the clothes in your wardrobe. You can thank the family and friends with whom you can share your joys and sorrows. The list is simply endless, but you can be grateful for everything you have and everything you need today.

1.3.2. The Yin-Yang Gratitude Meditation Practice

We had mentioned before that it is extremely difficult to focus on the positive things in our lives when we are constantly overwhelmed by the difficult challenges around us.

This gratitude meditation practice helps you to understand that every challenge brings a lesson along with it. Remember that there is always light at the end of the dark tunnel.

For the meditation, follow the steps mentioned below:

  1. Seat in a comfortable and calm place. Take some deep breaths to ground yourself.
  2. Make sure to keep a pen and paper with you when you start this meditation. 
  3. Now focus on the situation that has been troubling and constantly bugging you. 
  4. It can be anything. You can either draw it out or write it down. Choose the art form you feel comfortable expressing yourself. 
  5. Now on one side, as you jot down all the negatives. Simultaneously, on the other hand, write down the positives that the situation has been providing. 

Let us give you a very simple example to explain.

You have to travel long distances to reach your workplace or your education place. The negatives will be the tiring journey and the time and money wasted on the journey.

But on the flip side, you can write the benefits that the long journey is providing you with. You can increase your knowledge during these long hours. You can listen to some cool music or podcasts. Even practising mindfulness meditation before reaching your destination is a good option.

1.4. What Should You Keep In Mind While Performing Gratitude Meditations?

There are certain factors that one should take care of while practising gratitude meditations that we’ve mentioned below:

  1. One should be consistent while practising gratitude meditations. Daily practice is required. One must commit to regular practice if one wants to reap all the benefits of gratitude meditations. 
  2. Our brain works in a very strange way. If you choose a specific time and location, follow that every day. The chances are high that we will be reaping added benefits.
  3. Always try to choose a comfortable and calm place to practice meditation. Make sure that nothing can disturb your meditation process. 
  4. Follow the right posture while performing the gratitude meditations. The ideal posture is to sit in a comfortable position with your back straight and neck extended. This position will help smooth blood circulation in the body and support proper breathing. 
  5. We do understand that the initial days of practising gratitude meditations will be filled with frustrations and disappointments. Your mind will wander off. However, your focus should be to overcome the temporary obstacles and look at your goals. 

1.5. How to Practice Gratitude Apart From Gratitude Meditations?

Apart from gratitude meditations, you can perform gratitude exercises and yoga to express your thankfulness for the little things in your life.

1.5.1. Gratitude Exercises

  1. Maintaining gratitude journals
  2. Complimenting oneself on the little successes and those around 
  3. Smiling more at others
  4. Appreciating nature and trying to spend some time in solitude
  5. Thanking people who help us daily 
  6. Appreciating the little things in our life. 
gratitude meditation
Image by lovelyday12 from freepik

Now coming to gratitude yoga poses. In yoga, there are two ways to express your gratefulness to other people.

1.5.2. Mudras

Mudras are yoga 3gestures that are done by the hands. These movements help in directing the life energy to the body. Such gestures of offering help stimulate the different parts of the brain, which put us in a position of peace.

One of the common mudra poses used is the Anjali pose. This is also known as the namaste pose. The joining of the hands expresses the union of duality that everyone faces. It reminds us of opposing forces present in all of us and helps strike a balance between them. 

gratitude meditation
Image by @alexgrec from freepik

1.5.3. Asanas

Asanas are the physical postures of yoga, and they involve different body postures that help cultivate feelings of gratefulness, joy, and satisfaction in oneself. The common asanas are

  1.  Child pose or balasana
  2. Camel pose or ustrasana
  3. Mountain pose or tadasana
  4. Corpse pose or savasana
gratitude meditation
Image by @macrovector from  freepik

2. Conclusion

Now there you go. Everything you need to know about gratitude meditations: as mentioned, gratitude is a powerful expression, and practising gratefulness helps in bringing happiness and prosperity to one’s life. Now go on, include these meditations in your daily routine and let all the happiness flow in.

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3. FAQs

Q1. What Is Gratitude Meditation?

Thinking about gratitude is simply thinking about the things we are grateful for in our lives. Whether it’s for a loved family member or friend, a sunny day or a great cup of coffee, it’s about experiencing gratitude.

Q2. How Can Meditation Help With Gratitude?

Gratitude Media encourages you to focus on the things in your life that you are grateful for. It helps you appreciate the small blessings in your life and strengthens your mental and physical health. Deep gratitude is a great way to start each day and end each day with joy and happiness.

Q3. Is Gratitude a Mindfulness Practice?

Like fatigue, there is no wrong way to practice gratitude. In many ways, gratitude is a form of awareness that allows us to engage with feelings and emotions of goodness in our lives.

  1. Farias, Miguel, et al. “Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation‐based therapies: a systematic review.” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 142.5 (2020): 374-393. ↩︎
  2. Alvarez-Perez, Yolanda, et al. “Effectiveness of mantra-based meditation on mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” International journal of environmental research and public health 19.6 (2022): 3380. ↩︎
  3. Caly, Leon, et al. “Isolation and rapid sharing of the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2) from the first patient diagnosed with COVID‐19 in Australia.” Medical Journal of Australia 212.10 (2020): 459-462. ↩︎

Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology

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