This concept of positive thinking, visualisation or imagination became so famous after “The Secret” was published. Many people are fascinated with the idea of positive thinking and imagination. But still, many people have lots of doubts and questions regarding positive thinking or positive psychology. Today I am sharing with you one of the most important topics about “GRATITUDE”.

Gratitude is only one single dimension of positive psychology. As a positive psychologist, I also believe that thinking positively even in the worst situation helps a human mindset to be calm. stay confident, feel less anxious, able to control and understand emotions. Above all one can feel so happy and serene. Like they feel deattached from situations. people and outcomes.

What is Positive Psychology?

Positive psychology is one of the streams of psychology that focuses on mental well-being, happiness, and state of flow. It does not address problems and weaknesses but identifies mental assets like courage, developing a strong positive attitude, building skills, acceptance, resilience, state of flow, happiness, bliss etc. In simple words, positive psychology encourages one to become self-worthy enough so one can get lots of happiness. Rather one is crying for rotten bread.

Positive psychology helps a person to make bread. However, positive psychology is criticised because it neglects the core negative area and emphasises the positive area of life. But it should not be denied that if one only focuses on and targets negative areas all the time there is always a chance to feel like a victim. Let’s discuss GRATITUDE one of the parts of Positive Psychology.

What is Gratitude?

So many people are still unaware of Gratitude and how to practice it. Gratitude is an act of being thankful towards people, things, situations and life. As a human, we have been blessed by so many things. And we never pay anything for those blessings.

We are blessed by our bodies, the air which we breathe, the water which we drink, the food which we eat and so much more. If we count some of the blessings we could not even make it in the factory. Like air or water. We all are blessed for someone’s kind act of innovation so we can live our lives with this zest.

Gratitude is an act of observation to see the positive side rather than just the negative side. Gratitude is something to look at what is there rather than what is lacking. Because our human mind is never satisfied with what we have. It always looks for inadequacy and feels inadequacy. We all tend to cry for problems but never tend to feel good for what we have. This attitude always creates negativity.

We feel our life is unfair. We are always surrounded by problems rather than solutions. We crib for small small things. But never say “Thank you” for big things as mentioned earlier. Gratitude helps to grow you faster as your vision never sticks to inadequacy but simultaneously looks for achievements and blessings as well.  Gratitude does not mean ignoring or overlooking the negative or problematic side of life.

But by practicing Gratitude one can achieve strength and courage which helps to deal with negative emotions. When you feel depressed and anxious everything you observe is all or nothing. There is a rule of overgeneralization applied to all information. This makes a person more vulnerable and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are absorbed which influence thoughts, emotions and behaviours.

How to practice Gratitude?

As you learn about Gratitude. You may think let me try once. So here I am putting a practical activity which helps you practice gratitude. Gratitude can be practised for any live or dead thing, person or even for any situation. Because Gratitude is a deliberate act of being positive. In this practice, you need a paper or pen. Or you may use your devices also for writing. You also make a special Gratitude journal.

Step 1: List of the things you are grateful for:

As mentioned earlier Gratitude is a deliberate action. Hence you can select any dead things also which make your life very easy and you can get so much of benefit. When you follow the below chart then you will also observe certain unobserved things as well. Mention them as well. You will be more conscious now onwards when you were not there.

I am feeling good and blessed which I never thought earlier.

Step 2: List of the Situations:

In our lives, we only memorise good situations and experiences. But we never become a person by good situations. Always challenging and problematic situations make us something. When we think about them we feel sad, depressed and distressed. Because those situations have given us pain and sorrow. But today take any of the situations which make you vulnerable or sad.

Think opportunities you were getting from that situation. Yes, that situation was a very tough time in your life. But that time only empowered you to become something. Rather you see and correlate every situation with that situation just observe opportunities you got from which have improved you and developed you.

The practice of this particular activity will help you to overcome your regret and curse feelings. Because as much as you build hatred feelings that much you become negative. As it affects your core belief about yourself, others and this world.

But when you find opportunities in unwanted and distressed situations you start building strength and a positive attitude towards negative situations as well. It builds up your confidence and resilience attitude in you. Once you rate yourself you feel your feelings which gives you more optimistic feelings about that situation.

Step 3: List of the People:

Lots of people help us directly or indirectly. Many of them we come across and some of them we never come across. Here, I will take the example of a farmer. He never met me and I never saw him. But he worked hard to sow food for me and this humanity. But because of him, many survived on this mother earth. So when I feel grateful for him I feel grateful for the food I have at the dinner table. I never experienced how and what processing has been done. But I am blessed that I am getting which fills my hunger.

When you feel grateful for those whom you never met you start observing consciously those things which you took up till now as granted. You become more alert and conscious before you make any complaint. Before you feel the frustration of something going wrong in parking or the situation of too much traffic. You get back your resilience and start observing good things. Because after this practice you may look for more blessings rather look for complaints.

Example: I am so grateful that I am getting twenty-four hours of electricity. Which gives me light in the darkness. Thank you to power generated house and the people working there. because of them, I am blessed with Electricity.

When you practice Gratitude you feel good and automatically your senses draw your attention towards those things which empower you. When you feel gratitude your tendency to complain and crib for small rotten things will change. You become more observant and conscious before you take any pessimistic thought. You think twice about which thought you want to think and then you will empower yourself with the optimistic one.

How does Gratitude affect your mental well-being?

As you might start practising while reading this article. You immediately feel good or maybe overwhelmed a little as well. Because then your mind will give all noticeable items which you have never observed. All humans on this earth are suffering from hedonic adaptation.

Hedonic adaptation is where we come to a stable level of happiness despite having positive or negative situations. Due to this we never acknowledge those things which we get at no cost. Like Sunlight, oxygen, the body etc. When you start observing those things your mind will be trained to see things which are more positive and healthy.

Boost your confidence Level:

As you observed yourself in a difficult situation and the way you have handled it. It boosts your confidence level. Because you now understand your ability, strength and capacity to deal with difficult times. You will always prepare yourself for tough times. And without having a single pessimistic thought you become more optimistic. Because here you judge yourself with situations and people. You build confidence because you only dealt with it. You now understand your weaknesses and limitations which you can overcome with it easily.

Build a more resilient Attitude:

Attitude matters most. When you know that you are confident enough and have self-trust that you can solve any problem you develop a resilient attitude. You become flexible with any situation. And try to accommodate yourself with it by accepting it. Then you change it accordingly. Remember when you learn to be grateful you also learn much about acceptance. Rather than becoming adamant you are more flexible to the situation and change gradually according to your expectations.

Less Complaining more blessings (More calm and balance mind):

As you decide one or two days as gratitude days. You are more focused towards blessings. When you list your blessings you also can count positive things rather than negative things. You slowly develop a tendency to see good things and points first rather than negative ones. This attitude gives you a calm and serene mind. You have more control over your anger and frustration. You become within yourself. And never judge others based on their communications and behaviours which help you to be more natural with yourself.

Draw your Limit:

When you can see and feel what gives you happiness and calm mind you love to be there. When you understand your mind you also can understand toxicity. Sometimes we are so absorbed in others that we forget ourselves. And that leads to more toxicity. Because then we start expecting them to behave the way we want. When you understand that your interactions with certain people, places and situations make you more vulnerable you start developing boundaries. You will feel grateful and make your strong way which gives of flow state and happiness.

You learn Forgiveness:

When you are grateful for negative events and count on your opportunities you find yourself in the mode of forgiving others. Because we accept that everyone has their thoughts and insecurities. Every human has a purpose in their life. But some may contradict us. When we feel grateful we become stronger to forgive that person because when you introspect deep down you find opportunities to solve that problem or challenge.

Criticism for Gratitude

Gratitude practice has been criticised also because by ignoring or avoiding negative things one cannot build up a strong empire. This statement in a way is right but with the approach of a narrow point. Because if you want to change your perception, cognition and behaviours which give you long-term happiness and a serene mind. The practice of gratitude is the first step to achieving.

Because it never taught us to overlook negative points but it asks for more acceptance. As when you accept something you are in a position to change. Because you are not resisting with the reality. To be grateful is a practice of becoming a positive person. Which builds a strong character and personality. By accepting and being grateful for difficult times your willpower becomes stronger to reach to expected results.

Hope you get quite a good insight into one of the practices of Positive Psychology. For any questions, you may contact us or book an appointment for a session.

Thank you. Be always Grateful.

Before you read further this blog it is important to understand that a psychologist helps you to take a journey within yourself. He encourages you to see in your beliefs, self-fulfilling prophecy, rules and regulations about yourself and this world and everything. A psychologist walks with you in your journey and consciously makes you understand about your actions, thoughts and feelings.

When you change your thoughts with consciousness there is very little chance of relapse. Because then you are aware of what you do, your outside factors affect you less. So, let’s start the journey to see how Mindfulness Meditation Can Benefit Your Mental Wellbeing.

A few questions may pop up in your mind and here are some of the answers to those questions. It may be possible you may have some different questions as well. You are always welcome to ask them and will respond with love.

What is the relation between Mindfulness Meditation and Psychology?

It is important to understand what you think and feel all day long. But to stop chattering mind is not easy. Our Sensory mind desires so much that we expect much from ourselves as well as others. Once you are mindful at least you will be able to understand your thoughts and unnecessary desires. And when your mind tells you a different story about yourself than what you are it is important to take charge.

Especially when people are in depression or are in an anxious state they are more vulnerable towards their thoughts. Their selection of action is to sit ideal in the corner and think. Overthink makes them paralyzed with laziness, too much sleep or lack of sleep, over or undereating, procrastinating and end with the self-guilt of not being productive.

This is a common phenomenon for anyone whenever they face negative chattering thoughts. When you are mindful you involve your mind in action but not outcome. You are completely present at that moment and can increase the feel-good factor. People who suffer from severe mental disturbance also can practice this.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy especially brings your attention towards your thoughts, feelings and actions. While you follow mindfulness meditation then your psychic energy flows in a certain specific direction. Where you feel the state of flow.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapists make you aware of your thoughts.

Cognition means what you perceive about yourself and the world. When you see some Cognitive Behaviour Therapist they educate you and travel you to your own beliefs about yourself. Where you learn about your old thoughts and make sense of them. You identify the meaning of each thought and that leads you to awareness about self. Having a mental disorder is not taboo.

But it is a great chance to know yourself and improve your limitations. If you are mindful of each activity you do. You attached to action but not outcome. You are not predicting things and are procrastinating. If you even follow your mindfulness practice for uninterested work that makes you free from stress and boredom. So why can’t you try and follow to act rather than think?

Psychologist helps you to become Mindful about your thoughts.

Learning balanced thoughts is not easy. Because we have never been taught such things in the Universities. Whenever you are feeling stressed or anxious for those things which are factually not present. But it is present in your mind. You first get distracted. You are facing attention deficit and OCDs are some of the common behaviours as a coping system.

But a Psychologist helps you learn interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. You understand coping mechanisms and ego displacements as well. When you work on your single belief then you can relive your old memories with fresh outcomes. As your vision is more broad. And clearly define your negative and positive thoughts.

Mindfulness meditation means atonement between thoughts and actions.

Of course, here I am not telling you to sit in meditative posture whole the time. Leave all your jobs and do it. But rather you are so much fine-tuning with your thoughts and actions that you are getting results of what you imagine.

You learn through mindfulness your relationship between thoughts and feelings, thoughts and behaviours and thoughts and physical reactions. When you are mindful you are in self-control and external factors do not matter to you. Your inner well-being is more strong and in atonement.

Mindfulness is in each activity.

Mindfulness is not a single activity. Rather it applies to all activities. If you know that you need to meet the deadline and you are worried about the outcome. Then you may distract yourself with mobile. You watch different things and surf for a while. And when you notice you have wasted so much time. Even when you surf as well you do with mindfulness.

Even if you want to distract yourself from worrisome thoughts then also you need to be mindful. This mindfulness is a playful activity. As you do more and practice it more. You learn more about yourself. As you follow mindfulness. You learn there is no vast difference between your thinking and doing.

Now, let me tell you a few important benefits of Mindfulness meditation.

You can achieve the state of Flow

Flow state where you become one with time. Your mind is your time. As your mind finds oneness with time you automatically enter in to state of Flow. Your hours passed by minutes. Especially, people who are suffering from mental disorders achieve more sense of control through mindfulness meditation.

Doubts managed by presence

Before any activity you do be it you do regularly or first time. Your mind is agitated. Because when you are habituated to do certain specific activities you are not attentive. Because you know how to do it. And hence your mind has different thoughts going on and you do some other activities. When you do some new activities your talking mind straight away attaches you to the outcome and you forget about your presence with that action.

You are aware of your actions before you do them

I have come across many of my clients who are not even aware of what they do. If they are depressed then they sit in a corner or watch too much television or mobile. Or many just lie down in bed and just think. But when they initially apply mindfulness then they are aware of what they do next and they set rewards for themselves only for finished tasks.

Deliberately select what you want to think

Before we think any thought we have a sense of feelings. We all are always in a position to deliberately select what to think and feel. Even in inevitable cases also can balance their thoughts. Mindfulness meditation for each activity brings you more awareness of your surface.

It is one of the techniques but it should be learnt and practised. If you are interested in such activities become part of your life. You may also book a session and become more aware of yourself.