Appreciation Meditation - Happiness Lies in Gratitude
Ask yourself one question: how often do you stop for a moment to appreciate everything that's good in your life? The answer is probably "not enough." Don't worry; you're not the only one. We are all too busy in our daily lives chasing our dreams, and we often forget to appreciate what we already have.
Yet, feeling gratitude and appreciation is essential for leading a truly happy life, regardless of your circumstances. That's why you should try a gratitude meditation, also known as appreciation meditation. This practice can increase your well-being and happiness and help you see the beauty in life again. You don't have to be religious or spiritual to partake in this practice. Simply read this article and use it as your guide!
Short Summary
- Appreciation meditation shifts your focus to the positive aspects of life, helping to enhance overall well-being and reduce stress.
- Simple techniques like guided meditation and mindful breathing make it easier to incorporate gratitude into your daily routine.
- Recognizing small joys in everyday moments, such as a kind gesture or a peaceful morning, helps build a lasting sense of appreciation.
- Writing down what you are grateful for and practicing kindness toward yourself and others strengthens your connection to gratitude.
- Consistency is essential, as even small, repeated efforts over time can lead to a more grateful and fulfilling mindset.
What Is Appreciation Meditation
Appreciation meditation, as its name suggests, is a type of meditation practice. However, unlike the "regular" meditation practice that keeps you focused on your breathing, this one shifts your focus to something else - everything that's good and positive about your own life.
Benefits of Appreciation Meditation
Now, you might wonder, what's the point of such a meditation? By engaging in such a practice, your focus shifts from what you are missing to what you already have. As a result, this increases your happiness and reduces your stress levels. Some other benefits of this practice include:
- Present moment awareness
- Fostering resilience
- Flexible approach to meditation
- Improved relationships with other people
- Inner peace
If this sounds like something you need in your life, below are the steps to try this meditation:
How to Practice Gratitude Meditation
Trying any type of meditation for the first time can seem intimidating at first, but it's simpler than it seems. Plus, there are plenty of other additional activities that can help you practice gratitude. Here is what you should try:
Try a Guided Meditation Practice
The easiest way to learn a gratitude practice is through a guided meditation practice. This is a form of meditation where you are guided by an instructor on what you should do. Nowadays, you can even find a guided gratitude meditation online, which means you don't have to leave your home to practice it.
Over time, you will learn what to do and how to do it, so you will become rather independent and self-sufficient. But, until that moment comes, here you can use this as your guide:
- Get comfortable - Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor with your back straight. You can gently close your eyes or keep them softly focused on one spot.
- Take a few deep breaths - Breathe in deeply through your nose, hold for a moment, and exhale through your mouth. Allow your breath to settle into a natural rhythm. Feel the air as it moves in and out of your body.
- Arrive in the present moment - Let go of any tension. Notice any sensations in your body. Become aware of the feeling of your feet on the ground, your hands resting gently, and the air around you.
- Start with gratitude for your breath - Feel appreciation for your breath, the steady and reliable force that sustains you. Notice how it flows without effort, nourishing your body and calming your mind.
- Think of someone you're grateful for - Picture someone who has brought kindness, joy, or support into your life. Visualize their face and think of a moment when they made a positive impact. Silently thank them for their presence in your life.
- Expand your gratitude - Now, think about something else you're grateful for. That could be your home, a meal you enjoyed, or a small act of kindness. Let that sense of appreciation fill your heart.
- Feel the emotion of gratitude - Allow yourself to experience the warmth and pleasure of gratitude. Notice how it feels in your body. It could feel like a lightness in your chest or a soft smile on your face.
- Offer gratitude to yourself - Take a moment to thank yourself for showing up today and for taking this time for self-care and reflection. Recognize your efforts and growth.
- Return to your breath - Take a few more deep breaths, feeling calm and centered. When you're ready, slowly open your eyes and carry this feeling of gratitude with you throughout your day.
Whenever doing your appreciation meditation ritual, read this section to remind yourself of the basic steps. Over time, this process will become so natural to you that you'll be able to do it on your own.
Cultivate Gratitude
Once you start practicing gratitude meditation, it is time to cultivate gratitude in all aspects of your life. The feelings of gratitude aren't reserved just for the moment you are meditating. You can practice to feel grateful in every situation of your daily life. For example, when you order a pizza, try to feel grateful that you can eat such a delicious food that will sustain your body.
Or, if the day is sunny, take a few seconds to appreciate it. On the other hand, if the weather is gloomy and rainy, be grateful because now you have a perfect excuse to light candles in your home, cover yourself with a blanket, and watch a movie. And if you have someone who would like to watch that movie with you, that's another thing to be grateful for!
You see, you can't control the weather or other things that happen to you. However, you can control the way you react to it. Instead of sulking because the weather is bad, you decide to enjoy it and have a cozy evening at home. You know very well that such evenings are rare, so be thankful for them.
Cultivating gratitude in your daily life has another benefit as well. You won't always have time or energy to practice gratitude meditation. However, by staying grateful for every little thing, you fall behind if you miss one or two meditation sessions.
Practice Loving Kindness
Apart from gratitude, you should also extend sympathetic joy and compassion to all the people around you, even to strangers or people you don't like. Don't forget to show some self-compassion, either. By practicing kindness towards others and yourself, you are establishing closer relationships with people around you.
You are also becoming less critical about their actions, more forgiving, and certainly more grateful. After all, one of the most important things you should be grateful for is certainly your relationship with people around you. Think of your family, friends, and other persons you hold dear. Your life would be empty without them, and you should be grateful you aren't alone.
Practice Mindful Awareness
Along with our struggle to appreciate what we already have, we also struggle to live in the present moment. There is certainly some correlation between those two, which is why it is so important that you practice mindfulness along with practicing appreciation.
The process is rather similar to the gratitude meditation. Again, you get in a comfortable position, take a few deep breaths, and relax. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open, allowing you to make a soft gaze at your body.
Now, instead of thinking of people and things you are grateful for, focus solely on your breath, your body, and the sensations you feel. Start with the top of your head, then move across your face, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, and so on. As you go through each part of your body, focus on what it feels like.
Feel the gentle breeze on your skin, the heaviness of your arms, the stability of your legs. Once you reach the tips of your toes, you are done. Return to your breath and go on with your day. You will feel grounded and relieved of all your worries, focused on the present moment, and grateful for it.
Try Journaling
How good are you at expressing your emotions? Maybe you struggle to find the words to describe your feelings, so you shove them deep inside, shutting down your own heart in the process. This can also result in you forgetting all the things that are making you happy. When you block your emotions for so long, it is hard to invoke them when you need them.
Journaling can help you overcome this issue. It is so much easier to write what you feel than to say it out loud. Additionally, when journaling your emotions, make sure to include a sentence or two on what you are grateful for. Do this every evening, and read it the next morning when you wake up.
Sometimes, we forget all of the things for which we should be grateful. Journaling helps us remember those things. It helps us develop a mindset of gratitude, appreciation, and happiness. If you keep journaling regularly, you might be pleasantly surprised at how many things in your life are great!
Stay Patient and Persistent
In the end, remember that no change happens overnight. You can't meditate for one or two days and expect it to be enough. Practicing appreciation and gratitude is a process that takes some time, but it is worth it. Sometimes, you will feel discouraged and disheartened, especially when faced with some major problems.
At those moments, it will be hard for you to feel grateful for small things, and that's completely normal. However, don't let these setbacks demotivate you. The problems will come and go, and you will still have so many great things going for you.
So, stay patient and be persistent. Even when it feels like you're not making progress, focus on all the good things in your life. Use it as a driving force to keep fighting for what you want.
Conclusion
Appreciation meditation is more relevant than ever. We live in a time when everyone lives for some future achievements without taking even just a minute to appreciate what they've achieved so far. This is so normalized that we don't know how to live any differently. We often struggle to be grateful for what we have because we always think of what we don't have.
You can break this negative pattern. Take some time every day to count your blessings, no matter how small they are. Soon enough, you will notice a positive shift in your perspective, allowing you to live a happier life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Purpose of Gratitude Meditation?
The main purpose of this meditation is to show you how many positive things there are in your life. That's supposed to teach you to enjoy what you already have and find happiness in small things. Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't have other dreams and ambitions. You can still appreciate what you already have while working on achieving more.
What Is the Key to Successful Meditation?
The key is in how (and whether) you focus during your meditation process. We have such short attention spans these days that it can be hard to focus on anything longer than 15 seconds. To make your meditation sessions truly successful, you should be able to focus on them for at least 10-15 minutes per day.
What Is the Golden Rule of Meditation?
We tend to put labels on everything and everyone, including ourselves. However, the golden rule of meditation says that you need to put aside all these labels, at least for a few minutes. Let yourself become no one - or better said, nothing. Be nothing, do nothing, and wish for nothing.