“Hey, got a minute?” Usually when you hear this questions, it means more than one minute and the person asking wants something from you. Let’s turn that around and give ourselves just one moment. One moment of peace. One moment of breathing. One moment of gratitude. One moment to stretch your arms and flex your muscles.
It’s hard to imagine that giving yourself just one minute each day could make that much of a difference, but studies show otherwise. Search the internet for gratitude and you will be overwhelmed by how much research has shown to connect the positive effects of gratitude on health, relationships, sleep, grief and more.
Hey, got a minute?
Now give yourself one minute. Yes, a full 60 seconds. Use the timer on your phone. For one minute name every single thing that pops into your mind from today that you are grateful for. Waking up. Breakfast. Coffee. Finding a good parking spot. The wag of your dog’s tail. A greeting from a neighbor or co-worker. Rain. Sun. Comfortable shoes. Another season of your favorite show. The list can go on for well over that one minute!
Want to take another minute? Follow along with Registered Nurse Marcy B. Newman, the former Employee Whole Health program manager at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, as she shares a simple gratitude practice.
Here’s an idea
Create a gratitude jar. To help you “count your blessings,” put a jar near the entrance of your home along with a pen and paper. When you get home, write down everything you’re grateful for that happened that day and put the paper in the jar. When you feel down or bad, go to your jar and read or count all the things you’ve written down.
Check out more ideas for creating a formal gratitude practice here.
