How to Practice Gratitude During COVID

Why gratitude in the pandemic?  Well, gratitude is said to be great for many aspects of both our mental health and physical health. Studies have shown that grateful people have less aches and pains, are more likely to sleep better, have reduced stress, and are less irritable than those who do not practice gratitude. And these are just a handful of the benefits that being grateful can have on our health! We know that during this time of social distancing feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness have surged, so if we’re looking for ways to improve our well-being in this difficult time, gratitude practices are free, easy, and effective.

While I can’t promise that you’ll feel the sensation of gratitude from these particular practices, going through the actions greatly increases the chances that you’ll still experience some of the benefits.  In Constructive Living (a Japanese lifeway based on Morita and Naikan therapies), we practice listing things we have received as a way to balance out our perspective which so easily can go to the negative.  It doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen, but often there are uplifting things happening at the same time.  Like Mr. Rogers famously said, “Look for the helpers.” 

Here are some of my favorite gratitude practices:

1)     Morning and evening gratitude list. This is great to do with a designated notepad and pen placed right by your bed so you can do it first thing before you start looking at your phone as well as at bedtime right before hitting the pillow.  See if you can get ten things each day.

2)     Gratitude alphabet. Stuck in a rut saying “coffee” over and over again on your list?  Try writing something for each letter of the alphabet.

3)     Post gratitude on social media.  On Facebook I like to use a gratitude hashtag and post something every day around the same time if I can.  On Instagram I’ve been posting periodically in my stories throughout the day.  Someone I’m following shares a photo every day on his Instagram and uses the hashtag #lockdowngratitude

4)     Mealtime gratitude. When sitting down to eat a meal, I like to consider all the people who contributed to what’s in front of me. For example, one could consider the farmers, grocery store workers, delivery truck drivers, and those contributing to your income.  If you were able to safely obtain curbside pick-up, who helped that happen?  If you ordered a delivery, who helped you get that food?  Did someone prepare the food?  How about your body for so wisely utilizing the nutrients you are feeding yourself?

5)     Thank others. If you are in quarantine with someone, this is an especially important time to thank those around you.  So many of us are struggling with our own tension, it can be easy to overlook things that others are doing to help.  If you’re quarantined away from people, reaching out to someone to thank them could be a good way to connect and stay in touch.  Who can you thank today, and for what? 

6)     Get creative. Stuck at home?  Create something personal to say thank you.  Whether it’s a (sanitized) thank you card, a video, a piece of art you can photograph, a message written in dirt, there’s probably a creative way you can say thank you to someone.

7)     Thank an essential worker. Many people working even harder to keep others alive and our communities up and running, so consider if there’s an essential worker that you can thank personally.  If you’re an essential worker, here’s my thank you to you:  THANK YOU. YOU’RE AMAZING.  Can you take a deep breath and breathe that in? 

8)     Look around. Whether you’re quarantined or an essential worker, try looking around your usual environment and identify 5 things that you can see that are supporting you.  I’ll go:  my lotion that is keeping my hand-washing balanced, my homemade mask from a friend, my phone that keeps me connected to all of you, my computer that allows me this outlet to write, and my window giving me natural light. 

9)     Gratitude journal. I keep a gratitude journal specifically for my husband, writing down things that he has done for me.  When I see the book, it’s a visual reminder of all the times that he has brought me coffee or done something kind for me.  That can really help soften my temper if we’re having a tough day.  Is there someone in your life that you want to remember all the ways they have supported you?

10)  I am taking this last one from Intuitive Edge Coaching, and it’s a little intense but effective: what if tomorrow morning we woke up and everything was gone except the things we had been grateful for the day before?  Intense, I know.  But it’s a great reminder not to take anything for granted, and I can’t think of a more fitting time than a pandemic to literally count our blessings. 

Remember, practicing gratitude means just that – you have to practice this daily, like you would a sport or any new skill. This time has shown if nothing else that we never know what the future holds, so instead of stressing and focusing on that, what if we really, really appreciated all the little things that we forget to notice?  The present moment is all we’re promised, and so we might as well be present and appreciative for these moments.

Contributed by Lauren Higgins, MS, BC-DMT, Director of Embodied Therapies for Focus Treatment Centers

 

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