The Benefits of a Gratitude Journal

A Gratitude Journal is a wonderfool tool to practice being grateful for the things in our lives. Looking to start one? Here are the Benefits of a Gratitude Journal and some suggested ways on how you can write one.

“If you concentrate on what you have, you will always end up having more. If you focus on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

Oprah

Gratitude is one of my favorite ways to change perspective. If everything around me seems to be falling apart, leaning in to the practice of being grateful gives me a different take on any situation. And in my experience, it is always a positive turn (no matter how slight!)

I love gratitude- the sudden splash of joy it brings. Being thankful for things in our lives, big or small, is a great way to bring ease and calm to both our bodies and minds. Indeed, gratitude is an indispensable tool in my Wellness Toolbox.

This why keeping a Gratitude Journal enhances the good effects of gratitude to our well-being. When we write the things that we are thankful for, we magnify them and therefore we see more things to be thankful for around us.

We attract more positive things. It is a good cycle! Such and many other things make up the Benefits of a Gratitude Journal.

Gratitude is Riches. Complaint is poverty.

Doris Day

The Benefits of A Gratitude Journal

1. It Brings Joy to Our Experience. When we take some time regularly to write about the things we are thankful for, we instantly feel joy for the presence of this things in our lives. Think about it, writing about your home, a good breakfast you had this morning, or the sight of children laughing- won’t that bring a smile to your face?
2. Gratitude Shifts Our Mood for the Better. If you are in rut, listing good things shifts your focus and allow you to change your perspective to be more positive.
3. Writing about Good Things Brings Ease to our Body and Minds. Writing in a Gratitude Journal sends happy signals to the brain, therefore bringing positive waves of emotion down our bodies. Gratitude indeed, can transform our health.
4. It Breaks the Loop of Negative Thinking in a Given Moment. Feeling negativity? Start writing in your gratitude journal and instead of fighting away the negative feeling, watch as it slowly melts away into the background. Gratitude stops the cycle of negative thinking.
5. It Trains Us to See the Blessings in our Daily Lives. Five minutes of writing in a gratitude journal is 5 minutes of focusing on the good things around you. It may not be that much but when done regularly, the positive effects are compounded. You begin to see goodness everywhere.
6. It Allows us to Attract More Good Things to our Lives. Gratitude, in the view of Law of Attraction is one of the highest (positive) vibration. Gratitude Journaling brings your focus towards the positives. And when you are in tune with positives, more positivity are attracted towards you. Here is a good resource on Gratitude Journal and Law of Attraction.
7. It Allows Us to Enjoy Life in Many Ways. When you write specific things that you are grateful for, you begin to realize that everywhere you turn, there are lots of things to be thankful for. You begin to enjoy the little wonders around you.
8. A Gratitude Journal allows to cultivate happiness during difficult times. Writing, even for a short moment, takes your focus away from what is not going right. This is always a good start to navigating difficulties in life.

This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before.

Maya Angelou

Tips for Writing in A Gratitude Journal

A Gratitude Journal can be in the Notes App on your phone, or hand written in notebook or diary/ journal. There are also Apps to help with writing down things thankful for.

Apps for Gratitude Recording

• Grateful: A Gratitude Journal
• Presently
• Gratitude App: A Self-Care Journal
• 365 Gratitude Journal

Writing in A Gratitude Journal

The way you write in your gratitude journal is entirely up to you. Here are some format suggestions you can try.

• Bulleted or Numbered. This format is perfect if you want to write a specific number of items for daily journaling. The most common are “5 Things I am Grateful for Everyday” or 3 Positive Things” you get the idea.
• Paragraph/ Story/ Essay. If you are quite the story teller or writer, you can express your gratitude in this form. You can do this daily or once per week, or how often you see fit.
• You can also try my One Sentence Gratitude Practice. Write one sentence about what you are doing currently. Pick apart that sentence to list 3-5 things you are grateful for within the context of your sentence. In this method, you will find that there are many blessings that we take for granted.

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

Eckhart Tolle

One More Tip

When you write on your journal, make sure that you entries are really specific. Instead of writing “Morning walk in the park” write ” The mild heat of the sun touching my face during the morning walk in the park“ or the “Fun walk at the park with my mom“.

Try to be descriptive and exact, if applicable.

• The soothing sounds of the bird in the early morning.
• The steaming hot cup of coffee with whipped cream on top.
• The extra $100 I earned today.
• The 4 amazing people I met last week namely…..
• The delicious pancake breakfast they served. With melty butter on top and dripping maple syrup on the sides.

Being specific is key. The more specific your entries are, the more you elicit emotions, positive emotions. This makes gratitude journaling more beneficial.

The more specific you are, the more entries you can write. The more you discover that we are actually surrounded my many little good things that we overlook before. Indeed, miracles are all around us.