How to Shift Your State Through Gratitude

Ten years ago, I started an experiment of writing down at least 3 things I was grateful for each day.

The science is clear that a daily gratitude practice can help shift your state, so I decided to give it a try.

To be honest, I was skeptical that writing down my gratitude each day would shift anything.

I was wrong. Or, partially wrong.

The Limits of Gratitude Lists

For the most part, writing down my gratitude each day has helped me maintain a better mindset and attitude toward life. When I feel like life has no redeeming qualities, writing down things I’m grateful for forces me into a new perspective, even if just for a moment.

That said, the practice can start to feel rote and routine after a while. I experimented with writing down longer lists of gratitude, but writing down more things doesn’t move the needle much.

The mental practice of gratitude has limits. Writing down what you’re grateful for — without more — doesn’t actually shift body chemistry and emotional state for the long term.

How to Shift Your State Through Gratitude

I’ve learned that if I want to to experience the alchemy that gratitude can offer, it’s not enough to recognize it with my mind.

I must embody it.

It’s not about listing more things, but feeling more deeply into at least one thing. Breathing into it. Taking it into my body through my breath. Connecting with it deeply. Exploring the nuances of it.

A mental accounting can be a helpful starting point, but the real magic happens when I can fully embrace that gratitude, and when it embraces me back.

That’s the promise of a gratitude practice.

A Thanksgiving Gratitude Practice

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s a day we set aside for gratitude and giving thanks. In the spirit of this day, here’s a practice to try:

• Start with your mind. Reflect on a few things for which you are grateful. Write them down.
• Pick one thing. Close your eyes and take a few long breaths. As you inhale, imagine a thing, person, event, moment for which you are grateful.
• With each inhale, bring this gratitude more deeply into your body. Notice where it lands in your physical body. Notice the sensations you feel.
• Explore the nuances of this gratitude. For example, if you’re feeling grateful for a specific person in your life, start to connect with the various attributes of this person and how they make you feel. Consider the things they do for which you feel grateful.
• Continue to breathe with this gratitude for a few minutes. Then open your eyes. Notice how you feel.

This doesn’t need to take a long time. Even a minute of breathing into this gratitude can be profound.

Take it on as an experiment, and notice what you notice about yourself.