Practicing mindfulness and gratitude are ways of helping people live in the moment and find silver linings in most situations. Of course, there are still hardships in life. These obstacles shouldn’t be dismissed or diminished, but finding little nuggets of positivity in dark times can help remind you to stay strong.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on the present, a lot like meditation. However, unlike meditation, mindfulness is much more active. Instead of being still and observing the body through feelings and internal movement, mindfulness involves thinking about the world around you as well as how your body is moving. For example, eating food. How does the food taste? How does it smell? Are you full yet? Who made the food? Mindfulness involves thinking about yourself in the moment not only as an individual but also as part of a larger ecosystem.
For more information on mindfulness, check out these resources:
- Mindful’s article on how to practice mindfulness
- The Mayo Clinic’s article on what mindfulness is and how to practice it
Gratitude
Gratitude is a subsection of mindfulness, but it usually involves more reflection. Being grateful is a lot like it sounds: it’s being thankful for aspects of your life. It involves thinking about yourself as part of that ecosystem mentioned earlier. This ecosystem usually includes the people you know, the physical things in your life, the place you live, and so on. Some examples of how to practice gratefulness within your ecosystem include being thankful for a sunny day or feeling lucky for having great relatives. Personally, I like to use a gratitude journaling app! Some of my favorites are Presently and Daylio. For journaling, I don’t always use an app. I also enjoy journaling in a physical book! This can involve making mood boards, writing down things you’re grateful for, or just drawing something to represent the positives of your day.
For more information on gratefulness, check out these resources:
- Mindful’s article on how to practice gratefulness
- Gratefulness’ article on what gratitude is and how to practice it
Mindfulness and gratefulness are wonderful practices for finding the positive in life and acknowledging the negative. I hope you’ll be able to use these resources in your everyday life! I’ll start off with an example: I’m grateful you’re here and you’ve read this article!