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Embarking on a gratitude journey transformed my life, enriching each day with a profound sense of joy and abundance. I want to share the intimate details of this odyssey in today's podcast, where we uncover the undeniable connection between an attitude of gratitude and personal well-being. With wisdom from gratitude guru Dr. Robert Emmons, alongside my own experiences, we explore how focusing on the gifts of the present can lead us to a space of contentment, joy, and continuous personal growth.
This episode isn't just my story—it's an invitation to weave gratitude into the very fabric of your life, transcending mere emotion to become a perspective that shapes your world. You'll learn about the simple yet powerful practices that can revolutionise your mindset: journaling, meditation, and even gratitude jars! Together, we delve into the universal essence of gratitude found across cultures and religions, and I share the tools that helped me transition from acknowledging gratitude to living it every day. Join me for a heart-centred conversation that promises to open doors to a more appreciative and fulfilling life.
Subscribe to Premium Content here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2286124/subscribe
Embarking on a gratitude journey transformed my life, enriching each day with a profound sense of joy and abundance. I want to share the intimate details of this odyssey in today's podcast, where we uncover the undeniable connection between an attitude of gratitude and personal well-being. With wisdom from gratitude guru Dr. Robert Emmons, alongside my own experiences, we explore how focusing on the gifts of the present can lead us to a space of contentment, joy, and continuous personal growth.
This episode isn't just my story—it's an invitation to weave gratitude into the very fabric of your life, transcending mere emotion to become a perspective that shapes your world. You'll learn about the simple yet powerful practices that can revolutionise your mindset: journaling, meditation, and even gratitude jars! Together, we delve into the universal essence of gratitude found across cultures and religions, and I share the tools that helped me transition from acknowledging gratitude to living it every day. Join me for a heart-centred conversation that promises to open doors to a more appreciative and fulfilling life.
Welcome to the High Vibe Guide, the podcast where I demystify the concept of raising our vibration. I'm Jenna, a yoga teacher, mum of three and passionate advocate for helping others to just feel happier. Let me explain to you how we can all live more contented and fulfilled lives, and how it's so much easier than you think. Welcome back to the High Vibe Guide. Welcome back all my lovely and amazing current listeners. Thank you for continuing to follow me on this journey. And to anyone who's tuned in to this episode for the first time hi, welcome. I'm really happy to have you here, and the amazing thing is is that I know you're all here because you are committed to start living your life in the best way possible. So thank you for that, for allowing me to be a small part of this journey with you, because, let's face it, it's all down to you. You've got to do the work, so allow yourselves a little excitement here. You here for a reason, and, if you think about it, it's a pretty good reason. You're here because you're willing and open to changing your life for the better, which is an amazing step within itself, because you have the self-awareness that something needs to change. So many of us lack that level of self-awareness. So we'll keep trudging through life thinking that this is the norm, stuck in those negative thought patterns, unaware that they have the power to change that, to change their life for the better. So congratulations. You're further along the personal development path than many and I'm so glad to have you here. So, guys, gratitude the episode all about gratitude is finally here.
Speaker 1:Nearly every week when I've been choosing a topic for the next episode, I've always thought, hmm, should I speak about gratitude this week? But I've always found there's another topic which feels a little more pressing at the time or that I'm feeling some excitement for discussion about it. That's normally how I make a final decision on what's going to be discussed each week. I don't work off a schedule. I only really know what I'm going to discuss the week before the episode's actually live and, to be honest, I swear in nearly every single episode that gratitude comes up anyway.
Speaker 1:Everything always comes back to gratitude. I keep on realising this more and more. I just keep coming back to this realisation that gratitude really is everything. I truly believe that you cannot make change for the better, any kind of change, or step forward on your journey of personal development without incorporating some kind of gratitude practice into your life. It just cannot happen. And I can tell you wholeheartedly, with no shadow of a doubt, that gratitude has changed my life, has changed my life Time and time again. I've been completely blown away by the power of simply getting your mind used to being thankful, appreciative, grateful for everything good that's already in your life. It's been the biggest game changer for me a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:Those of you that have been with me all the way through now know that I can get lost on a tangent when gratitude comes into the discussion. I do work off a kind of loose script normally when I'm recording my episodes, but whenever a point lands on gratitude, I do really have to make a conscious effort to steer myself back towards the topic in hand. I just feel so passionate about trying to explain to people how powerful and transformative a gratitude practice really is. If you can take the time to listen to this episode, get a good understanding of what a gratitude practice actually is, what it means and why it's so good for you. I mean, guys, this is down to pure science too. It's not just the metaphysical, the spiritual. This is proven fact Science. So if you can do that, and then you can go and incorporate even just a little bit of it into your life. However it works for you. I am going to go into some different methods later. Then I can guarantee you will be bringing into your life so much more happiness and positivity and you'll be setting yourself up on a new path, one that will bring you new opportunities and experiences, that will cultivate more and more of this happiness and positivity. So I'm excited, let's get into it. I'm excited, let's get into it.
Speaker 1:So it's not just in this realm that gratitude is spoken and praised about, and when I say this realm, I'm referring mainly to this kind of genre of self-help. My air bunnies are out again. I hate that term. I much more prefer personal development or increasing self-awareness. I think is actually what it's all about. But you know us guys, those guys committed to creating a little bit more happiness, tackling old thought patterns, creating new ones, wanting to better ourselves.
Speaker 1:So, other than us, this realm, personal development, gratitude's widely spoken about as a transformative tool across many other fields like psychology, the business and corporate world, education, healthcare, religion, spirituality, sociology, sports, environmental studies, philosophy the list really does go on. Everyone is talking about how great it is. So if you're not incorporating gratitude into your life or into your plan for personal growth, then you are seriously missing a trick. It needs to be in there. So why is gratitude so important?
Speaker 1:Let me break down some science for you guys here, because you know I love to back up these concepts with some science. Now I've recently come across this guy His name is Dr Robert Emmons and he's a leading expert on gratitude, and he's proven this link between gratitude and greater happiness. He's shown how it boosts feelings of joy, enthusiasm, satisfaction, and the main principle is this If you focus on what you have rather than what you lack, you gain an almighty perspective shift and this leads to such greater contentment in every single area of your life. I am not just saying that, it's true. Okay, I can vouch for this personally. I've been coming back and forth to this script now over the course of a week or so, just jotting down ideas when they come to me, and I've honestly felt so positive and happy this week. I've just noticed that I'm seeing the good everywhere.
Speaker 1:I think it must be because I'm just even more tuned in to all the abundance around me, because I'm obviously writing and thinking more about it, but it's because that's what practicing gratitude does. It makes you realize all the amazing shit that's around you all the time, that negative lens that we so often look through, you know, falling back on the old negative thought patterns, it just steals our happiness. It stops us from seeing all the amazing things that we already have in our life. And the golden rule for when we want to start feeling happier and to attract happier experiences into our lives, we have to be happy now. You will never be happy if you always project your happiness into the future. But what do I mean by that? Projecting happiness into the future is done when we say things like I'll be happy when I earn this amount of money, I'll be happy when I get married, I'll be happy when I have a baby, when I get that new car. Because do you know what that's doing? All it's doing is putting an emphasis on the lack, and what I mean by the lack is what you do not have right now.
Speaker 1:That old quote happiness is not a destination, it's a way of life. You see it on those wooden boards like painted all shabby chic in the gift shops. It's corny and cringy, I know, but it's true. I can guarantee that if you always project your happiness into the future by saying I'll be happy when you will never be happy. Because even when you get that thing that you wanted, that you'll be happy. When the car, the job, the money, the husband or the wife you won't be happy, your brain will find excuses for unsatisfaction, unhappiness, and your mind will then be projecting into the future again for what will make you happy. I promise, I've been there and done it. It living proof. I do speak about it in my earlier episodes, but this is how the brain works when you're in that mindset.
Speaker 1:So when we do manage to bring gratitude into our lives, when we focus on it, we actually manage to reduce those symptoms of anxiety, sadness, even depression. And when we focus on the positive, on the abundance we already have in our lives, it decreases those negative thought patterns, it's challenging them, it's breaking that habitual thought process. The habit is that continuation of falling into these negative thought patterns because we're so familiar with them. Hey, our minds have been following these patterns for years, so often without us even being aware. So we need to do something daily to break them and start creating new ones. We create this more balanced mental state. But what else does practicing gratitude do? It strengthens our relationships Because it fosters empathy, trust, compassion when we express gratitude to others, especially those close to us. It reinforces social bonds and promotes stronger connections and collaboration.
Speaker 1:I imagine you guys have all heard of Tony Robbins. If not, he's the guy with the banana hands in Shallow Hal. He gets stuck in the lift with Huge guy mindset coach, life coach, manifestation coach, business coach, hugely successful man and very good at inspiring and motivating other people. He emphasises gratitude as this foundational practice for personal growth and success. He personally practices gratitude every single morning. He uses the first 10 minutes or so of his day practicing gratitude and he swears that it's the strongest contributor to his success. And guys, this man is successful. He knows what he's talking about, because when we manage to rewire our minds somewhat through gratitude, what we're doing is we're encouraging this abundance mindset, helping us to see opportunities instead of obstacles, because remember what an abundance mindset actually is. It's where we have this knowledge that resources and opportunities are limitless. They're everywhere, for every single person. Abundance is everywhere and readily available to us, and it opposes the scarcity mindset which leads us to believe that opportunities are limited, that only certain people can experience this abundance because there isn't enough of it to go around. Which one do you feel you sit with? I know which one I used to sit with. I had no idea my mind was limited so severely by this mindset that I didn't even know I had.
Speaker 1:Tony Robbins, among other experts, also say this about gratitude. It's been scientifically proven in studies that when the brain is experiencing feelings and emotions of gratitude, it's physically impossible for the brain to feel any other emotion at the same time. Isn't that amazing, so powerful. So if you're allowing yourself to feel grateful, even for something silly a green light on the way to work, a kind word from a friend, your favourite parking space being free, the last rolo in your packet you physically cannot be feeling any other negative emotion. So imagine if we get the brain used to feeling that way more and more. Remember what happens. We've built now these amazing new neural pathways, ones that are built on positive feelings, not negative and limiting ones, and with this new kind of road map in the brain, we open ourselves up to so many more possibilities and experiences that will bring us happiness. That is how it works, and there are studies now to say that gratitude has huge benefits in the business and the corporate world. It's been shown to improve workplace culture.
Speaker 1:I've got a very loud purring cat on my lap now. Lord Flash, you are lovely, but you're the loudest purrer. You're going to have to go on Off. You go, I'll see you later. Go on, go on, go on. Sorry, you'll probably still hear him. He's the loudest purrer ever Right now, apologies. Back to it.
Speaker 1:Experts have shown that expressing appreciation for employees can boost morale, that expressing appreciation for employees can boost morale, increase job satisfaction and enhance productivity. I don't know about you, but I know that if my work is being appreciated and not just even in a corporate environment, but any form of work, whether it's cooking a meal at home for my family or it's completing a project at work, teaching a class, recording a podcast episode If I know it's being appreciated, someone else is feeling gratitude because of the work that I've done. That's a pretty good motivator for me to continue working. Don't you think? Gratitude just has this ability to foster a positive environment where people feel valued and motivated. It works very similarly to kindness in this respect. Kindness has the power to foster these amazing environments between people and something else. That's been proven. Gratitude builds resilience, a kind of unobvious benefit for me, but it's interesting, it does this by helping people to focus on the good stuff in their lives, obviously even when they're experiencing something challenging, all because of this mindset. This mindset supports them in bouncing back from adversity.
Speaker 1:And this Dr Robert Emmons, this leading scientist on gratitude. Through his work, he's shown that grateful people tend to have better sleep, lower stress levels, improved immune function and an overall higher sense of well-being. Now, I don't know about you, but I think it's incredible how practicing gratitude can actually improve our immune function. How much is the state of our mind linked to the health in our bodies? It's incredible. And one thing that I loved that Dr Robert Evans advocated was that gratitude isn't limited to these grand gestures or extraordinary experiences. It can be cultivated in everyday life. Like I've've said before, focusing on the small moments of joy and appreciation, paying attention to all the abundance, the amazing, the incredible things around us all the time has this incredibly powerful effect.
Speaker 1:And something interesting he also mentioned about the practice of gratitude itself. It's a very common thread between many, many different religious traditions Christianity, buddhism, sikhism, islam, judaism, hinduism. Its teachings have also been found in indigenous religions and spiritualities. These are just a few examples, by the way, I was not going to list off every single religion that gratitude practice is taught in. This isn't exhaustive, as many other belief systems, spiritual movements and cultural practices also incorporate gratitude in various forms, but ultimately, I think that gratitude is this universal theme that transcends religious and cultural boundaries, and it's reflecting this common human inclination to recognise and appreciate goodness in our lives.
Speaker 1:So, as I said earlier, I am aware that I have spoken about gratitude before on episodes that aren't necessarily about gratitude many, many times, so what I'm conscious of doing here is repeating myself. So what I've put together is a little list of methods of how to bring gratitude into our day-to-day, because, let's face it, for many of us, my old self included, are in no way familiar with their minds working in this way of being ungrateful, not realizing the goodness all around us, because we don't think we're being ungrateful actively. Because we're not, we're just missing out on all the amazing benefits that actively being grateful can bring. And when I first started, I struggled. This is something I feel I need to tell you now.
Speaker 1:Let you in on this little secret. It may not be easy at first, and I have found that the harder it is for you. It most likely indicates that you have been stuck in some serious negative thought patterns. It might even mean that you're unaware of this too, and it can change day to day. Some days you find it easier, other days you find it harder.
Speaker 1:But gratitude isn't just a feeling or an emotion. It's a way of thinking and it's a way of believing. It's got a great deal to do with perspective how you view the world around you, so it's for this reason that trying to build this new practice can sometimes be difficult. It's the same with anything Starting a new exercise program, a meditation practice, learning how to drive it's meant to all feel a little challenging at first, but but but it will not always be that way, I promise. I can now say I'm at a stage where gratitude almost feels natural to me, which is amazing. It's the best feeling in the world.
Speaker 1:Now I've realized that because it's proven that I have built this new roadmap in my brain, new neural pathways all connecting with each other, and I don't necessarily need to do it now through specific exercises like journaling, meditation or any kind of other methods that you do sometimes need in the beginning to help you along, because my mind is already there, it's used to it. I can easily see it now day to day, in the everyday little things, the mundane, the normal. So what I have for you here is some methods that you can start using to help get your mind working this way. It's a few things that I did, a few new ones which I'm actually going to try later on, but it's just little things that can just give you a bit of a head start, a bit of a helping hand, and it may require a little discipline, but, like with any progress, it all comes from practice. So the first one, which I'm sure you've all heard of now, is journaling.
Speaker 1:Gratitude journaling. In particular Write down three things you're grateful for each day, and this can take a minute, more less, depending on where your head's at. But remember, these can be simple things like a sunny day or a warm cup of coffee, or bigger things like your family, your health. I found that when I got into the habit of this journaling, that things would crop up that I didn't actually know I was grateful for. And again, this just highlights that it can just sometimes be down to perspective. Where your focus goes, your attention goes. You know what are you missing? I wonder what's all around you that you're missing out on feeling this wonderful gratitude. For the next one I haven't done yet, but I love the idea is gratitude letters Write a letter to someone expressing your appreciation for them. Now, you don't have to give it to them you can if you want but you could just keep it as a personal reminder of the people who've made a difference in your life. Now, I'm familiar with those letters that you can write to those who have hurt you as an act of forgiveness and release, but I really like this idea of gratitude letters, so maybe you'd like to try that.
Speaker 1:The next one meditation. Now, there are a lot of guided meditations out there around gratitude Again. Search on YouTube for one. There's a whole series of them on the Calm app if you're subscribed to that, and my upcoming Soul Circle, my online yoga studio, will have a whole library of guided meditations like this, and you can use these meditations to focus on anything people experiences, aspects of your life that bring you joy and positivity, anything but like. With any aspect that you bring into meditation as a focus, I think it magnifies its power when it comes to changing your mindset, because meditation itself is rewiring your brain and changing its structure to support this happier mind.
Speaker 1:The next one another one I am honestly going to try tonight because I love the idea of it is a gratitude jar. Write notes of things that you're grateful for and put them in your jar. Then, at the end of the month or the year, read through them and remind yourself of all the good things in your life. I love it and I'm going to start this with my kids tonight and next month. We'll get them all out and we'll read them. I mean, it might not work out how I'm expecting it to, as most things do with children when you try and do nice things, but I'm going to try it and I think it might be really good for my mindset as well.
Speaker 1:Next one is gratitude walks. Take a walk obviously clues in the name and use the time to reflect on things that you appreciate. And use the time to reflect on things that you appreciate and again, it can be anything the weather, the beauty of nature, even just the ability to walk and enjoy your surroundings. And remember, getting outside is one of my high-vibing activities, so combining these two practices will hugely benefit your state of mind. Next one is gratitude breathing. So while you're doing some deep breathing, diaphragmatic or belly breathing. Think of things that you're thankful for with each breath in and each breath out, with each breath in and each breath out. So not only are you doing another high vibing activity this deep breathing, the resetting the nervous system, very powerful, very healing but you're also inducing feelings of calm, helping to let the benefits of gratitude really sink in and take hold.
Speaker 1:Another one is to express gratitude in conversations. Make it a habit to say out loud to someone when you feel gratitude towards them. I made this little promise to myself a while ago now I can't think how long ago, but it was a long time ago that if I ever notice something nice about someone, I tell them then and there. And it ties in hugely with kindness, because, like with kindness, it's all about that ripple effect. With kindness, it's all about that ripple effect. You just have no idea how far your one little act of kindness is spreading. So just let people know when you appreciate them. Don't be scared of letting people know that you love and you appreciate them. Make the most of the time that you have with them, and by doing this you will feel amazing as well. You're not just spreading it forward. And the last one is gratitude affirmations.
Speaker 1:Now, if you don't use affirmations, I would recommend that you try, because when your brain is thinking a negative thought, especially kind of about yourself, it's important that we throw something at it, basically to stop its progress. Shake it up a bit, scare the shit out of it, stop the pattern, break the habit. And I think affirmations are really powerful in this respect Because, remember, you get to choose what you believe in. If you remember back to my episode on limiting beliefs, I can guarantee that most of these beliefs that you have about yourself, the world around you, the limiting, the negative ones are all based on false information about yourself and the world around you. Remember, our thoughts are not facts, and not just ours, but other people's, their thoughts and their words, their beliefs, are not facts either. You would be astonished to know how many beliefs we build inside of us that are based on false information.
Speaker 1:So, when it comes to gratitude, try incorporating some affirmations into your daily routine. It doesn't even have to be out loud if you feel silly or self-conscious, you can just say it to yourself. And the most powerful one for gratitude that I love is I am grateful for the abundance in my life today. I am grateful for the abundance in my life today. Now I can guarantee that if you keep saying this to yourself throughout the day, you will start to see little things or big things in your life that bring you joy. But remember the key point with affirmations you have to believe them. They have to be said with feeling, because so often people think they're doing all the right things, you know saying their affirmations, but they have this wall up on opening up to any kind of acceptance to that affirmation being true. So they're saying these affirmations in their heads and it won't even make it past the brainstem because inside we don't believe it. So say it with feeling. Open yourself up to the possibility of wonderful things being all around you, because I promise they are.
Speaker 1:And I think I'm actually going to wrap this up here. I'm surprised this might actually be one of the shorter episodes. What are we on? Yeah, yeah, 34 minutes, that's not too bad. So, because I thought that I'd be here for hours and then stuck editing things out for days when it came to gratitude. I feel I could go on for a long time because it's just been, for me personally, the most transformative experience of my life, but I hope some of what I've said today resonates with you as well, because I cannot emphasize this enough that gratitude has the ability to make the biggest shifts in your life All the good ones too, by the way.
Speaker 1:So think to yourself what can you do today to invite in some more gratitude? Pick one or two of those methods I've just spoken to you about, give them a try and make the effort to engage in this feeling for just a few minutes a day, and you'll find that at some point you won't need to actively carve out time in your day to practice gratitude. You'll find it just comes easily to you. I mean even for me, on days where I'm not really vibing that high. We all have them, we're all human. I'm sure Tony Robbins has them too.
Speaker 1:I make this point of scheduling it in being that little more disciplined. But one day you'll start to see the evidence of how we're actually rewiring your mind and it will honestly feel miraculous. It is so incredibly uplifting and empowering because it's proof that we do have the power to make ourselves feel better. It's an inside job, it really is. So if you take away just one thing today, then let it be that. Thank you guys so much. Keep looking for all those little glimmers of positivity and I will see you back here next time. Thank you all so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with your friends and family to continue spreading that positivity. You can find me on Instagram at thehighvibeguide. Get in touch, I would love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for listening and I'll see you back here next time at the high vibe guide.