Reframe your perspective with a 7 day Gratitude challenge

During fall the energy and essence of gratitude is in the air all around us as we watch the fields being harvested with the bounty from the land and making it’s way to our tables for gathered meals as we give thanks with our families in November and December. This time of gratitude has me thinking of the importance and significance of cultivating a mindset of gratitude in my life. Cultivating a mindset of gratitude is a powerful tool to realign our thoughts and energies and allow us to live life from a state of wise mind and duality. When you practice gratitude you are building a deeper connection with yourself. You are committing to self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-compassion and these are essential tools for supporting your personal growth, mental health and overall well-being. As the saying goes, “What consumes your mind, controls your life.” So why not let gratitude consume our minds and dictate the course of our lives? By shifting your focus to positivity, gratitude not only improves your mental health and self-esteem but also enhances relationships and boosts overall well-being. Learn how practicing gratitude can transform your perspective, leading to a happier, more fulfilled life .Discover the life-changing benefits of gratitude with this 7 day gratitude challenge in this blogpost today!

What is gratitude?

Thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation are all deeply connected, simply they all mean expressing the pleasant feeling of being thankful and appreciative for something one has received. The word gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “grateful, pleasant”. Not only is it something we feel and experience but, it is a tool we can use to reframe our perspective. Using gratitude as a tool allows you to shift your focus. From what you believe your reality is towards what you want your reality to be. They are both very real, but you choose to prioritize one over the other.

The Science behind gratitude

It turns out, the benefits of gratitude aren’t just motivational fluff you see on social media everywhere. Scientists have actually shown that gratitude can physically change your brain. This research made me realize that the mind’s ability to “rewire” itself—known as neuroplasticity (A term I Learned while in DBT) —plays a big role here. When we practice gratitude regularly, it strengthens certain neural pathways, just like exercising a muscle. In fact, gratitude activates regions in our brain linked to pleasure, reward, and emotional regulation, including the prefrontal cortex and the hypothalamus. Let’s dig into a bit of it now!

Practicing gratitude effects our brains by stimulating the production of dopamine (a chemical messenger (neurostransmitter) that works in the brain. It helps nerve cells send messages to each other. When dopamine is released in the brain, we feel a sense of temporary pleasure) and serotonin (another messenger which creates a long-lasting feeling of happiness or wellbeing), often referred to as the “feel-good neurotransmitters. These chemicals play a vital role in regulating mood and emotions. By regularly expressing gratitude through different ways in our lives, we essentially train our brains to produce more of these beneficial chemicals!

Researchers have discovered that expressing gratitude can also trigger the release of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for strengthening social bonds and creating feelings of trust and connection. So practicing gratitude not only improves our relationship with ourselves, but also enhances our ability to build and maintain meaningful connections with others and ourselves.

Historical Significance of Gratitude

Historically, the concept of gratitude isn’t new. Many ancient cultures emphasized the importance of thankfulness in their traditions and rituals. For example, the ancient Romans celebrated a festival called “Lectisternium” where they expressed gratitude to their gods for their blessings. The festival of Setsubun central in Japan and Shintoism is a time when they give thanks to the kami and the land for the spring and fertility to come. Plus pagans have many, many holidays centered around gratitude and giving thanks like Mabon, Samhain, Beltane, Hekate’s night, and so on! Honestly there are too many holidays centered on giving thanks to name. Similarly, every religion has holidays, and festivals that are centered around the act of giving thanks, We even have holidays centered around cultural and country specific reasons to give thanks like Thanksgiving in the USA, highlighting its timeless significance to our human existence.

Benefits to practicing gratitude

By dedicating just a few minutes each day to this practice, you can begin to experience a shift in your perspective. You’ll start to notice and appreciate the small joys that make life special, from a sunny day to a kind gesture from a stranger. Ultimately, this simple act of focusing on gratitude for a small pocket of time can lead to profound changes in your mindset and overall well-being like some of the benefits we will explore more below.

Gratitude aligns your with the flow of abundance

When we acknowledge and appreciate the blessings, big or small, that surround us, we invite abundance into our lives. Gratitude shifts our focus from what is lacking to what is plentiful, fostering a sense of contentment and fulfillment allowing us to enter into the flow of abundance. Once in the flow, we are able to connect to the generosity of the multiverse and have all of our needs met.

Gratitude creates a life attracting positivity

Practicing gratitude not only has a positive impact on our mental and emotional well-being but also attracts more positivity into our existence. By expressing thanks for the opportunities, relationships, and experiences we have encountered along our journey, we create space for greater joy and success to manifest. Embracing a mindset of gratitude transforms challenges into valuable lessons and setbacks into steppingstones toward growth and achievement.

Focusing on gratitude builds resilience

Gratitude and having a daily practice focused on it, can help individuals build resilience by encouraging them to find silver lining in challenging situations. When you’re able to see the good even in difficult times, you become more emotionally resilient and better equipped to cope with problems or life changing events as they arise. By acknowledging and appreciating the good, you develop a more balanced perspective, making it easier to cope with challenges by allowing you to access wise mind and use the DBT skills that will be the most effective.

Gratitude reframes our perspective

By focusing more on a habit of gratitude, you learn to reframe your thinking and concentrate on the positive aspects of your life. Our brains have a natural tendency to dwell on negativity, a phenomenon known as the negativity bias. It is an evolutionary survival mechanism that once served a purpose but can now hinder our well-being. In our day and age we don’t always have to be on alert for dangers in the wild to be able to survive and provide for our families. Of course we have a new set of issues nowadays, but our bodies do not have to constantly be in fight or flight mode. By consciously redirecting our attention towards gratitude, we counteract this bias and retrain our brains to notice and appreciate the good things around us. This shift in perspective can significantly improve mental well-being.

Gratitude helps us heal from childhood trauma, abuse, and pain

Learning how to practice gratitude after childhood trauma can help in your healing journey immensely by helping you reach radical acceptance. I know how hard it may seem to practice gratitude, especially when you’ve experienced childhood abuse and trauma. It’s hard to be grateful when we’re born into an unloving home with toxic or abusive parents that makes us doubt our self worth. It seems insensitive or perhaps even offensive to suggest. However, the benefits of gratitude, and practicing gratitude can help with healing from trauma. Also, gratitude doesn’t mean ignoring the fact that bad things did and do happen. It’s possible to feel grateful yet still find that life’s hard sometimes. It isn’t easy, but it can make a difference.

Other benefits of practicing gratitude

• Feeling grounded, especially during challenging times
• Boosting your mental health and well-being
• Allowing your mind to focus on the positive things
• Making you more optimistic
• Developing a new-found appreciation for the simple things
• Cultivating a healthy work-life balance
• Relieving stress and overwhelm
• Decreasing anxiety and depression
• Fewer physical symptoms of illness
• Forming a deeper connection with yourself, your surroundings and others

Ways to connect to Gratitude

Gratitude has more power to make our lives happier and healthier than we have ever imagined. Spending a little time each day to practice gratitude makes you consciously and intentionally focus on becoming more grateful for everything around you. It is also a great way to practice being more mindful and helping you shape a reality where you thrive. Feeling and expressing gratitude changed my life. I have more confidence in myself and I see people and situations in my life more compassionately. I have more peace of mind than ever before and I’m more certain that I can design the life I want for myself while maintaining wise mind and duality.

Discover some simple and powerful gratitude rituals below to transform your daily routine and boost your mental well-being. These easy gratitude practices help cultivate mindfulness, positivity, and emotional resilience. Whether you’re new to gratitude practices or looking to deepen your daily routine, these rituals are perfect for anyone seeking peace, happiness, and a life where you thrive in wise mind. Start and/or end your day with a grateful heart and watch how your mindset shifts. When you practice gratitude, it becomes part of all areas of your life. Join me on this 7 day gratitude challenge below and watch your reality become what you truly want and your perspective be reframed.

1.Keep a Daily Gratitude journal

Gratitude means, “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” So to practice gratitude is to show your own appreciation of things. Either in your head, out loud or on paper. The most popular form of practicing gratitude comes with journaling and keeping a daily gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is more than just a diary; it’s a dedicated space where you regularly record things you’re thankful for. This simple yet profound practice encourages you to focus on the positive aspects of your life, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. By doing so, you train your mind to see the good in everyday situations, fostering a more optimistic outlook on life.

So, for day 1 of this gratitude challenge we are going to start are very own daily gratitude journal practice. When you do this find a quiet place you can sit down and simply answer the questions below, Writing down the things, people, surroundings, etc, you are grateful for at that exact moment as you reflect on your day. Try to do your best to make this part of your daily routine from here on out. Here is a link to this gratitude journal for you to download and use as many times as you would like too!

2. Create a gratitude list through a brain dump

For day 2 of this challenge to help us reframe our life with gratitude, we will focus on getting a bigger picture of the things in our life we have to be grateful for. Doing this allows us to reframe our perspective even wider looking past just the day we had today to further beyond. Today’s challenge task is an easy one – make a list of everything you’re grateful for. You have wonderful things in your life already. It’s up to you to notice it. Think about everything you currently have going on in your life (or don’t have going on – in a good way). Take a moment to reflect on these blessings. There is nothing too small for you to be grateful for. You can be grateful for that cup of hot tea you get to enjoy every morning, that playtime with your child, your cat purring as they lay sleeping near by… List everything you can think of in a journal for you to see in one place. Allowing it all to sink in. Each and every single thing you have to be grateful for in your life as a whole.

3.Create a gratitude Jar

For day 3 of this challenge to help us reframe our life with gratitude, we will focus on that bigger picture again. While creating a way for us to come back to it in times of doubt or hardship when we need a little reminder of what we have to be grateful for. We will do this by creating a gratitude jar. So, what is a gratitude jar? A gratitude jar is a manifestation exercise where you add notes of gratitude to a container of your choice. Now, there are a few ways to use this tool of gratitude and a few ways to make it, First way you can choose is to take the list you made in day 2 of this challenge and either cut it into smaller pieces. Or write each thing written there onto sticky notes or smaller cut pieces of paper. Then you can take those pieces place them inside a jar, and leave it in your home somewhere you can see it. That way when you have moments of doubts when you are thinking life is too dark and you can’t go on because you have nothing to hold on for, you can pull as many of those little papers out. Then read them to help you reframe your unwanted and emotional thoughts.

The other option for how you can make this tool today and start using it to reframe your perspective brings more attention to your gratitude practice each day. Take one piece of paper and sit down and think of something that happened or someone who made your day worth being grateful for today. Once you have that in mind write in on your piece of paper then place it inside your jar, coming back every single day to do the same thing. Then whenever you would like come back and open your jar to read all the things you took the time each day to write down you were grateful for. You can go back in a week, at the end of the month, or what is common is to to wait until the end of the year on New Year’s Eve. Don’t forget either you can get creative and decorate your gratitude jar in any way you want as well bringing more joy to this daily practice of gratitude.

4. Express thanks to others in your life

For day 4 of this challenge to help us reframe our life with gratitude is to focus on expressing thanks to others in our life. Think about people that have done something for you at any point in your life. It can be today, yesterday, or even decades ago. Typically, people are grateful for their parents, guardians, caregivers, other family members, spouses, children, and friends. Let me remind you though that you don’t have to be grateful for people who have hurt you, even out of obligation or blood ties. (unless you want to be). So, think about those in your life that have held you up, supported you, and allowed you to grow into the beautiful human that you are. Then find a way to express your gratitude and thanks to them and do it. Whether that be by sending them a random text, getting them a card, or by giving them a gift. Do little and big things for them as they’d do for you. Spend quality time with loved ones. Connect and bond. Savor the moments you get to spend together. Don’t take any of it for granted because you never know how much time you have left with someone. So cherish it while you can. The goal is to make sure they feel your appreciation and how much your think they are truly worth. But, remember a simple “thank you” is usually enough for those who support you with their love. Plus it could also be a small act of kindness to brighten up someone’s otherwise dark day.

5. Prioritize and practice self care

When you practice gratitude you promote self care and end up prioritizing yourself. Because when you practice gratitude you are building a deeper connection with yourself. You are committing to self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-compassion and these are essential tools for supporting your personal growth, mental health and overall well-being. It allows you to truly connect with yourself on a raw, wholehearted level and changes your perspective on things. So, for day 5 of this gratitude challenge I want you to pick an activity that you consider self care and you are grateful you have the ability to do today. Then be as mindful and present as you can while you enjoy and soak up the time of self care you have today. Take in and notice how when you focus on self care it allows you to connect to parts of yourself and things you have to be grateful for in your life. For me when I slow down and focus on me it really allows me to open my eyes, and reframe what I see. Opening me up to more that I have to be grateful and thankful for. To learn more about self care and how vital that is in your life and how it promotes self love as well as gratitude click the link to read my guide here.

6. Spread gratitude through acts of kindness

For day 6 of this gratitude challenge we are going to use a little bit of DBT and bring our focus to gratitude by spreading it to someone else. Sometimes it’s hard to see what we can be grateful for because of life circumstances or our mental sate. If you are having a hard time in life or you are feeling anxious and/or depressed seeing things you can be grateful for may be clouded or something you simply don’t want to do. So, today we are going to use opposite action if we need to and instead of focusing on what we don’t have or what we have lost get out and spread kindness to bring us something to be grateful for. That feeling in our heart that glows and brings us joy plus the smile on the other person’s face is more then enough to be grateful for today.

For day 5 of the challenge today get out and give yourself something to be grateful for by being kind to others today. Spend 30 minutes doing something kind for someone else. This can be something extremely small like leaving a note on their doorstep, sending an email to thank them for all they do, making breakfast for someone, or volunteering your time. Do whatever it is that comes from the heart and makes you feel good inside.

7. Use affirmations of gratitude

For the last and final day of this challenge we are going to use simple yet very affective tool; gratitude affirmations. Gratitude affirmations are a simple tool you can use daily to help you see the beauty that life has to offer. So what are gratitude affirmations? Gratitude affirmations are positive statements that you repeat regularly to stay in wise mind and cultivate a mindset of gratitude. There are so many ways you can use gratitude affirmations in your life. For day 7 of this challenge pick one of the ways you feel called to use them below. Then pick some of the affirmations in the graphic to begin using today. I personally love to say mine out loud when I wake up in the morning and before I close my eyes at night.

• Write them in your journal
• Choose a new affirmation for each day of the week, then write it on a post-it note to keep by your desk
• Choose 3 affirmations to focus on each day and say them out loud to yourself
• Set up automated reminders on your phone so you get notified with an affirmation or multiple affirmations throughout the day
• Get creative and draw or write an affirmation in your bullet journal

8. Bonus- Shadow work prompts for deepening your gratitude through journaling

Shadow work through journaling focused on gratitude and what we have to be grateful for can bring about a greater sense of contentment. It encourages you to see the glass as half full, which can have a profound impact on your attitudes and overall perspective of life. It brings you to a place where you are able to let of of fear and meet yourself and your life fully. When we journal and do shadow work based on gratitude it helps you become aware of all the goodness in your life. Even the things you may not see as things to be grateful for right now because they live deep within the shadows of your heart. If you would like to learn more about shadow work you can purchase my eBook here; you can book me for a 1:1 session as your guide here; and you can watch my free class previously taught on it through Divination here.

If you want to deepen your journey with gratitude beyond this challenge you can access these bonus shadow work prompts in my FREE shadow work journal here!

Final Thoughts

Showing appreciation for things doesn’t always look like journaling or making a gratitude list. Sometimes it can be as simple as making a language shift. So instead of saying “I have to do this” and feeling resentful or unexcited, change it to “I get to do this” for an instant positive mindset shift. Remember, you don’t “have” to do anything. No one is forcing you. You are the one in control of the choices you make. You “get” to do what you want to do, so feel excited and grateful for these opportunities and life you get to live each and every day.

Don’t forget to also be grateful for yourself! During this gratitude challenge make sure when you go through each day to include things that are only about you. Being grateful for yourself or anything about you is probably one of the hardest things to be grateful for. I know as a childhood abuse and trauma survivor it is for myself. So, if that is please make sure to make this part a priority. No matter how you feel about yourself or how someone else made you feel. There IS something about yourself that you can find to be grateful for. You just have to look for it. Use this challenge to find it and bring it to light in appreciation.

It’s true what they say: gratitude really does have the power to transform your world. Give it a try, and you might just find yourself, like me, realizing that gratitude was one of the missing pieces all along.