I Tried A Gratitude Diary For 60 Days And It Transformed My Every Day Thoughts

With benefits such as improved physical and mental health, as well as a more positive outlook on life, there’s no wonder that the simple act of being grateful for what you have, not only growing in popularity but it is also being scientifically studied as to how it changes our brains and our physical health.

Read on to find out how we discovered the magic of such a small act first hand.

 

 

Last summer our co-founder Stefanie started a gratitude diary. This is what she said about it:

“I was feeling pretty overwhelmed last summer with life - just the mental load of two kids under 3, very little childcare and a busy home and work life. I started a gratitude journal. I had read for years about writing down 3 things you’re grateful for every day, but in the past I'd found that to be a bit of a stretch, so I wrote down one line a day for the whole summer. The results were astonishing. Then recently I was feeling a bit meh. A bit of winter blues. A bit ‘pre-holiday crawl to the finish line’. You know the feeling. Then I realised, I’d dropped off my gratitude practice a couple of months prior. As soon as I started again, I found balance again. I felt less negative. I could see the good in everything. 

“Such simple things make such a huge difference. Honestly? The person that I’ve become in the last year and the practices that I have put in place, I would have to entirely rewrite my 5 Ways To Well, because I rely on such different, basic things to keep my wellbeing in check these day”.

Here are 4 Ways That Gratitude Practice Can Change Your Daily Life

 

It Makes You Look For The Good In Every Day

When you start a gratitude practice, you are aware that you need to note things you are grateful for and so you start thinking more positively about things that you may otherwise have missed. 

Stef: “I was constantly looking for good things that I could write down. It made me more alert to things that would otherwise have maybe been swallowed up by day to day little stresses, that I would naturally notice more because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed generally with life and kids and home etc. This made me slow down and notice small things that made me smile. It makes you think more positively throughout the whole day.”

 

It Reminds You Of What Is Important

Many people also notice that the things they are grateful for are in fact always the small things that are right in front of you, that you may miss if you weren't paying attention. 

Stef says: “I found that my family and people’s acts of kindness were the biggest recurring things that I wrote down. When my partner took the kids for a couple of hours so that I could do some writing or have a lie down after a busy week. When my kids were crowding my personal space, I noticed that all they wanted to do was to spend time with me and all I had to do was surrender to receiving that love (and unpack the dishwasher later!).”

 

It Lowers Stress & Anxiety Levels

All of this slowing down and thinking more positively has a huge effect on the body directly. Studies have shown that it lowers blood pressure, which means the heart beats slower which calms your nervous system which in turn not only makes you feel mentally calmer, but calms your physical body as well. 

Stef: “I just gradually started to feel like I could tackle the day more. I was almost crowding out stresses in my brain by welcoming in more good little moments. I felt calmer. And I also realised that nothing was changing except my attitude to my day to day life, which in turn made me feel grateful - and happier. I didn't want to stop noticing all the good!”

 

It Helps You To Connect With Others Around You

When you are more positive, other people naturally pick up on it. Children feel it from their parents. Family, friends & colleagues naturally up the positivity when you start to show it. 

“I found that the more I verbalised my practice, the more people joined in with something they noticed was good that day. I also found myself thanking people more for things - and not just keeping the gratitude in my head (I’m guilty of this sometimes, dispute being someone who talks a lot!) And it’s rubbing off too. Just the other day my partner thanked me for going with him to a kids activity that didn't really need both of us in a practical sense. But we were happy to be going together as a family - and we verbalised it.”

 

 

Here are a few ideas for how you can start your own gratitude practice:

• Write down one thing a day, like Stefanie did.

• Gather the family and encourage everyone at the dinner table to say one thing they were grateful for that day.

• Think of 3 things that made you happy each day when you turn the light off at night. 

• Habit stack one positive thought when you boil the kettle in the morning.

• Spread the positivity by verbalising when you are grateful for something someone has done for you. Their reaction will give you something else to smile about.