You’ve probably heard of both meditations and affirmations, though you may be uncertain of just what they are and how they work. They may even seem a bit too new age or woo-woo for you, it was for me at first, but don’t underestimate their power just yet. I can honestly tell you that practicing gratitude meditations and affirmations have changed my life.
These two practices are actually quite simple to add to your daily routine or even to use in a particularly stressful moment to gain perspective. Gratitude meditations in particular can be beneficial in chaotic moments, and contrary to what you might think, can work wonders in just a few minutes.
Lets talk about how you can use gratitude meditations and affirmations to boost your spirit anytime!
What Are Meditations?
A meditation is really just a practice of taking some quiet time to be mindful and focus your attention on a particular thought or issue. It’s a moment of silent reflection that focuses you on the here and now – grounding you back into a positive mindset.
Gratitude meditations involve focusing your thoughts on being grateful for the particulars of your life or situation, even the ones that may not seem so positive. Your gratitude journaling can be considered a meditation, even. Any contemplative, purposeful time spent focused on being grateful can fall into this category.
What Are Affirmations?
Affirmations are short, concise and positive sentences that are meant to purposefully affect the ways in which we think and feel. These can be in both conscious and unconscious ways. Everyday I choose a new affirmation to focus on for the day. It’s become one of my favorite parts of my morning.
What we think greatly influences how we feel and behave. Introducing these positive messages into your life on a regular basis can help you to internalize them and begin living accordingly. Gratitude affirmations focus specifically on being grateful and appreciative.
How to Use Them:
Both meditation and affirmation are easy to put into practice. They can be used almost any time and anywhere. When you think of meditation, a long, intensive ritual may come to mind. In actuality, you don’t need to spend a lot of time meditating in order to reap the benefits.
Simply sitting quietly for a few minutes and contemplating on what you’re grateful for can help to center you and to provide new perspective, which often will lead to feeling better.
If you want something more structure or have more time, you can look up guided gratitude meditations online or grab a meditation app to try (and I’ve got a whole lot I can recommend!) When it comes to affirmations, a good practice might be to combine them with your gratitude journal. Write down positive messages that apply to your life and help to inspire or motivate you.
Perhaps you want to keep them in a separate journal or store them online. Then you can pull out your collection of affirmations for a pick-me-up when you need one.
Gratitude meditations and affirmations are simple tools that offer a big return. They take only a few minutes to practice, and you really don’t need any special equipment.
Give them a try when you feel you could use an injection of gratitude in your life.
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