With some of us having just celebrated Easter, I felt it was timely to pause on the benefits of gratitude practice for positive mindset.

With capitalist commercialism driving our lifestyles, it’s easy to focus on what we don’t have, rather than what we already do have.

As we know, what we focus on we manifest. So focusing on our lack in life – whether real or perceived – keeps us in a perpetual mindset of insecurity, inferiority, not being good enough.

The truth is, if we look around us, we have much to be grateful for. Mother Earth, for starters, and her bountiful gifts of life, food and water. Then there’s the intangible gifts of family bonds, friendship, health, vitality, and love.

Focusing on goodness in our lives can be soulfully beneficial for balancing mind, body and spirit.

One benefit of gratitude practice is that it provides context to our lives. We are able to see our lives as the whole sum of its parts, including both the good and bad, rather than obsessing on just the bad. With a more balanced view, we are better able to appreciate our current lot in life.

A second benefit of gratitude practice is that it nurtures positive mindset. By turning our attention to the gifts in our lives, we cultivate an attitude of abundance, contentment and joy. As we project these vibes externally, we attract more of the same to further enrich our lives with the things that really matter.

A third benefit of gratitude practice is that it shifts our minds to the ‘now’. As we zero in on the delicious smell of a fragrant flower or the warmth of the sun’s touch we are not troubled by our past nor anxious about our future. We are mindful, in the moment, calm and clear.

An effective way to cultivate gratitude is through gratitude journaling. Identifying three things that we’re grateful for every day will help to lift our overall mood within just three weeks.

The trick is to incorporate this practice into our morning or evening routines so that it becomes an automated habit. ?