4 Ways To Cultivate a Gratitude Practice + Free Printable

by | Jan 14, 2015 | Family & Motherhood

4 Ways to Cultivate a Gratitude Practice + A Free Printable

I wrote a post last year at this time about beginning a gratitude practice.  I have been actively practicing for about a year and a half now.  Over the year I have found it easier to maintain my practice with these 4 tips that I do.  There is a lot that goes into developing and sustaining a practice but I have been living by this mantra lately:  Start where you are!  I thought I would share with you some of the things I have been doing that I have found help me in hopes that maybe they might help someone else too.  I have also created some printables for my own house that I have chosen to share here.  See below for those.

4 Ways to Cultivate a Gratitude Practice

1.  I made a commitment to recognizing the big and small blessings in my life and committed to writing them down.  I suggest you pick a journal you just love to hold, look at and open.  Here is a picture of my first ever gratitude journal where I began writing my daily 5 gratitude phrases.  I chose it because of the black and white designs with its addition of pink touches.  I love pink! Then I switched over to this Buddha Doodles one which has inspirational quotes and doodles which gives me inspiration for writing or using for my own reflections.

 Gratitude Journals

2.  Commit to a set time and place to write in your journal.  Maybe it is at night right before you go to bed, first thing in the morning, or during a coffee break throughout your day.  Always have your journal and a pen handy.

3.  I sometimes use a book for inspiration and reflection, such as this one Gratitude Prayers: Prayers, Poems, and Prose for Everyday Thankfulness by June Cotner.

 Gratitude Prayers

4.  I put inspiration up around my house.  I find my favourite poems, or prayers on gratitude and display them in my house where I can see it regularly and use the pause in my day to read the poem and also check in with myself.

These are just some of the ways to cultivate a gratitude practice.  Does this mean I always see the glass as half full or see the world only with rose coloured glasses?  No, there are many challenges to practicing gratitude and one is just maintaining the conscious effort it takes to combat negative feelings from arising.  Sometimes we have to let those feels arise and learn how to move through them.  Sometimes I only write superficial phrases that I don’t really feel connected too, but I feel like I have to write something down and other times I can write an in-depth paragraph focused one thing and truly feel connected to it.

If you would like lots of inspiration for living a meaningful life where there are lots of articles on gratitude  The Greater Good Website is a great place to start.

Feel free to download the Gratitude Print for your own home. *For Personal Use Only* You can read my Terms and Conditions Here.

Download Here
Bonnie Dani

Bonnie Dani

CEO of Everything in my life

Bonnie is an admitted book, planner, craft, coffee and chocoholic. She loves sharing her passion for books, journaling, mindfulness, meditation, crafting and gaining confidence in developing our creative souls. Former high school teacher now she is the creator and owner of Adalinc to Life Blog.  You can drop me a message at [email protected]