S2 E23 The Remedy

We are all about gratitude over here-- in fact, we do a gratitude segment on our instagram page every Thursday (AND last year, we recorded episode 74 on how gratitude cures-it-all.) We will shout it from the roof-tops because we are such big believers in the power of gratitude! Science shows that people who are grateful: sleep better experience more joy are mentally and physically healthier have higher self-esteem are more resilient in challenging life circumstances Gratitude boosts all that is good, and takes the edge off of all that is difficult; we like to think of it as "emotional ibuprofen." Today's takeaways: MIND: Know that being grateful and wanting more is not a conflict. Being grateful for what we have and simultaneously wanting more is how we are designed to progress (in fact, it’s how we are taught to pray). When we want from a place of gratitude, our desires can be a guide, or a pointer in the direction of what we can offer the world. It can steer us in the toward our natural talents, instincts, or gifts that we can both enjoy and share with the world. Feeling guilty for wanting something only keeps us where we are. It prevents progress. BODY: Practice creating the physical feeling of gratitude. Gratitude has the potential to become a habit; the more we practice, the stronger the neural pathways become and it gets easier to “default” to gratitude. Consider how it feels in the body, and how we are the creators of that feeling (whether it comes intentionally or not). I feel gratitude largely in my heart or chest area-- it’s where the tangible parts of life and the non-tangible parts meet. (Earth and heaven come together here.) Listen to hear as April shares her experience getting to a sincere place when needing to offer an important apology; she has found herself making a list reasons why she's grateful for the other person, shifting thoughts and feelings to an entirely different experience. It takes mental effort, but it tangibly shifts the experience in the body and makes all the difference in the world. PURPOSE: Start today becoming the person you eventually want to be. (Quote from Dieter Uchtdorf) Rather than thinking we'll eventually have more wisdom or eventually be "that" kind of person, gratitude helps us begin now to experience the future version of ourselves, as we simultaneously experience our current circumstances. It's like having "one foot" in our current experience and another "foot" in the grounded place of peace and love and gratitude, aware of who we are being. It brings perspective wether we are experiencing something beautiful or something difficult.