Even in a good life, bad days exist. It's true, even people who appear to be completely fulfilled and content. As a provider and just a plain ole human, I try to practice what I preach. Often alot of my ideas are from personal experience or a suggestion I gave to a friend or client who in return gave me positive feedback.
Adding an internal gratitude dialog is a proven way to help replace the negative brain chatter with something more positive. Self-talk in any form has to be practiced for it not to feel like another thing on the to-do list. We tend to be experts in the realm of negative self-talk, so as an experiment, flip the script and incorporate some gratitude. When you are feeling down, start to think of things you are grateful for but break it down into tiny aspects of each thing. Thoughts such as "I am grateful I have a roof over my head" or "I have a family who love me" are great but we can quickly run out of such wonderful topics.
This is why I recommend tinier bites of gratitude. Instead of thinking about your entire house, pick one thing in or about your house. "I'm grateful for the way the sun spills into the kitchen in the morning" or "I'm grateful for my water pressure in the shower."
Instead of just saying, "I'm grateful for the people in my life", break that down too. "I'm grateful to hear my baby's giggle". I'm grateful for the way my partner makes me feel safe when they hug me." I'm grateful my supervisor makes me feel heard and supported". "I'm grateful my dog is always happy to see me". You get the idea.
This is just one practice I use with my clients. Is this going to change your life overnight? No. Is this going to change your life in 3 months? Probably not on an astounding level. What the purpose is, is to make small improvements that eventually add up to a big difference. If this practice helps you feel two percent better, then that is two percent in the direction of emotional wellness that wasn't there before.
Warmest,
Blaik
Comments