Do You Know The Two Emotions That Mess Us Up The Most?

Did you know that the two emotions that mess us up the most are anger and fear?

American author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and life coach Anthony Robbins reminds us…

You can’t be grateful and angry simultaneously. Gratitude’s the antidote!

Buddhist monks are also in on the secret as they begin each day with a chant of gratitude simply for the blessings of their life.

Gratitude is not just about being grateful for all the good things that have happened or are happening in your life. It’s also largely about having a grateful heart for the things in your life that aren’t going so well.

Often, we realize some time later that these moments of challenge were actually offering us opportunities to learn and grow as individuals.

Whilst some may find it difficult to comprehend, Tibetan monks regularly offer up prayers of deep gratitude for the suffering they have been given for example:

Grant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.

The aim of which is to arrive at a truly joyous and compassionate way of being, regardless of any situation that arises.

Gratitude is not sentimental, nor is it jealous or judgmental. It doesn’t compare or envy others, it simply is a deep offering of thanks for every thing we have available to us from the day we are born.

Gratitude meditation or other chosen moments of thankfulness practiced regularly build upon one another and so as your own personal feelings of gratitude grow, it gives rise to deeper and deeper feelings of joy.

And this dear friends, is when we can share it out to friends, family, our communities and indeed the rest of the world should we choose to.

While some people might still think of meditation as sitting in a darkened room, in a lotus or other meditative pose, you’ll be pleased to hear gratitude meditation doesn’t have to be.

It can actually be practiced in a variety of ways that you may find refreshingly simple as it’s so easy to include into daily life.

The best thing is, the results of practicing this kind of meditation can be felt fairly quickly, even to brand new meditators.

Whilst the majority of us understand the significance of a grateful heart, it doesn’t mean that we practice feeling grateful as often as we could. For those who do however, it’s a life changer!

At Thanksgiving…

Why not kick start your day with a deeply rewarding gratitude meditation.

If it’s not possible to make time in the morning, last thing at night works wonderfully well.

It’s a powerful practice to end any day with and to take into sleep with you. As this is the time when your subconscious really gets to work on processing the days events and emotions triggered throughout.

TRY Deepak Chopra’s guided gratitude meditation for yourself. You’ll find it’s absolutely perfect for both beginners and seasoned meditators alike:

We can practice gratitude for those magical moments of goodness felt throughout the day, our health, the smile from a stranger, the beauty of nature and so on.

With daily practice, you’ll find there’s no end to the list of seemingly simple things we can be thankful for each and every day, that we have in the past taken for granted.

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love… –  Marcus Aurelius

Just as we can practice gratitude meditation for ourselves, we can also be grateful for the blessings of others.  To this, we can visualize them in our mind’s eye and really feel the natural joy you have for their well-being and happiness.

Much like Loving Kindness meditation, gratitude meditation wishes for others might look like this:

May you be joyful.
May your happiness increase.
May you be surrounded by love and kindness.
May you enjoy moments of deep gratitude regularly.

You may extend these wishes out to those you are only acquainted with and even those you tend to avoid.

As with Loving kindness meditation you must fill your own cup first if you’re going to truly mean what you say.

What better gift could you offer yourself and extend out to others this thanksgiving? And why stop at one day of the year?

Imagine if thanksgiving became an everyday celebration! It’s your choice!