One Perfect Moment Gratitude Meditation

Gratitude is good for us. Studies have consistently found that it increases measures of psychological wellbeing, decreases feelings of depression and anxiety, improves social connections, emotional regulation and is likely to increase feelings of motivation too! Yep, gratitude is pretty much a magic potion for feeling good.

But if you’re not the hippy-dippy type, then gratitude meditations and gratitude journals can feel a little off-putting and… well, kinda weird. That’s why we’ve developed a new gratitude exercise especially for those who feel uncomfortable expressing thanks, journaling, meditating or who simply have trouble noticing the positive things in life.

If you look at any moment in the right way, it can be super-simple to focus on the good. That’s the basis of all gratitude, but this exercise removes all the complex steps and makes it about one thing. Now. The beauty of this exercise is you don’t need any tools, you don’t need a journal, a pen… anything. And, you can do it anywhere, anytime.

Just follow these simple steps:

1. You don’t need to close your eyes if you don’t want to, but it can help you to focus.

2. Become aware of your breathing. Breathe in and breathe out.

3. As you breathe in and out, become aware of your body.

4. Now focus on the present moment. Where are you? What are you doing? What surrounds you?

5. As you become aware of the present moment, notice the little things that make it awesome. The things that make this moment PERFECT.
6. Now, as they come to mind, mentally list everything that you are grateful for or thankful for. Let your train-of-thought take charge – let your mind wander and jump from one thing to another. It doesn’t matter what order you list things in or whether you mention items more than once, or if they seem strange to be grateful for.

Just think about everything that’s great about this specific place and time.

If you’re at work, it might go a little something like this:

“I am grateful that I have a job. I am very lucky to have a job. I am grateful for my laptop. Chairs are awesome! How weird would life be without chairs? I’m very thankful for coffee. I love social media. It connects me with people who are far away.

This moment is perfect because: I have a job that affords me the freedom to spend my free time as I wish, I have a beautiful home that makes me feel comfortable and safe, I have a gorgeous family that I love, I have spare money to spend on food and coffee and clothes. This moment is perfect because the sun is shining, I am comfortable and safe, I’m healthy and happy, I have friends and family who love me.

Right now, I’m grateful for water. I love that chai tea exists. I’m thankful for granola, rice crackers,  90s rap, dishwashers and my cat. (Gee, her fur is soft!) I’m also lucky that I have comfortable shoes. And finally, I’m very thankful that I’ve found a way of life that works for me.”

Do you see how simple that was? The person in the above example just listed 22 things that she is grateful for right now. And she didn’t have to look like a hippie while she was doing it. There was zero eye closing, nada weird breathing, and no journal. Just a mental list of everything that’s awesome right now.

The more you practise this exercise, the simpler it will get and the more easily you’ll be able to list things that are fan-bloody-tastic about life, right now.

We’d love to hear how you went with this exercise, so please leave us a quick comment to let us know!