Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions to set your soul on fire. How to practice gratitude is easy, but – like anything else – you have to practice it.

Gratitude is defined as “the state of being grateful“. Being in a state is defined as “mode or condition of being”

The condition of being grateful – that is what we are looking for when we practice gratitude.

It isn’t just enough to say “I am thankful for my life”. We all are. If you truly want to get into a state of gratefulness, you need to develop the condition of being grateful.

Gratitude is a whole-body feeling. As the thought of what you are grateful comes into the mind, all the senses should fire as well, fully engulfing you in that state of gratefulness. You should feel it vibrating throughout your entire body.

How to Practice Gratitude

When practicing gratitude, it is very similar to a practice of meditation in the sense you calm your mind, get into a new state, and be in that moment. And be with all your being.

It’s hard to do the first time out. That is what, like meditation or yoga, it is called a practice. The more you do it, the better you get. The better you get, the deeper into the practice you go. The deeper you go, the more you want to do it.

Here is my daily (usually in the mornings after my kids are off at school) practice that I go through.

1. Find a quiet, relaxing spot. My spot is outside on our deck. This shady spot has the perfect combination of peacefulness, nature-filled sounds of birds and wind through the trees, and just enough of that morning coolness to really put me into a state of relaxation. Find YOUR spot. Don’t pick a spot that stress usually comes from (office, kitchen, etc). Try to get outside, or at least – find a place inside where you know you can relax.
2. Keep the phone far away from you. You need to be the moment. Every beep, ping, updated that comes from your phone is a hit of stress, which you are trying to rid your body of. If you are outside – keep it inside. And take off your Apple Watch too – any sort of distraction.
3. Get into a relaxed state. This one has to be unique to you. Whatever you do to relax, do this here. Some take deep breathes. Some just need to settle for a moment. Some do a whole-body relaxation exercise. Others (like me) find that just sitting in the silence with my morning coffee does the trick. Whatever it is for you – you do you.
4. Find a grateful moment. Once you are relaxed, think about the past 24 hours. If you are doing this in the morning, this essentially is yesterday. If you are doing this at night, it is the day you just had. Think of a moment in the past 24 hours that you are grateful. Maybe something good happened at work. Maybe you had a moment with your spouse that made you realize what you fell in love with her. Maybe you had a moment with your kids. Maybe you came across some money. Maybe something manifested into your life. Whatever it is – bring it to mind. Only one thing – sometimes we spend too much of this practice thinking of multiple – just pick one.
5. Get into the state of gratefulness. Experience that moment again. Fully get into like you are playing it over again. Feel all the feelings – what are you seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, tasting. Get it all in. You should feel a lightness being in this state. A smile will come over you. Get into this state – and just be.
6. State the gratefulness. Here is something I like to do which really frames up this exercise. State your gratefulness. As you are experiencing that state, once you get into the state and are fully there, state out loud why this moment is a gratitude moment for you. This anchors the moment, telling your mind to look out for these moments because of the reason you stated.
7. Repeat. Depending on how much time you have to do this exercise, do it again. Think of another moment in the past 24 hours, or extend it to the past week, or the past month. And get back into that state with another memory. And just keep on repeating.

Ideally, you want to do this as long as you can as often as you can. Life has to move on, so you cannot do this all day. But if you have 5 minutes, do one. If you have 30 minutes, get a few more in. If you can do this twice a day – great! If you can squeeze your 5 minutes in after your lunch break – do it!

Why is Gratitude Important?

As we go through life, working our way forward, manifesting a constant better life, improving ourselves, and the world we live in, it is very easy to get caught up in only what we want, what we are working toward, and what we are doing to get to the next level. Gratitude brings us back to nowhere – this moment, which is the most important moment you have because it is the only moment you have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet. You have NOW.

It reminds us that, although we are working towards more, we have blessings now in our life. We have joyous and happy moments. We have pieces being put together NOW as we work with the universe to bring the other pieces of our manifestations into our lives. That is why it is important. It keeps us grounded and focused in the moment, which is the best place to be.