We are ready for part 2 of our series on mindfulness for hoopers. Did you try my 5 minute hooping meditation? Today, we are going to talk about gratitude and how we can add it into our hoop practice.
What is Gratitude?
Gratitude itself has two pieces. When these pieces come together, the practice can have tremendous benefits. People who practice gratitude can have more positive emotions, feel less lonely or isolated, have higher quality sleep, and even be less bothered by aches and pains. Just think back to Samwise on the journey to Mount Doom. He was so resilient to walking all day and sleeping on the ground. That terrain had to be tough even on his hobbit feet! Don’t we all ultimately want to be as hardy as a halfling?
The first piece of gratitude is acknowledging the good things in your life. This is the standard “count your blessings” that I learned. When I was younger, I tried keeping a gratitude journal. I would list off five things that I was thankful for every single day. Turns out, it didn’t make me more grateful. Instead it just turned into a mindless chore to do every day, and I got bored and stopped. Focusing on the good things we have in life can help us focus on the here and now and step out of negative thought patterns. But the second part of gratitude is what really drives it.
The second piece is to recognize the sources of the goodness we identified. A lot of the time, these sources are outside of ourselves. Whether you believe in a higher power, the power of your friends and family, or both, there are so many gifts bestowed on us that are from no direct action of our own. Within this recognition, we can find the idea of “paying it forward” or showing our gratitude through a selfless act towards someone else. One of my favorite ways to do this is through a “gratitude jar.” It’s a change jar that you fill with spare change, but when it’s full, you donate it to a charity or to someone you know in need. It is a simple way to add meaning and altruism to an everyday action.
We are going to have a chance to practice gratitude later, but before that, I want to touch on when gratitude doesn’t work.
When Gratitude Backfires
Gratitude sounds simple, but sometimes it’s not. There are some very real challenges to practicing gratitude, and we need to acknowledge them. If you try out gratitude but instead feel worse, you are not alone. We all have different experiences and personalities. and sometimes that manifests in uncomfortable ways.
<Mama Ellie Mode>If you struggle with negative thoughts and feelings and can reach out, please seek professional help. I’m going to give some general guidance here, but, for some people, these practices can trigger hurtful spirals. I trust you to take the best care of yourself that you can. </Mama Ellie Mode>
Sometimes, gratitude can make you feel even worse. Make sure you identify the difference between gratitude and guilt or indebtedness. Sometimes, seeing someone do something nice for you can make you feel even anxious or resentful. For example, if you have a mentor or parent who has given far more than you feel like you can repay, you might feel worse when you try to be grateful for them. To overcome the feelings of being a burden, try investing in yourself. When people give you their time, energy, or expertise, you can give back through your successes. If they believe in you enough to provide you good things, you can earn good things for yourself, I promise.
Another way gratitude can backfire is if you do too much too quickly. Remember when I said I used to write five things I was thankful for every single night? I didn’t let myself repeat things, either. That means in one single week, I had to come up with 35 things I was grateful for! No wonder I got burnt out. Journaling once per week or daily for two weeks showed the most positive results in this study. If you’re new to gratitude, just try once a week to start. It is absolutely possible to burn yourself out on gratitude.
Gratitude + YoU
Ready to start your own gratitude practice? I encourage you to find a way to be grateful that works for you. Get creative! If you want to write down a few things you are thankful for before beginning your flow session, that’s great! I love the idea of writing them down on a slip of paper, then putting them into a jar. That way on a day that you’re feeling down, you can read through them and remember the good times.
xx
Ellie