In The Time of Coronavirus

-The Art and Gift of Gratitude

As we all live through this unprecedented time of pandemic and uncertainty, it would seem that life as we knew it, is now on pause. Depending on individual circumstance, each of us are facing challenge. Whether that be fear about health, money, work, relationships, perhaps all of us are noticing the effect of all that on our physical or mental well-being. 

So it may seem strange to be even contemplating putting your focus on gratitude, and you might understandably be asking what on earth is there to be grateful for. Instead, consider why you should you be experiencing a level of gratitude in these times.

Quite simply, because it’s good for you, and you’ll feel much better. Experiencing that feeling of gratitude is good for your well-being. So let’s look at that first.

You will find a wealth of research online about the physiological effects of emotions, or feelings. The HeartMath Institute is prominent in this field (www.heartmath.org) .We are all familiar with the effects of fear on the body such as a racing heart, or dry mouth; perhaps we are less familiar with what feeling grateful does to your body.

GRATITUDE IS GOOD FOR YOUR MIND

Gratitude activates the hypothalamus in our brain, which regulates important functions including appetite, temperature, metabolism and sleep. Dopamine is also released, bringing a pleasant sense of well-being. As the quality and duration of sleep improves, our stress levels reduce, which is proven to improve immunity. All good reasons to say ‘Thank you’ more often.

RESISTANCE TO GRATITUDE

Yet gratitude is not an entirely natural characteristic. One of the blocks to gratitude is a certain egoic arrogance that, somehow, we deserve “more” than we have, and this is linked to an inability to feel happy for the success of others. But constantly comparing ourselves to others is exhausting, and only leads to our own unhappiness.

In survival terms, there is no point to being grateful. We are programmed to not be satisfied with what we have or who we are. So we have to always acquire more. We desire a bigger house and a better car to ‘better’ ourselves, a trait which society encourages. We can’t allow ourselves to be grateful for that recent promotion, because we are already coveting the boss’s job. It is not possible to be grateful when we are always thinking of “the next step.”

And that brings us to a very important point: you can only experience gratitude in the present moment. Certainly not in the future, and you can only remember that feeling of gratitude for something that occurred in the past. So the art of appreciation requires an element of mindfulness, in order to fully experience the present moment.

For some, gratitude is associated with a sense of obligation or guilt, which may be a cultural influence. As a child, my mother would admonish me for not eating everything on my plate. Wasting food when other children around the world were starving was simply being ungrateful. Feeling guilty, I would then have to eat something I really didn’t like. Gratitude is definitely not allied to guilt!

Gratitude is not imposed, but arises naturally in the heart.

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WHAT YOU GIVE, YOU RECEIVE.

Would it surprise you to know that gratitude is profoundly linked to the pure joy of Life itself, and that the cultivation of gratitude can be an advanced spiritual practice?

CULTIVATING GRATITUDE

Establishing gratefulness often starts in the mind, and then moves down into the heart. Thus it begins with the intention, and then we establish a habit to train the mind. So every morning and evening, allocate 5 or 10 minutes to consider what you are grateful for, and write it down. As you reflect on what you are grateful for, be aware of how this makes you feel. Become familiar with the feeling and absorb it.

Gratitude that stays as a cognitive process is quite superficial, and it is not until you start to feel it that it becomes alive and tangible.

If you have a meditation practice, bring gratitude into your meditations, and again, as you meditate on an aspect of the day for which you are truly grateful, notice how it makes you feel, and start to notice the energetic signature of gratitude. You may experience a softening and opening of the heart, and a release of energetic blockages, and feel the life-force flowing through you. Become very familiar with this, so it becomes a part of you, and part of your energetic signature. When this happens, you have embodied it. Gratitude as an essence, a quality, an energy, a certain vibration, can become a part of who you are. Through an alchemical process it changes you physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. It becomes a part of your presence, and in this way it becomes a gift not only for yourself but to those around you who can feel the grace of it and immediately feel at ease.

SEE LIFE THROUGH THE PRISM OF GRATITUDE

With regular daily practice, the quality of gratitude deepens and strengthens and fills your whole being with radiance. You experience inner peace, and start to understand that gratitude IS that connection to Life itself. You begin to understand and appreciate the love that life bestows on us. 

Gratitude goes hand in hand with love, and where one is the other must be found . For gratitude is but an aspect of the Love which is the Source of all creation

A Course in Miracles

And when experiencing challenge and great difficulty, you dig deeper to find and feel the gratitude for smaller things. It could be the soft wind on your face, the warmth of the sun, the birdsong, a cup of tea. Anything that continues the connection to that state of aliveness. The spiritual strength that you’ve created through this connection enables you to find courage, faith and trust. Ultimately you and I understand that life happens for us, not to us. 

Even when it may not appear to be so, know that  all is well.

Peace,

Carole Atman