011: Gratitude and Appreciation

Spiritual Awakening - Expanding Times Fireside Chats

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Meister Eckhart

If there were ONE single thing you could do whenever your vibration needs a polish, practising gratitude and appreciation would be it.Because we thought it was time to give you some more tools to help raise your vibration...and gratitude and appreciation are so fundamental and easy to practise ... we are spending this week and next in our podcasts exploring them. We've both found practicing an 'Attitude of Gratitude' to be primordial in helping us both have our energy expand and our vibration scintillate!

If you want to live an empowered life, it’s crucial to recognise the consequence of accepting responsibility for whatever is going on in your life. ALL OF IT!!You have to become grateful for EVERYTHING that’s showing up because YOU attracted it on some level and this can be VERY challenging to accept!

All the events, conditions and circumstances that you’re currently experiencing in your life are the result of the thoughts and emotions you’ve chosen either consciously, or more likely unconsciously, sometime in the past.

It’s as a result of those thoughts and emotions that you are experiencing whatever you currently are. Remember, YOU are the one that thinks your thoughts. Your thoughts do not think you.

Similarly, the emotions you are experiencing serve as a barometer and are a reflection of the quality of thoughts that you are thinking. The way you feel is a direct indication of the balance of your emotions, so if you want to feel better, switch your attention to something you could feel good about.

Practise an ‘attitude of gratitude’...WHY......Well many studies show that when we consciously nurture feelings of gratitude it can increase levels of well-being and happiness among those of us who practise it regularly... it becomes a new habit and interrupts pernicious patterns of negative thinking and fear.In addition, grateful thinking is associated with increased levels of energy, optimism, and empathy."We are what we repeatedly DO. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a HABIT" – Aristotle - Neuroplasticity: Is one of the most popular areas of research in psychology these days and refers to the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout our life. It allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. Neuroplasticity is a fancy way of saying that our brains can change. That we are not victims of our neurons or genes. We are empowered creators of our mental states. The erroneous belief that we are "set in stone" can stop people from trying to change and take away their responsibility. Spreading the knowledge about our brain’s ability to change can alter the way our culture approaches emotions, attitudes, and values.It is on account of the brain's neuroplasticity that we are also able to retrain our neurons to behave differently and change a habit in around 21 days by teaching ourselves to do things differently.ALL THE GREAT TEACHERS TODAY TELL US THAT GRATITUDE IS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO ABUNDANCE.... and we wholeheartedly agree!So tune in today as we chat about the how's and why's of being grateful. Gratitude has the rather extraordinary power to change just about every aspect of life - in very surprising ways. When gratitude is practiced relationships are transformed, dissatisfaction is minimised, and happiness levels go through the roof! This effect is profound and long lasting because, essentially, gratitude rewires the brain to see and process the world differently.And remember, if you’re enJOYing the shows, please do subscribe to our series so you never miss an episode! Also, we’d love to have you rate and review the podcast if you enjoyed it. That really helps us to spread the word and expand our community of awakening souls.