Gratitude
25th November 2021
By Ottilia Unrath
Thanksgiving, a national holiday celebrated in Canada, in the United States, Grenada, Liberia and Saint Lucia is around the corner. It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. In Germany it is the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival, called "Erntedankfest", "Kinro Kansha no Hi" in Japan, and The Harvest Festival in the United Kingdom. We contemplate on Gratitude or Thankfulness in some ways around this time of the year or even every day.
"As we express our Gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -
John F. Kennedy
Our words indeed have power. When we are about to
manifest something positive in life, we say a prayer,
we use positive words, we may offer flowers,
light a candle or an incense stick.
Whatever we do and it feels good and right is perfect.
Consciously avoiding the words:
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someday I will create ...
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maybe next week ...
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I wish I could ...
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I just can't stand ...
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It is too hard ...
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Impossible to ...
Rather than using more frequently:
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I am grateful for ...
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I can do this!
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I have everything I need ...
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I receive the blessings ...
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I do ...
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I achieve anything ...
My dear teacher, Seemaji said, "Delete the I, me and mine! All problems get solved quickly." When I use the sentence, "I can do it!" carefully add to it "Not mine but Thy will be done". Everything works in Divine order.
What are you grateful for?
How do you express your gratitude?
In how many ways and how often do you express your gratitude?
"The systematic study of gratitude in Psychology begann in the late 90's when Martin Seligman introduced positive psychology, which focuses on reinforcing positive traits. The study of gratitude has included the understanding of short term experience of the emotion of gratitude, individual differences and the relationship between these two aspects as well as the therapeutic benefits of gratitude." - David DeSteno: Emotional Success, The Power of Gratitude, Compassion and Pride
My book recommendations for you:
"Authentic Happiness" and "Flourish - A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being" both books by Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.
Some benefits that come from expressing gratitude are: greater optimism, higher self self-esteem, more kindness, more empathy, resilience, more positive emotions even in the face of negativity from other people, better physical health, improved sleep and improved ability to deal with hardships.
Wah! in her book, Self-Care, Building a Smarter, Stronger, More Peaceful Self identified two ingredients "necessary for healing: Space and coherent energy. Space is what allowed cells to release, recalibrate and reconnect. Coherent energy is what builds resonance for a new pattern. When we create space:
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do nothing
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relax your eyes
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sing your favorite song
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pray
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repeat a mantra"
"Find coherent energy by: writing in a gratitude journal, meditating, listening to music"- states my amazing teacher and beautiful friend Wah!
Just put your arms up and breath deeply into your belly a few times. Rub your palms together and place your palms over your open eyes and gaze a few seconds into these calming, dark energy cups.
"When you express gratitude and acknowledge things that are happening to you and around you that are positive, loving and supportive. Sunny weather. Great friends. Family time. Appreciation. Feeling loved. Gratitude allows you to see things as they are. Don't change anything right now. Just find things to be happy about. Abraham-Hicks says you could write a whole journal of positive aspects if you expressed a page of gratitude every day. Start journaling. Start talking about the good stuff."- explains Wah!
When you ask me, what am I grateful for, I would say I am grateful for this precious human life, for the amazing and selfless teachers, for the loving family and friends, for a beautiful home, for clean water, for healthy food, for freedom and for peace.
In Shiatsu and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Triple Warmer meridian protects and nourishes the body by coordinating the three flows - the upper (heart and lungs) , middle (stomach and spleen) and the lower (kidney and bladder). The three different worlds are together in our body as One, as past - present - and future, Earth - Heaven - and Cosmos are One and work together in harmony.
Remind yourself every single day: you live in a beautiful Universe. You are held, protected and loved.
We practice Self-Care, Gratitude and we learn about the meridians (energy lines, chanels in the body) every Monday at 7 pm, Thursdays at 7:30 pm and Saturdays at 6 pm (all times in CET) in the zoom room. Join me for an hour from the comfort and privacy of your home.
Stay safe and well!
Ottilia
