Gratitude as a Spiritual Practice – Research and Practical Tips

Article by Anna Marks

Have you noticed how reality can suddenly change once you start being grateful?! This act of feeling and communicating your honest appreciation about all your life experiences and opportunities, material possessions, people, your own self and inner growth really attract even more to be grateful for! Being grateful is the shortest way towards positive manifestation.

Gratitude can very easily be transformed into efficient spiritual practice. And this isn’t simply a thought! The research is expanding in this area and starts to explore how gratitude works to improve our overall health – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. For example, in How Gratitude Changes You And Your Brain you can read about the four insights from their research suggesting what might be behind gratitude’s psychological benefits. Or just like Harvard Medical School is saying, Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier! Here you’ll find some other research studies on gratitude and also new ways to cultivate gratitude! Among others, counting your blessings and meditating are presented as efficient ways to develop a gratitude daily routine and refocus on what you have instead of what you lack.

To support you integrating the Reiki principle of Just for Today, I Will Be Grateful into your life, we’re sharing below some practical insights to apply daily and enjoy this power of being grateful!

1. While meditating or doing your self-Reiki sessions, integrate some gratitude questions into your practice like the ones below and let yourself be immersed into all the awareness and healing visualizations they bring along:

What was the biggest gift the universe gave you? What are you most grateful for?
See yourself surrounded by all the blessings received over time – known and unknown. How are you feeling knowing you are so loved? So protected? So nurtured?

2. Create your Reiki Gratitude Tree! Draw or craft your own tree from materials like colored cardboard or felt and on its leaves write things you’re grateful for. Send Reiki to it daily and make sure to add new things on the way. This is a great healing therapy tool and can be build also for different purposes like Reiki Intention Tree or Reiki Expressing Emotions Tree. It gives you such amazing energy and courage just by seeing it!

3. We all seek financial abundance but first, be grateful for the money that is in your life already. Be grateful for your job or other sources of income. Even if you do not like your job at the moment, be grateful for the fact that it helps you stay financially secure. Every time you receive money, no matter how small the amount, be grateful and thank the Universe for it. When you check your bank account statement, thank the Universe for the money that is circulating in your life. Being grateful for what you have not only helps you appreciate and enjoy all that you do have, but it also helps you attract more of it into your life.

Also, affirmations are one of the most powerful tools you can use to change deep-rooted beliefs about money but not limited to this topic. Use the following affirmation or word an affirmation that feels right for you.

“Thank you, Universe, for the abundance of money flowing into my life at all times.”

It can be used in many ways. You can simply send Reiki to it; you can chant it, you can say it in the mirror, you can write it on a piece of paper and draw Sei Hei Ki over it or any other symbols you are guided to. Reiki will work on the affirmation and also on your deep-rooted beliefs about money and heal them.

4. Consciously choose to spread love, by choosing gratitude instead of complaints. Try release more and more this victim consciousness and its ways of expressing and focusing on lacking.

5. Who came into your life this year who you’re grateful for? We invite you to write a gratitude letter to that person! Be honest and open, truly express your gratitude. Make sure you tell them exactly what they did to help you and how much it meant to you. Here you can download a template to use for writing this letter.

6. Create a list of the things you are grateful for in this moment. The chair you’re sitting on, the sun shining through the window, your pet, Reiki healing energy, your family and friends, your health, …
List everything you’re grateful for!

To keep exploring the topic of gratitude from a different perspective and understand how with this new attitude everything can change, here are some extra tips from the Self Development Secrets website to integrate the practice of gratitude into your daily life.

And remember! If your heart is full of gratitude, miracles will happen!

Don’t forget to allow yourself to feel grateful for taking these steps, regardless of the outcome. Whether this method works for you or not, it’s important to thank yourself. Efforts provide results. Always. Even if this effort is a catalyst, leading you to the method(s) that will truly heal you.

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Anna Marks is part of the Reiki Rays Team since 2016. She is a freelance writer and a freelance soul. Although she got in touch with many healing methods and teachings, her journey made her realize we are our own authority and there is only one Truth that unite us all – unconditional love. She has only one thought for you – Learn to love yourself just as much as God loves you. Reach Anna at anna@reikirays.com.