Day 34: Grow Your Gratitude

The fact you’ve made it to Step 5 says a lot about how motivated you are to approach this time of change with more acceptance. Take a moment to reflect on this and thank yourself for sticking with the journey.

You are amazing and you deserve to feel better about your menopause journey every day, not just for the time it takes to move through these steps.

So how would you like to learn a simple practice today that’s not only scientifically proven to boost your happiness by 25%, but also improve your energy, sleep and motivation?

That’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?

By the end of this step, you’ll know exactly how to change how you feel before you’ve even had breakfast.

Your fifth step is Grow Your Gratitude. The science backed approach to changing your experience from the inside out.

Let’s face it, menopause can be hard.

Depending on your situation, it can creep up out of nowhere or hit you over the head overnight. Without warning, your sleep patterns change, you become a human furnace, your hair and skin no longer behave and you feel like a different woman. Not in a good way.

And yet, as you’ve discovered through this course, this time also offers gifts and opportunities. From the esoteric to the more basic, such as maybe being able to finally wear white jeans without worrying!

What if you could retrain your brain to notice the good more than it notices the bad?

What if you had a simple way to keep growing your Mind Garden, by starting each day feeling more positive?

Let’s explore how.

If you’ve had a challenging day, gratitude is probably the last thing on your mind. It’s so easy to get caught up in the cycle of negative thoughts, not because you’re failing at life, but because you’re human.

Your attitude is fundamental to your mental and physical health. Emotions and tension hugely impact your energy, and they change according to how you perceive things.

Robert Emmons, the leading researcher on gratitude, has proved that gratitude has the power to shift your life in incredible ways. It’s not just a practice that makes you feel good in the moment – it’s one that fundamentally changes your brain.

Chronic stress arising from more negative attitudes sends you into flight or fight mode, upsetting your body’s hormone balance even more than it already is. Not only does this dampen down your ability to feel happy and fulfilled, it also drains your energy.

The good news is that just as you can change your brain negatively, you can also change it positively.

Science has shown that the areas of the brain associated with positive feelings light up in those who practice gratitude. The stronger your gratitude muscles, the more ease you’ll feel – even in times of change.

Gratitude isn’t about pretending everything in life is rosy when it feels the exact opposite – your brain is too clever to be fooled by that. It’s a way of ensuring that when things are getting you down, you don’t forget the positives.

Gratitude changes your state from the inside out, so you’re less reliant on your external circumstance to define your state.

The science is unequivocal – growing your gratitude is one of the simplest ways to improve your life on a daily, exponentially powerful basis.

The best way to grow your gratitude is to build your gratitude muscles one small step at a time.

The following practices are small, yet powerful ways, to grow your gratitude daily before breakfast. They take little time, require minimal effort and can make a big difference.

Your first step is Start Your Day Intentionally

Think about how your day usually starts.

Does it begin by checking your phone, then tumbling down the social media rabbit hole? Or do other people’s agendas dictate how your day begins?

No matter what your circumstances are, this step will change how you start each day, before the rest of the world gets a look in.

As soon as you wake up every day, silently say ‘Thank you for another day, in which I get to live, love, laugh and play.’

As you say these words, feel how lucky you are to have another day here on planet Earth.

This statement evokes a genuine sense of gratitude in your system before you’ve even got out of bed. It will set you up positively for your hours, days and weeks ahead.

Repeated daily, it builds exponentially, shifting you from feeling powerless about your circumstances, to feeling lighter and brighter even on the bad days.

Your second step is to Adopt The Shower Reframe

What does your current shower or bath routine look like?

Do you quickly jump in the shower, turn the water on, mindlessly shampoo yourself and jump out again as soon as possible, so you can start your day?

The Shower Reframe is a simple mindset shift that will grow your gratitude in an instant. Even when you’re in a hurry.

Instead of letting your mind take you into rumination as you shower, imagine instead that each drop of water is a precious gift, literally showering you with positive vibes for your day.

Even if your day goes pear-shaped later, at least you start out appreciative!

Your final step is so simple, it’s easier to do, than not to. This step is soothe your skin with gratitude.

Like many of us, you might have found you have to apply moisturiser to your face all the time these days. Your skin’s structure is changing because you have less collagen, so it’s likely you already have a daily routine you can use to grow your gratitude.

When you’re ready to apply your moisturiser, inwardly thank whoever made it, for helping you have softer skin. As you smooth the moisturiser into your face, breathe it in and thank all those involved in bringing it to you.

This daily practice, like the others, will grow your gratitude without effort.

If you forget these steps on any day, remember you can begin again the next one. Over time, they’ll boost your ability to embrace change. Keep it simple, be kind to yourself and trust the process.