Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner and is often a meaningful annual celebration of blessings and gratitude shared with loved ones and delicious food. The need to express gratitude is a powerful and universal human sensation that is beneficial to our emotional and spiritual well-being.
It is important to stimulate our minds with positive thinking and affirmations, which involves repeatedly reciting a phrase to yourself to strengthen and reinforce the positive thoughts you want to have. Some examples of affirmations would be:
“I am grateful and happy to be who I am.”
“I am grateful for all the love that surrounds me and happily give it back.”
“I am thankful for the abundance of food on the table and blessed to share it with the people around me.”
Now, you might ask yourself “why and how do affirmations work? I certainly don’t feel great.” Well, have you heard of the phrase “Fake it, till you make it”? That’s right, the same concept applies to affirmations!
Affirmations work because the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality. So even though we are saying these phrases, the subconscious mind wants to make a truth out of it. The best way to achieve this is while being in a relaxed, hypnotic and meditative state. During this state we are between wake and sleep. Affirmations will penetrate your subconscious mind while you’re going to bed or starting to doze off.
One great tip for affirmations to optimally work at its best is when we put them in the form of a question:
“Why am I so grateful and happy to be who I am?”
“How is it that I’m so grateful?”
Do you feel the difference? When we do this, there is an innate desire for our mind to start figuring out the answers. Even though you may not feel it in this present moment, there must have been a moment in your life for when you did experience such feelings. When you focus on that memory, sit in that moment where the abundance was felt. The beauty of life is the ability to create experiences, memories, and appreciation of all the small things that form a bigger picture in the end.
The magnitude of showing gratitude has also been linked to improving quality of life as those who are grateful tend to have lower blood pressure, less stress, and more energy. When you are grateful, you demonstrate humility, good manners, build strong relationships and nurture current ones.
There are two ways of gratitude. It is feeling it and showing it. Often, we are prone to speaking negatively than in positive ways. Therefore, by having that awareness of expressing gratitude for something that someone has done is important.
What prevents us from having gratitude?
Negative thinking.
When we are too focused on negative thoughts, we forget to be grateful. The more we can release the negative thinking from our minds, the more gratitude we will feel. Being grateful to yourself is the essence of self-love.
So then, if being positive and grateful feels so good, why on earth does my mind go to negative thoughts??? Quit simple. Our subconscious minds are programmed to keep us safe, out of danger, free of conflict. By thinking the worst – there’s a lion lurking around the corner – we are prepared to take action. Additionally, our subconscious minds love repetition so the more we have negative thoughts, the more comfortable in the habit it becomes and the more it wants to repeat it.
If you feel stuck in negative thinking and would like to be able to feel more gratitude in your life, Hypnosis in NYC, Reiki sessions, Hypnotherapy in New York City, and meditation at Self Empowered Minds can strengthen your mind, empower positive beliefs you have, and can help rebuild new patterns in the brain to support healthier habits. With the help of our services, we hope to support you in the best way possible to fill your life to the brim with love, happiness, family, friends, health, wealth, gratitude, and joy.
Wishing you and all your loved ones a most healthy, happy Thanksgiving and may each of your hearts be filled with gratitude every day in every way.
