7 ways to add gratitude to your life

Gratitude comes in many forms – try something new.

The benefits of being grateful extend to physical and mental health, strong relationships with others and a happier life. From writing down specific details, to recording them on a voice memo, growing gratitude in your life starts with acknowledging the value of gifts bestowed on you from a source outside of yourself – the kind smile of a stranger, a peer helping you at work, discovering a rainbow, learning someone was generous to a loved one. Regular practice is key to achieving long-term positive effects. Gratitude can be cultivated with creative expressions of thanks through photography, illustration, craft or other visual arts. Here are seven ways to start.

Visual

A popular way to practice gratitude is by keeping a gratitude journal, most often in the form of words. But with camera phones and platforms such as Pinterest, creating a visual gratitude journal is easy to do. Give it a go by taking a photo each day of something you love or feel grateful for – be it a person, nature or moment in life. Keep the photos in an album and reflect on them from time to time.

Writing

Writing a letter of thank you to significant people in your life is popular in gratitude practice. Transform your thank you into a creative painting, collage, photograph, illustration or craft. Do whatever is most pleasing to you so that it has more meaning.

Doodle

Another way for visual people to practice gratitude is by sketching or doodling. Whether it’s on a Post-It or on an iPad, think about what you’re grateful for, and let your ideas flow.

Draw

What is something that someone did for you, or gave to you recently? Draw it and consider adding colour with coloured pencils, markers or crayons, choosing shades that suggest how you feel.

Nature

Connect with all of your senses and the world around you by taking a mindful walk in nature. From the smell of a fragrant garden or woodsy bush or colours of the sky or sea, look at the shapes and detail in your environment, feel the ground underneath your feet, listen to surrounding sounds. Before going to bed, draw or record your memories of the experience.

Physical focus

Encourage gratitude with a five- to 10-minute body scan. Begin with your feet and focus attention on each body part, slowly moving upwards towards your head. Ease into each body part by imagining it warming and relaxing, restoring itself. Throughout the exercise reflect on how you’re thankful for the work that your body does for you.

Inspired thoughts

Creatively draw or paint an inspiring quote, or words that are associated with trust, friendship, love, happiness or courage.