Gratitude.
How do you create a gratitude practice for your witchy life?
It’s one of my favorite ways to create positive change in my life.
Because of how powerful it is, it has become one of the Ravynwood Foundations, which you’ll hear me talk about a lot in my blog posts.
More about those foundations later.
The path of the green witch is one of empowerment, personal growth and transformation. Foundational skills like gratitude help you in every area of your life, including your green witch practices. (Pinky promise!)
In this post, I want to dig into how you can bring the practical magick of a gratitude practice into your life, why you’ll want to, and practical tips to get started.
Why Practice Gratitude?
Simply put, gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to change your life.
Living with awareness of your blessings is a key to creating joy, peace and flow.
Gratitude is simple, but powerful.
It works like modern day alchemy, turning your pain into power and drawing even more blessings your way.
Who is it for?
Everyone.
It’s for everyone.
What are the Benefits of a Gratitude Practice?
The benefits of a regular gratitude practice include an improved sense of well-being and better relationships. There are even studies that prove its value, but we’re not here for that are we?
The short version is that when you cultivate a gratitude practice, you also create peace, flow, joy and contentment in your life. Those things spill over into your personal relationships and even your work life.
That’s a win.
Inspiration for How to Begin Your Gratitude Practice
There are many ways to create a gratitude practice. My favorite way is keeping a journal designated just for gratitude or adding it to an existing journaling practice.
But you can begin in many ways and not all of them include writing. So, if you’re not ready for that yet, keep reading.
Here’s few simple examples to inspire you.
- Compliment a stranger—how many times have you admired someone’s haircut or handbag, but not complimented them on it? Start today!
- Let someone go ahead of you in line—remember how it feels when you have one item, and all the people in front of you have a shopping cart full? Guess what? Everyone feels that way. The next time you get the opportunity, let that person go in front of you. Or let someone out into traffic in front of you. It’s not going to slow down your commute that much.
- Become aware of negative media and make the conscious choice to avoid it—it’s tough to stay focused on all the good things around you when you’re bombarded by all the negative news in the world. Find positive TV, movies, blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels and other media.
- Show appreciation to your friends—when was the last time you told your best friend just how much you appreciate them being in your life? And it’s not because of anything they’ve done, but just because. Thank them for loving and supporting you.
- Listen deeply to someone today—so often, when we listen to someone talk, we’re not focused on what they’re saying but instead on what we want to say next. Notice how often you do that. Practice listening. Even when someone is sharing about something that doesn’t interest you.
- Go outside and tune in—many of us don’t get out into nature as much as we should. Frankly, you’re missing out. Make time to get outside. Go to the park and tune in with all of your senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What does the air feel like on your skin? What can you sense? Make enjoying the beauty of the natural world something you do intentionally.
- Stop complaining—when you start to be aware of how often you complain, you might just be shocked! So set aside one day a week, to practice not Do this by reframing everything to put a positive, grateful spin on it. It might take a bit of practice, but it’s worth it. You are worth it.
Tips to Create Your Gratitude Practice
First, understand that gratitude is a choice.
One you can make at any time. No matter how much shit is going on in your life. I’ve been there and I know the struggle to find something to be grateful for in those times. But here’s the thing:
- Will repeating how much shit there is in your life help you feel better?
- Will looking for opportunity in that shit help you feel better?
The answers are pretty clear, don’t you think?
Wallowing in the shit is ok for a short period of time, but then, you want to shift your mindset to look for the possibilities and opportunities in the shit.
Mushrooms grow in shit. You can too.
Second, begin small.
Get a piece of paper and write down 3 things you’re grateful for right now.
Can’t think of 3? Then how about 2?
If you can’t come up with more than one, then begin with just one.
Maybe that one thing is that the sun rose this morning.
It can feel really hard to get started. But keep going. You’ll have to trust me on this part: it gets easier.
I struggled too in the beginning and now, I could probably rattle off 25 things that I’m grateful for without thinking about it.
Next, consider ways that you can cultivate this “attitude of gratitude” in your life.
- Post reminders.
- Write down quotes about gratitude you like.
- Get some gratitude themed coloring pages. (There’s some in the Free Vault. Sign up here.)
Assess anything in your life that doesn’t feel aligned to feeling grateful? (What might you do about it?)
The last step is to keep going.
Do it every day.
The Ravynwood Foundations
I mentioned these earlier in this post and if you’re new here, you might not know about them, so here’s an overview for you.
The Ravynwood Foundations are a collection of six tools that are easy to use and available to just about everyone.
They are:
- Meditation
- Gratitude
- Self-care
- Healing Creativity
- Journaling
- Reiki Energy Work – want to learn? Check out the class offered here.
These are tools that I used in my own healing journey. Each one is simple and powerful on its own. Together they create synergy that moves you forward in an empowered way.
Reiki might cost you a bit of money to learn, but it’s a good investment since you’ll have the skill for a lifetime. Otherwise, most of these have very low or no costs associated with them.
Summary of How to Create Your Gratitude Practice
I know this way of developing a gratitude practice seems a little oversimplified.
Simple is the way we do things here at Ravynwood.
But be assured that I followed these steps too. Combine them with a bit of intention and soon, you’ll be able to feel the difference in your life that keeping a regular gratitude practice makes.
Creating these foundational skills is truly where the practical and the magickal meet.
Give it a go.
Blessed be.
You might like these too:
Learn Reiki – Explore the class here
Free Coloring Pages + Free Gratitude Pages – Get the Free Vault here.
Meditation for the Witch blog post – click here.
Like this post? Want to support Ravynwood? Buy me a coffee here.
Karen
