Sticking to a regular gratitude practice is a quick and simple way to improve your mental health and your relationship with the world around you. Explore our guide to discover the science behind gratitude’s benefits and how to start a consistent practice.

In our hyper-competitive world, it’s easy to spend time thinking about the things we don’t have. “If only I had more money, more success, more friends, a bigger house,” we say to ourselves, “then I would really be happy.” When we’re so trained to believe that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, it’s a powerful act of resistance to practice gratitude — and it can take some effort.

Mindfully cultivating a gratitude practice means intentionally showing appreciation for the abundance that life has to offer in the present moment. By inviting gratitude into our mindsets regularly, we’re often able to train our brains to understand that it’s not always what we have or how much, but instead our reaction to the world around us that influences our happiness.

Sticking with a gratitude practice has science-backed benefits such as improved mood, deepened relationships and a better ability to weather adversity. Better yet, practicing gratitude generally isn’t time-intensive.

This guide is full of gratitude exercises, tips and resources for bringing more appreciation into your everyday life. If you’re ready to start your journey to building a deeply rewarding gratitude practice, you’re in the right place.

The answer to the question “What is gratitude?” is seemingly simple — Merriam-Webster’s definition of gratitude is just “the state of being grateful.” But while we often think of gratitude as a basic emotion, it’s so much more. Gratitude is a choice we make every day. Practicing gratitude means to...

• Live in a way that nurtures the magic of any given moment.

• Live in a way that calls attention to connection with each other and our community.

• Live in a way that offers to leave something or someone better than how they were found.

• Live in a way that encourages compassion, not possession, hate, power or control.

• Live in a way that reminds you how lucky you are to wake up, to have friendships, to dance, to laugh, and cry, to hug, to eat cake or drink tea, to have a home or a job.

• Live in a way that keeps you humble, forgiving, present, and awake.

What Is a Gratitude Practice?

When we say “gratitude practice,” we’re simply referring to an approach to gratitude that is mindful and intentional. Rather than assuming your feelings of gratitude will always be available, or arrive naturally on their own, starting a gratitude practice puts you in the driver seat by intentionally inviting gratitude in. 

A gratitude practice helps you remember to pause and take note of the positive things you’re already experiencing in life. Keep reading for some simple tips for remembering and embracing gratitude every day.

At a basic, human level, most of us understand that practicing gratitude is important. Honoring the world around us by giving thanks helps us become more empathetic participants in the lives of everything and everybody with which we engage. Even if we’re not very intentional about being grateful, we generally accept it as a positive, important part of functioning as a happy member of society.

But beyond logic, practicing gratitude is actually shown to have astounding benefits for our minds and our bodies. Practicing gratitude actually can make us feel good, and improve our physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

Robert Emmons, the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude, has studied over 1,000 people from all walks of life, and curated this list of gratitude’s benefits:

Physical Benefits of Gratitude:

• Stronger immune systems

• Less bothered by aches and pains

• Lower blood pressure

• Exercise more and take better care of their health

• Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

Psychological Benefits of Gratitude:

• Higher levels of positive emotions

• More alert, alive, and awake

• More joy and pleasure

• More optimism and happiness

Social Benefits of Gratitude:

• More helpful, generous, and compassionate

• More forgiving

• More outgoing

• Feel less lonely and isolated

“The social benefits are especially significant here because, after all, gratitude is a social emotion,” says Emmons. “I see it as a relationship-strengthening emotion because it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.”

Simply put, gratitude is an affirmation of all that’s good. But it plays a powerful role in transforming our health and lives. When we embrace gratitude as a living, breathing practice, it can change our lives in ways we never expected. We begin to see abundance everywhere, and in everything. What we have becomes plenty, what we are becomes enough, and what surrounds us becomes a living ceremony, worth paying attention to and honoring every minute we are alive. This is true gratitude and abundance, where our hearts and souls are filled just by the air we breathe, or the people we meet, the food we eat, the rising sun, and the body that carries us.

A regular gratitude practice can uplift our outlook on the world, and this optimism can transfer serious benefits to our emotional and physical wellbeing.

Here are three truths about the benefits of inviting gratitude into your life:

1. Gratitude becomes easier when we are vulnerable and authentic about who we are, and accept who we are not. (Learn more about the importance of authenticity here.)

2. Cultivating gratitude means forgiving ourselves and taking a hard look at the parts we ignore and the parts we aren't proud of. Knowing these parts can help us figure out who we want to let go of.

3. Living a grateful life becomes easier when judgement falls away, for ourselves and for others. When this happens, we build resilience and learn to not care about being judged, and instead feel compassion for those who judge us.

As with any emotion, the essence of gratitude is hard to capture. That’s why researchers have spent decades studying the science behind gratitude and quantifying its effects on our behavior. Research has shown that practicing and expressing gratitude can provide a wide range of powerful benefits, such as improving our life satisfaction, increasing our self-esteem, enhancing our optimism, deepening our relationships and even helping us sleep better.

Psychology researcher Sonya Lyumbomirsky, who has studied the causes of happiness, found that the intentional activities we participate in to improve our own wellbeing — such as practicing gratitude — account for nearly half (40%) of our happiness. The other factors include our own personalities and external circumstances.

As you may have guessed, there’s no one-size-fits-all method for practicing gratitude. How you practice gratitude in your life is completely up to you. But as you seek consistency, these tips may be of help:

1. Make a conscious, intentional commitment to have a consistent gratitude practice. Say it aloud: "I commit to practicing gratitude every day." Or every other day, or every three days. You pick, just be consistent.

2. Take a gratitude journal with you everywhere. Put it in your pocket, your purse, or your car. Use it to record your feelings of gratitude as they arrive, cultivating mindfulness and presence. (More on how to keep a gratitude journal below)

3. Set a regular schedule, and put a reminder on your calendar. For some people, having a routine and carving a specific time in the day or week for their gratitude practice is extremely helpful.

4. Pay it forward with an act of kindness. This part is crucial. Why? Because gratitude is more than what we have or receive. Gratitude is just as much about giving, without strings, without needing to be recognized. We are so often in our heads, so often wrapped up in ourselves, we forget that giving with pure kindness is our way out of negative thinking.  Newer research also shows that with charitable giving, our brains release more neurotransmitters that signal pleasure and goal attainment than when we receive gifts of money.

5. Forgive yourself and move on if you miss a day. Gratitude is about self compassion, as well as resisting perfectionistic thinking. If you miss a day, get right back into your practice without self-judgment. Keep moving.

6. Get your family and friends involved. For fun, for community and family togetherness, for accountability, invite others to join you. Make it a game or ritual at events, gatherings, meals, and so on.

7. Don’t stop, keep it going. For real shifts in our well-being to happen, for our brains and attitude to change, authentic gratitude must become a way of living. How do you know you've gotten there? You know when it becomes effortless to feel grateful, thankful, fortunate, blessed. Or, when you feel present and alive in any situation, recognizing you may never have this beautiful moment again. This is true gratitude, so stay with it. This doesn't mean you don't get sad or angry. It doesn’t mean bypassing the hard stuff, it means that you can be grateful despite the difficult things. Gratitude is not meant to fix everything, but it will help you move through all of life's challenges with grace and humility.

These gratitude exercises are a great starting point for your practice. Give one or all of them a try, and pay attention to the way you feel before, during, and after. (These are great observations to note in a gratitude journal.) When you find an exercise that benefits you, hold on to it, and find ways to incorporate it into your practice on an ongoing basis. Never be afraid to tweak these exercises to fit your journey.

Gratitude Exercise 1: The Joy List

Joy holds us in the arms of lightness and laughter, reminding us of the reasons we want to be alive. So how do we find joy when we need it most, without addictive substances, desperation or dependency on something that doesn’t truly serve us? How do we make joy so accessible that it becomes part of our daily rituals? One of our favorite answers is making a joy list.

This practice is so simple that you can try it right now. Write a list of all the things that bring you joy. What comes to mind first? How do you categorize your list? How do you experience joy in your home, with friends, with family? What joy is spontaneous or needs to be planned ahead? What joy are you looking forward to experiencing soon?

Reflect on these words of gratitude during happy and difficult times. Your list will change, and hopefully it will grow. Use this list to change your life and make joy a priority.

Gratitude Exercise 2: The Gratitude Matrix

The depth of grateful living, to really feel it earnestly and consistently in our gut, bones, and heart, goes far beyond feeling fortunate. It means stepping out of self and living within the “gratitude matrix.”

The gratitude matrix is constructed by the infinite web of relationships, connections, and energy between every alive thing. This includes the relationship between humans, animals, insects, trees and plants, and the elements and energies that keep this web flowing. After all, no person is an island.

In your gratitude practice, it can be helpful to return to the gratitude matrix regularly. As you go about your day, recognize the connections between yourself and the world around you. Consider your relationship with the grass beneath your feet, the vegetables on your plate, and the moon as it rises.

When we understand that there is no separation between us and all the natural wonders around us, we consciously awaken to the world around us and within. We see everything as a gift, a beautiful energetic flow that slows down for us because we are paying attention. We see that the harm we do others is harm we do to ourselves. The kindness, generosity and good we do for each other, this planet, and all the living beings in it, is good we do for ourselves.

Gratitude Exercise 3: Embodied Attention

In modern life, distractions are all around us. Our devices, while often beneficial, also disconnect us from our awareness of the present.

Embodied attention is more than tuning in to the senses, but feeling how our body responds to everything we see, hear, touch, and taste. It’s savoring the space we occupy and our relationship with the swirling, sensory experience around us. 

Start with these steps:

1. Find a place to sit and listen—preferably outside or by an open window

2. Tune in to your body and all its senses. Close the eyes or use a soft gaze. What do you see, hear, touch, feel, smell? Notice your breath.

3. The moment your thoughts begin to wander, come back to the body, come back to what you see, feel, and hear. What do you notice?

4. Has your breath slowed down, has your body relaxed? What’s still tight? The jaw perhaps, neck or shoulders. Relax them if they are tense. Repeat.

Sticking to a regular gratitude practice is a quick and simple way to improve your mental health and your relationship with the world around you. Explore our guide to discover the science behind gratitude’s benefits and how to start a daily practice.

Your gratitude practice will become even more powerful when you commit to physically writing down your thoughts. Your gratitude journal will serve as a record of your progress, helping to guide you forward as you identify thought patterns. What you discover may surprise you.

The following steps will help you start your own daily gratitude journal:

1. Choose a journal. Your journal should fit your lifestyle. That’s why Pockitudes journals were designed for practicing gratitude on-the-go, with different cover art styles to match your personality. These are perfect for beginners, guiding your journey toward gratitude with journaling prompts, self-care tips, inspirational quotes and blank pages for your thoughts to take freestyle form.

2. Set aside time for writing. Hold yourself accountable to a regular, consistent practice. Whether it’s five minutes every day, or half an hour per week, dedicating a certain amount of time to gratitude journaling is an easy way to integrate this healthy habit into your routine. Consider putting this time on your calendar and setting a reminder.

3. Make a list of the things that bring you joy and why. Each day, start with a list of five things that bring you joy. Are they food, feelings, people or places? Elaborate on why you think you’re grateful for them and why they came to mind first. Don’t just go through the motions here. This practice is meant to help you embody feelings of joy and pleasure, so be aware of how much authenticity and effort you’re putting in.

4. Take note of the little moments that stick out — and how they make you feel. Our days are full of more pleasant surprises than you think. Take time to acknowledge them. Check in with these regularly and consider the circumstances that led you to experience these moments.

Stick with it. It takes at least a couple weeks to form a habit that sticks, so don’t despair if starting a gratitude journal doesn’t feel natural at first. On days when gratitude is hard to find, look back at your previous journal entries, and remind yourself of the abundance that has been present in your life before. Remember that you will find it again.

What to do when gratitude is hard to find.

On days when our pain or anxiety are strong, practicing gratitude can be especially challenging, and the benefits of gratitude may be elusive. So, what happens when gratitude is hard to find? What do we do when we’ve listed our gratitudes and we still feel terrible?

1. Write about what’s bothering you. Acknowledge it. Give voice to the pain and anger, and let it have its say. To move through our challenges, to heal, it is crucial we process what we are feeling, and especially write about it.

2. Say "This too shall pass.” Impermanence, in all its difficulties, is also a promise that nothing lasts. We will get through it. If it’s particularly challenging, we can ask for help, call a friend, turn to our joy list, and give ourselves a break. 

3. Come back to our senses. Literally. We don’t realize how much anxiety and tension we carry in our bodies. The energy gets trapped and our breath gets shallow. Our physical responses to fight or flight, anger and anxiety, sets the tone for us to ruminate and run circles in our mind. When we come back to the body, we allow our senses to take over and give ourselves the chance to physically feel and allow our energy to shift to a more gentle, peaceful state.

4. Gratitude revisited. We can do steps one through three as many times as needed, but always come back to gratitude. Start with the simplest thing that helps you feel gratitude, not something that we think we should be grateful for. If gratitude is an obligation, just a task, a list, a consolation prize, then gratitude won’t work. Authentic gratitude is when we feel it stirring in our hearts, our body. It may even evoke emotion if it’s truly real. To cultivate a lasting practice of authentic gratitude, we must know it in our body first.