Check out my latest article on Thrive Global!
Thriving Through Infertility With Gratitude: How one small change can make your journey to motherhood healthier and happier
Check out my latest article on Thrive Global!
Thriving Through Infertility With Gratitude: How one small change can make your journey to motherhood healthier and happier
Five years ago I gave my first workshop on gratitude at a local yoga studio. I had very little speaking experience, so getting up in front of a group did not come easy. I spent a lot of time organizing my thoughts and practicing in front of a mirror. Although the group was small, I was very nervous. Afterwards, the studio owner told me I needed to speak more loudly. I felt awkward and discouraged. I wanted to give up.
But a few months after that workshop, I received this email from one of my attendees:
“I have always had a desire to get rid of my anxiety and depression, however I never knew how to do this – despite years of formal therapy. I started my gratitude journal and could not believe how many negative thoughts I was having on a daily basis. This journaling was significant for me because it showed me that I had all that I needed right before me…My depression/fog has lifted and for the first time in many years I feel alive and with happy, positive energy.”
I am so grateful for her email, because it gave me the reassurance I needed to keep going.
It showed me that the work I was doing with gratitude — writing, speaking, and coaching — had already helped at least one person change her life.
Since then, I’ve received many more emails from people around the world using the Gratitude To Bliss print journal and now the Gratitude To Bliss Mobile App. Here is one of them from a woman in the Philippines:
“My husband died a few months ago and I have two kids. Gratitude To Bliss was a big help to my recovery. I am really grateful I found this app. Again, thank you so much.”
So what is really going on when people practice gratitude? Why is it so powerful? Why is it so easy?
When you make even the tiniest effort to focus your thoughts on all the good in your life, for as little as five minutes a day, you are choosing to see things differently. By doing so, you are allowing a shift to occur that enables you to see the good in more and more things as time goes by, despite your circumstances.
The best way that I’ve found to do this is to keep a gratitude journal and write 3-5 things every day that you are grateful for. Remember to focus on the feeling you get when you think about the items on your list. This will help you get the most out of your practice so that it doesn’t become another list-making task. You will actually feel good while you practice by remembering how meaningful these things are to you.
For example, when I practice gratitude, I don’t just list “my family.” I’ll say “fun times with Aunt Emily” and remember how much fun I had at her house last weekend, laughing and and telling stories about when we were kids.
Gratitude Tip: DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES!
By limiting your practice to five minutes a day, you will increase your changes of actually doing it daily. Spending more time will mean you won’t get to it every day and the effects won’t be as strong. Consistent, daily practice is key.
I often refer to this practice as Vitamin G because it’s extremely nourishing, yet easy to do.
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5 Minutes Changes Everything @Gratitude2Bliss
What could one daily dose of Vitamin G do for you?
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Please share your comments below.
Gratefully yours!
In 2012 I embarked on an amazing adventure with my awesome friend – a fellow Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Lindsey Smith (a.k.a. the Food-Mood Girl).
Together we created a program that combined all the things we love most about our work – those very things that have helped us in our own lives.
While our separate journeys have been very different, we realized that we both found success by using the same approaches to overcoming our challenges with depression, anxiety, fatigue and self-doubt and that we are both super passionate about sharing those “behind-the-scenes” approaches with our clients.
We decided to join forces and create something I am so very proud of, The Bliss Cleanse: Your Two-Week Mind, Body, Spirit Guide to Greater Health and Happiness.
The Bliss Cleanse is a collection our very best strategies for turning struggle into ease, stress into joy, and moodiness to bliss.
At its very core, this two-week program helps you create a healthy lifestyle that goes way beyond food. Yes, there are recipes, meal plans and eating guides, but before you can find success with anything we give you in relation to food, you must make sure your mind is working with you. That is why this unique cleanse is a mind, body, spirit journey.
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Life is more blissful when you start from a place of love and gratitude. @Gratitude2Bliss
When we don’t align our thoughts with what our heart wants (love, kindness, ease and joy) and we tell ourselves we have to struggle, or that our body is too ugly, fat, lazy or old, we don’t stand a chance in making healthy choices.
But when we start from a place of love and gratitude for our body, for ourselves and for our life, it’s easy to change.
And that is what I want for you. For you to be able to make the changes you desire for yourself, with ease, joy and gratitude, and most importantly love.
All of the recipes in the Bliss Cleanse come from a place of LOVE. They are clean and easy to make and use natural, wholesome food that is nutritious and satisfying.
One of my favorite recipes is the Bliss Chocovado Smoothie.
Bliss Chocovado Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 avocado
1/2 or 1 banana (preferably frozen)
1/2 cup almond or rice milk
1 tbs raw cacao powder
Directions:
1. Blend well in blender.
2. Add ice for a thicker texture.
3. Serve immediately.
Why do I love this smoothie so much? Because it tastes like a chocolate milk shake yet is dairy-free, sugar-free, and chemical-free. It has loads of antioxidants, magnesium and healthy fat – all things your body needs to balance mood and satisfy cravings.
The Chocovado Smoothie is just one of the many seasonal recipes you’ll find in the Bliss Cleanse – an online program you can do on your own, any time, any where!
Once you become one of our cleansers, you are automatically added to our private Facebook group and can cleanse as a group with us up to four times a year – for life.
You get to “practice” healthy habits over and over until they become a way of life for you. You get to choose which habits you want to focus on each time. It can be as simple as drinking more water or saying a positive affirmation each morning, or you can try something more challenging like giving up coffee, sugar, wheat or dairy. It’s completely up to you what you want to focus on and we guide you every step of the way!
Our Summer 2015 Bliss Cleanse is happening 7/12-7/25 so plan ahead and register now – you’ll be amazed how much fun cleansing can be!
To learn more, please visit Bliss Cleanse.