"Brain Hacks Newsletter #2"

Ritual of Release - Focus on Self-kindness and Gratitude

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” - William Arthur War

​December is here and love and generosity are in the air. Happy December, everyone!
We’ve entered the last month of the last year of this entire decade, it’s time to stop and listen closely… Do you hear that?
This is truly the season of giving - not just material things but also compassion and generosity.
What are you grateful for this year?
This is a season to be enjoyed.
So enjoy this warm and peaceful energy basking in self-kindness and gratitude.
This month is great for enjoying and appreciating relationships as during this special season we will also feel inspired to grow, improve, and pursue our desires.
We will feel a call to step inside our soul and ask ourselves what we have been carrying around that needs to be released before our transition into 2020. The truth is, it’s a time when energy should be moving in the opposite direction, a time to let go of anything weighing us down…shed all the negative energies that keep dragging us down.
 
Are you ready to let go? If so, why not follow this Ritual of Release and Gratitude?
1. Get a notebook/journal (pick one that grabs your attention; mine has flowers in the cover and states be happy and smile) that will be your dedicated self-kindness and gratitude notebook. The notebook is key because it’s important to actually put pen to paper in rituals instead of typing. The mind-body connection of handwriting your gratitude and thoughts amplifies the benefits, kind of like making a home-cooked meal is always better for you than a store-bought one.
 
2. Keep it close to you, or at your nightstand, or another place that you return to every day, or even carry it with you. You’ll never know when inspiration strikes. Or maybe keep it close to the tea pot so you can manifest what you are grateful for as the water boils. You may find that you are often grateful for tea! :-)
 
3. Every night (or morning, or afternoon), write the date at the top of the page:

• Set intentions. 
• Tell yourself you will write for a set amount of time. It can be for fifteen minutes. It can be for two minutes. In the beginning it might take longer, but as your ritual becomes a habit even just two minutes works.

 
4. In that set time, write what you are grateful for. Anything that comes to mind is fair game. Anything from “big things” like health, partner, relatives, friends, pets, to “small things” like hazelnut flavoured cappuccinos, the awesome Christmas playlist playing in the radio right now. The opportunities to find things to be grateful for are endless. They don’t have to be big; it can be something as simple as that first ray of sunshine in the morning.
 
e.g.      I’m grateful for my co-worker because he is always willing to listen and help.
            I’m grateful for my pets because they make me feel loved and needed.
 
Here’s some gratitude inspiration, to help get you started:

• What you like about yourself, inside and out.
• Can you derive some bit of wisdom from a challenge you are currently facing?
• List your favourite people and what you love about them.
• Perhaps take a moment to focus on the good parts of your job, the work you get to do, the people you get to do it with, and the compensation you receive for it.
• What are the things you love about where you live?
• What is your favourite colour? How does it make you feel?
• Have you received any kind words or praise lately?
• What are you good at? Do you have hidden talents?
• What are you looking forward to in life?
• Was the sky particularly beautiful today?

 
5. Go over your gratitude list and allow yourself to feel in your body how truly thankful you are for each item.
If you'd like, place your hands over your heart, gently close your eyes and breathe in and out acknowledging how appreciative you are for each item on your gratitude list.
 
The journal will become a record of your thoughts, self-kindness and gratitude. This practice can be centring and calming and will remind you of what is most important in your life.
Keep the notebook close to you throughout the day and review it whenever you need a pick-me-up.