There's a lot of talk about gratitude in the wellness space and especially around the holidays. But what is it? And does it even matter? Carly discusses these questions and more in this episode about having a gratitude attitude.
Please note, this episode has been transcribed by a computer, expect some typos!
Carly Puch
Welcome back to another episode of Consciously Clueless. I'm your host, Carly, and I'll be your guide on this journey from consciousness to cluelessness and back around again. Thanks for joining me for another Sunday solo episode, whether you're gearing up for work for the week, you're on your way, it's Monday morning, or whatever day This podcast is found you. I'm really glad you're here. So before we get going, I'm going to read the review of the week, I started reading reviews from yoga classes from students that have taken yoga with me from the podcast. And hopefully, we'll continue to add a variety of reviews from things that I offer, so you can get a taste of the class, or people talking about the podcast, or whatever it is a student of mine from yoga. It says, "The thing I loved most about Carly's yoga class was how accessible it was. You don't need to be experienced to enjoy this class. But it's still challenging and very rewarding. I felt very good afterwards in mind, body and spirit." I love, love, love hearing that, because that's exactly what we're after that connection of mind and body and spirit and everything else. So thank you for that review.
Today, I want to talk about something that's kind of connected to that idea of mind, body and spirit actually. And it's this idea of gratitude. Especially as the holidays creep up. There's a lot of talk about gratitude. And there's a lot of talk in the wellness space about being grateful. But I wanted to talk just for a few minutes about what that means. And why it's so important. Because I think sometimes there's a tendency to post things about being grateful or share three things you're grateful for, or come from an attitude of gratitude, which are great. And I agree with all those things. But I want to talk a little bit about why that matters and what it can do for you. So if you google gratitude, attitude, or gratitude practice, or whatever it is about a zillion things will come up. This is a very much talked about topic, which I think is funny, because I think there's still a lot of misconceptions.
But having an attitude of gratitude is really just being appreciative of all the things in your life that you're thankful for. And not only being appreciative, but taking intentional time to say that you're appreciative for them or to say thanks for them. So like big things, small things, it doesn't matter what it is. But it's one thing to say. Yeah, yeah, I'm really grateful that I have a house and that I have food and blah, blah, blah, like yeah, okay, that's a good start. But it's a whole other thing to start your morning, even for one minute, writing down in a journal, or an app, there's a bunch of apps for gratitude, or an a meditation, whatever it is that works best for you. If you take that intentional time to really feel into, okay, I'm going to think of three things I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for my cozy bed. That's one I'm really grateful for the tea I'm about to make, it tastes so good, and it's going to warm me up and it makes me really happy when I hold on to my mug. And number three is I'm grateful for getting to record this podcast. I love connecting I love talking with people It feels like the space that I needed. And that took me like what a minute and it felt really good. And that's what we're talking about when we talk about having an attitude of gratitude. That's what it is. It's it's about really taking a moment to recognize the things you're grateful for.
But go a step beyond that and say why you're grateful for them. Like okay, yeah, I'm grateful for my tea but why am I grateful for my tea because it's warm and because it has hints of lavender and because I love how it gives me a little energy in the morning. I love the ceremony it creates where I heat up the water and import into my kettle and I pour in the tea leaves. Like really think about why you're grateful for that thing and it automatically cultivates this space in your body and in your mind of gratitude. Because you took time to focus on something that you know, you're lucky to have, we just don't do that enough. Like, yeah, it's great to do that around the table at the holidays. But why isn't it around the table every day? There's things to be grateful for every day. And let me say this before I forget, because I think this is an important part. Having an attitude of gratitude does not mean that you ignore the bad things going on in your life, or you pretend that they're not there. Or that you just gloss over that, or necessarily that you have to be a happy, bubbly person all the time.
I start and end each day with gratitude. But that doesn't mean that everything is perfect in between. But what it does mean is that it helps a lot. It helps a lot to reframe, and ground down in those things. When I was looking for things online, about gratitude, which like I said, I googled it, and there was about a million things that came out, it was quite overwhelming, which I understand when people look at this, and they're like, okay, yeah, I wanted to start doing gratitude practice. But where do I start, everyone's telling me to do it differently. But this I really liked from this life hack article, quote, an attitude of gratitude means that you operate from a place of abundance instead of a place of scarcity and fear. Each of us always has a choice of what we focus on. Grateful people give thanks for everything in their life, even on the days when it feels like nothing is going right. That's the part I really liked. So it doesn't mean that you ignore the things that aren't going right. You're like, yeah, all these things went wrong today kind of sucked.
However, what can I still be thankful for? What can I say? Yeah, X, Y, and Z happen. That was pretty shitty. But you know what else, I had a great conversation with a friend or I got to do yoga, or whatever it is, focusing on that. And the other piece I liked about this little blurb that I found on the internet, is operating from a place of abundance instead of scarcity and fear. Because when you operate from a place of abundance, you see more abundance. And this is a principle of manifesting. When you operate from a place of having things and being grateful for things, you see more things to be grateful for. That energy attracts more of that like energy, like attracts like, there's a phrase that I'm paraphrasing, I can't remember exactly. But that is used a lot in the world of manifesting that. Where your thoughts go, your energy flows.
So wherever your mind is going, wherever, whatever you're focusing on, that's where the energy goes, that's where things are headed. So if I start my day, by looking on social media before I do anything else, and I see all this annoying shit, and see things from people that don't want to see or see the news, or whatever it is, before even getting out of bed, I'm in a place of like, that was a lot. Instead, can I start, and this is what I've started doing now for quite a while, can I start from a place of gratitude. So whether it's an app, I've used an app for a while because it works well for me. But I think I, I'm going to transition back into journaling too, and journaling, gratitude practice, but whatever it is for you. Maybe if you have a partner that you wake up next to maybe you say that to that partner, maybe you each say what you're grateful for upon waking up saying it out loud, letting the universe hear you.
But when you start from that place, you're automatically starting the day differently, even 30 seconds, even a minute. Starting from that place of gratitude is going to set you up for a day where you see more things to be grateful for. It's not a perfect system. It's not like a fix all. But when you start from that place, you'll then see more things to be grateful for. When I first started doing a gratitude practice, in terms of just naming a few things, why I'm grateful for them what I'm grateful for and doing that every morning and every night. I kind of expected this like immediate crazy change in my life. I don't really know what I was looking for, but I thought okay, They'll start this practice everyone talks about and then everything's going to be really, really great. And I think I put a lot of weight on that practice instead of really just doing the practice, because it's been more recent now that I've been doing a gratitude practice for a long time. No, it feels like a long time. Now I'm starting to feel and actually see the benefits myself. Like when I'm having a hard day, I'll complain about it or, you know, talk to a friend, like, I can't believe this stupid thing happened or whatever. But I know that I'm more likely to be like, but you know what, this also happened, and it was really great. Today sucked.
But I'm really glad I got to go for a run that helped. I've noticed just in the last few days, that's what kind of inspired this podcast episode. Just in the last few days, I've noticed myself, being able to more quickly reframe more quickly, go back to the positivity. Because when I go back to that place, when I come back to gratitude, when I come back to all the things in my life that I have, that I'm so thankful for, and the abundance that's overflowing in my life, and then I notice all the other things that are amazing. Then I start to see Oh, yeah, and you know what else is really great, gosh, that lunch was so nutritious and so, and tasty, I'm so thankful for it, or that quick walk I had with a co worker, man that really filled my cup, I'm so thankful for that. Whatever it is, start from that place. So let's do it together right now, just for funsies. Maybe if you can, make sure both feet on the ground. Really just take a few deep breaths. If you're driving, don't close your eyes, please. But if you're not driving, maybe you close your eyes. And I want you to focus on your breathing just for a few seconds. Feel yourself, inhale. Feel yourself exhale. I want you to think of three things that you're grateful for just three. And for each one, I want you to think why I want you to explain why you're grateful for each of those things.
And pay attention as you do this. How does it shift how you're feeling? Did it shift anything in your body, maybe, maybe you were holding your shoulders really tight, maybe they relaxed a little bit. Maybe you're clenching your jaw and that released a little bit or maybe your body language changed? Maybe you were feeling a little overwhelmed. And you know what? Maybe you didn't feel a shift right then right there when we just did that quick little practice. That's okay, too. That's okay. It doesn't have to be this. I did a gratitude practice once. Why isn't my life amazing, like when I started. But stick with it, I really encourage you listening to stick with some sort of gratitude practice. Because you will feel a shift at some point, you just have to trust that that shift is there. Even if you don't feel it, day one, day, three day 12, whatever it is. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes to focus on the good things. And Lord knows, we could all use more of that. Especially right now, I don't know how many times I've said that on this podcast, like, especially this year, especially 2020.
But there's no denying it, there's no denying that we need more of that. So I want to hear how you are practicing gratitude. Share with me how you do that or share with me if you're new to a gratitude practice, you really don't have to make it complicated. But I think I'm going to start sharing on social media maybe one day a week or something about gratitude and having everyone share in that moment what they're grateful for. So we can inspire each other and see what other people are grateful for. And we can feel all of that good energy. So I am grateful for all of you listening, and for all of you continuing to listen. So thank you.
Thanks for listening to another episode of consciously clueless. If you're enjoying this podcast. Hit subscribe. Wherever You're listening. If you want to help me get this into the ears of more listeners, send it to a friend texted to family member share on social media and tag me. whatever you can do to help this podcast grow I would greatly appreciate it if you really want to help me out, head over to Apple podcasts, leave a review and you can be read on air as a review of the week and a solo episode. Until next time.