Cultivating Gratitude - Step 3
"Gratitude is a habit of the heart"
~~~ Alexis de Tocqueville
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In her book, Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life, Angeles Arrien, PhD says:
"Gratitude is a feeling that spontaneously emerges from within. However, it is not simply an emotional response; it is also a choice we make. We can choose to be grateful, or we can choose to be ungrateful—to take our gifts and blessings for granted. As a choice, gratitude is an attitude or disposition... Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk, reminds us that “gratefulness is the inner gesture of giving meaning to our life by receiving life as gift.” M. J. Ryan’s classic book, Attitudes of Gratitude, supports the idea that gratitude is a stance we voluntarily take, and one we can adopt through the difficult seasons of life as well as the good ones. The daily practice of gratitude keeps the heart open regardless of what comes our way."
Cultivating Gratitude, despite being the 3rd Stage of my Self Care Ritual, is as profoundly important as the first. Gratitude is the key ingredient that allows us to step into the newness we seek. Enabling our entire being to vibrate at the rate by which, we are continuously embodying a flow that calls into our sphere, constant growth and blessings of abundance, into the varied facets of our existence. Cultivating Gratitude is also the unseen magick, that propels us even in times of great uncertainty and hopelessness. For to cling to the Bossom of Gratitude, even in the darkest of moments is how our flames find fuel to stay a lit.
My dear Siciliano-Americano mentor, greatest supporter of my desire to become a Sex Educator, dear soul friend and in many ways Spirit Matri, Lucia Pavone who is by profession an amazing International Speaker, Somatic Sex Educator, Sensuality Mentor & Pleasure Instigator, during her Sensual Life experiential journey program, taught us girls the importance of Cultivating Gratitude, in a seemingly simple, but far reaching exercise of which I would like to share here:
~ ~ ~ DAILY GRATITUDE LIST~ ~ ~
Designate a Gratitude Pad. Get a special pen or pencil. Making a list at the end of each day (or whatever time of day/night you prefer), writing at least 10 things that you are most grateful for.
At first and especially during a rough day, this simple task can quickly become tedious. This is where the magick of Cultivating Gratitude, finds opportunity to gift you new vision. Be it simply the ability to breathe, having hair on your head or a shiny bald one, two hands and feet or even one, clean drinking water, clothing on your body, even tired eyes from working towards a life goal or having the stresses that comes from your brain restructuring its self to process new schoolwork, or to carry out a new work project.
write it down! 10 things. Every day!
To be honest, at first I felt 10 things of Gratitude were too much, so I began with 5 as a way to not feel defeated by my list, which in truth through a change of Gratitude perception, quickly turned into 10. And on some days even 15 or 20 (even if some of those things were repeated in each day, I was thankful for them! ). The trick is to recognize - consciously acknowledge - the feeling of Gratitude and anchor this newfound sense of being, into the psyche through daily repitition, until Gratitude becomes you.
~ ~ ~ GRACE OFFERINGS ~ ~ ~
The word Grace comes from the same Latin root - Grata or Gratia -and means, a gift freely given that is unearned. This trait I believe is something that many Trinbagonians possess. We are a people that despite our lackadaisical ways, always seem to group together or find it in our individual hearts to give to others when the occasion calls for it. Giving to another without any specific reason, other than to give joy to that person can be a powerful experience.
Get some flowers and gift to strangers as you walk down the street. Buy bubbles or balloons and gift to children. Surprise someone you know with ice-cream. Always have chocolates, mints or candy to randomly offer others whom you greet. Smile with strangers, be the light in a room especially when there is none.
Activating joy within another, at the most random of times, in an unexpected way through a grace offering is something that will Cultivate Gratitude not only within yourself, but in the hearts and lives those individuals who are able to receive your small gestures.
As I like to say to My Beloved Triwi - Life's #LittleBigThings.
~ ~ ~ ORGASMIC LIVING ~ ~ ~
Making orgasm part of your self care routine by designting private intimate time with self or a beloved, can be a helpful way to Cultivate Gratitude.
The more orgasmic a person is, the more they feel happy and grateful for the things in their life, and automatically begin seeing the cup as half full vs half empty, thereby being less affected by life's daily stresses and tower moments. Orgasms, when activated through conscious self pleasure, become a healing experience. The individual gradually becomes in tuned to their body's pleasure zones, while creating more room for becoming orgasmic, when meeting and taking the time to feel where there is stagnation or blockages to joy/pleasure and move through it in patience, tender loving touches and Gratitude for having arrived at a place within themselves, where there is space to heal from and grow. Resistances to sexual pleasure, manifests in other aspects of our lives. Engaging in conscious self pleasure, where dropping into self as a way of purposely claiming joy in your life, is a means of Cultivating a Gratitude Ripple within every atom of your being, and by extension your external life. Life then becomes an orgasmic experience. And we become comfortable with our sexual selves and by extension embodying the totality of our existence, not through promiscuity but by standing within the knowingness of our sensual and sexual power.
Dare to Embrace Pleasure in Your Life!
Of Mind...of Heart...of Body...of Soul.
2020年❖12月❖1日
星期四二
3.33pm
Trinidad, W.I 🇹🇹
Suni
💜
All content was penned & created by Suni for Things Less Spoken
Individual photos taken from Pinterest, with permission taken where necessary.
This blog is an extension of Yoni Nectar.
©Yoni Nectar 2020 all rights reserved.
I never thought of these things in this way. Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteVery well said. Though it is very difficult in the moment of life's despair, being greatful for those rough times is necessary. The trick is to be aware what is the lesson to be learned. I like the idea of being organically greatful, it goes hand in hand with exploring all the rooms within yourself & living a full & unregretful life.
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