Let's Chat About Gratitude
Cookie dough is one thing that makes people feel happy. It is nostalgic and evokes fun memories of childhood, often simpler, carefree times. Our mission is to bring people closer to happiness so while we will continue to make premium, all natural and delicious cookie dough, we also want to connect with you in other ways that will bring you more happiness. So lets dig in to the topic of Gratitude, it is the perfect time of year to be thinking about this if we do say so ourselves. So what is all this talk about gratitude?
Tell me about Gratitude
Practicing gratitude can help you overcome challenging times. Practicing gratitude will help you elevate your energetic vibrations which is essential for attracting more of what you want in your life. Studies have shown that grateful people tend to be happier people. There is a reason verbs such as exercise and practice are associated with gratitude. We practice gratitude and we learn exercises to help us feel and eventually master this emotion.
How do we practice Gratitude
Firstly, many of our thoughts and feelings are autogenerated after years of experiences where we are told to think and feel and react in particular ways. One change in our perspective as we go about our day to day is to think about everything that happens in life as happening FOR us and not TO us. Do not be the victim. We are in control of our mindset.
Where are my Science nerds at?
Researchers have found that both voluntary and involuntary smiling has the same effect on brain activity. You can actually convince your brain and body that you’re happy even when you’re not just by forcing yourself to smile. “Acting happy, regardless of feelings, coaxes one’s brain into processing positive emotions,” Thoughts become things. There, we said it again.
Below are 3 strategies that will help you harness the positive health effects of gratitude.
- Practice “interior gratitude.” Keep a daily or weekly list of the things you are grateful for.
- Practice “exterior gratitude.” Write thank-you notes/emails and put your gratitude to others on paper.
- “be grateful for useless things.” In other words, express thanks for the everyday stuff you usually overlook such as fresh fruit and air-conditioning, your job, siblings, online shopping, this email that landed in your inbox ;)
Pretty cool to learn that expressing gratitude even when nothing especially triggering is going on can increase your well-being and help regulate stress. So why not make gratitude a part of your daily life?
As busy adults now, who look back fondly on those childhood years, hoping to bring moments of fun and silliness back to our everyday chaos with spoonfools of Edoughble, it is so easy to get swept away in the fast lane and forget to stop and show your appreciation for what you do have. A few last minute notes to take home for the holidays.
- Gratitude is not only about being thankful for positive experiences. Dig a little deeper into some of your own past experiences and try to figure out how they have helped shape you into the person you are today. Often the challenges we face have molded us to become the amazing people we are today.
- Gratitude doesn’t have to be saved for the “big” things in life. Creating this practice of being grateful starts with appreciating every good thing in life and recognizing that there is nothing too small for you to be thankful for.
- You can increase your feelings of gratitude by expressing that same gratitude to the people you care about. Soul Pancake, a group that works to discover the “science of happiness,” ran an experiment where they encouraged people to write a letter to a person they were grateful for. This exercise increased their levels of happiness from 2 to 4%. However, when the same people made a phone call to the person they were thankful for to express their gratitude directly, happiness levels jumped from 4% to 19%! Human connection people, it goes so much farther than a note or email.
- Sit down daily and think through five things you are grateful for. The trick is that you need to picture it in your mind and sit with that feeling of gratitude in your body. Doing this every day will rewire your brain to be naturally more grateful, and you’ll start feeling happier after every session. It only takes eight weeks of gratitude practice for people to start showing changed brain patterns that lead to greater empathy and happiness. So grab your spoon and Edoughble tub, take a bite and start making your gratitude list – every day. Let us know how you are doing! We would love to hear that this is bringing you more joy and a real smile.