Gratitude is a powerful attractor: Expressions of thankfulness can also help us to raise our energetic vibration and magnetize the feelings of peaceful ease needed to relax for a restful night’s sleep. November is the month of gratitude, making this the perfect time to include mindful practices such as “brain detox” journaling into your morning and evening routines.
What Is Gratitude and How Can It Help You?
We are all made of energy — and gratitude is one of the purest forms of energy. This type of high vibration energy magnetizes, allowing in the pure, positive, thankful flow of abundance, receptivity and openness.
Rest Easy by Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude
“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.”
Cultivating a journaling practice focused on gratitude and freeing your mind, and integrating it into your daily routine, especially in the mornings upon waking and evenings before going to sleep, can be a catalyst for significant changes in your emotional and physical health. And, when our brain and body are balanced, it can result in better quality sleep.
Gratitude is a powerful practice, one of the tools we can tap into in order to return to our center. Without this sense of balance and thankfulness, we often do not have the capacity or energy to be of service to others — or to ourselves. Daily deadlines, chores and tasks can make it easy to forget how lucky we are to have the precious gift of life.
Prioritize your own self-care. This may mean blocking out a specific amount of time to unwind with a gratitude journal at the end of each day, or to begin each morning with a fresh outlook by making a gratitude list — or better yet, implement both practices into your daily routine!
These practices can help to regulate your internal emotions, as well as how you show — and your energy — show up in the world toward others. Scheduling time for self-care equates to spiritual growth, allowing us to expand our most important relationship — the one with our own self — as well as the relationship that exists with those that surround us.
For me, and perhaps for you, the concept of journaling before bed can help to relax the mind for an optimum night of sleep. Gratitude is a thought and a feeling, which can be cultivated by bringing it forth in your mind. Change your perspective: Set an intention to be thankful and focus your thoughts and energy on being grateful.
Flipping the script to free your mind from obsessing over the negatives and instead, focusing on being present and switching the narrative to one of gratitude. The subconscious mind works to bring the energy in which you are directing it to bring; being grateful will bring more things to be thankful for into your life.
Enter: The pre-bedtime “brain detox” or “brain dump" journaling routine. This translates as the time to jot down every single thought, to-do or note that pops up in your mind. By transferring these thoughts to a piece of paper, we can get them out of our head and “dump” them on paper. This acts as a detox, releasing these thoughts from binding us to anxiety-inducers that may keep us up at night. Or, worse yet, wake you up at 3AM before that oh-so-important morning meeting.
This evening activity allows you to free your mind of all those pesky inner voices in your head and seemingly endless tasks on your to-do list. Releasing them on paper just could be the key in turning off your brain to be able to fall asleep with more ease and to have a night of effective, productive sleep.
Follow the “brain detox” journaling with a list of what you are grateful for so that these thoughts are what your subconscious brain will retain as you sleep. To better understand how to manifest gratitude, try these journaling ideas.
Before Bed Brain Detox Journaling Exercise:
Settle in your bed for this therapeutic activity. Getting those endless to-do’s out of your head and on a piece or two of paper is cathartic.
- Write the date and time (this way, you can refer to the list later on to see which actions have aligned with your intentions) in a journal of your choosing. Keep this book in your nightstand.
- Spend the next several minutes free-writing anything and everything that pops into your mind.
- When you’re finished with this list, close your journal and put it away, preferably out of your direct line of vision. Out of sight, out of mind!
Gratitude Journaling Activities:
Integrate these practices into your daily habits, both first thing in the mornings and as the final step in your evenings before going to sleep.
- Write the date and time in a gratitude journal. Keep this as a separate notebook from your brain detox book.
- Have your gratitude journal handy by your bed so you can reach for it as soon as you wake up and before bed, without having to get out of the restful space of your bed.
- Write the words “GRATITUDE” or “GRATEFUL FOR” down.
- Create a list of three or more items that you feel grateful for underneath.
- When you’re finished, keep the book near your bed so you can absorb the energy of gratitude while you sleep. Or, alternatively set the tone for a great day ahead when done first thing in the morning.
Try integrating these mindful practices into your morning and evening self-care routines to turn down the volume on your tasks and to-do’s — and dial up the power of manifesting more gratitude into your life.
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