Day 8 - Gratitude Benefits Mind and Body

Today, I started the second week of my meditation experience. This week explores a deeper facet of gratitude—my overall health and well-being. Science has proven that new pathways open in our brains and change when we practice thoughts of gratitude. The more I practice gratitude the more I want my neuropathways to open up and change for the better.

There are only two kinds of input our brains experience; negative and positive. Obviously, positive input increases our well-being and negative input decreases our well-being. Gratitude is a positive input and aids in the generating of new pathways in my brain. Gratitude also leads to compassion and empathy. When I focus my awareness on positive input, greater health and well-being come my way. But, it is something that I have to exercise—just like going to the gym to exercise the body we have to exercise our brains too! As I continue to exercise my brain with gratitude, compassion and empathy become a little easier.

Gratitude is not a totally new concept for me. One of the first spiritual teachers that showed up in my life was Dr. Wayne Dyer. I have never forgotten how he shared the first thing he did every morning when he awoke was to say, “Thank you.” This is a practice I have incorporated into my everyday life except I say “thank you” one time for every horse and cat I have in my life. I also give my animals hugs and tell them they are loved. Because every time you give a hug, you receive a hug and love is one of the highest vibrating emotions.

Three main factors that contribute to negative input in my brain are the negative voices in my head that stem from negative people in my life declaring things over me like, “You can’t do that” and “You will always be a failure as long as you have horses.” This negativity has led me down a path to insecurity, self-doubt, and fear of standing in my truth. Ways I am learning to eliminate these negative inputs are by eliminating people and things in my life that are not for my highest good. From now on, I only allow people in my life who love and accept me for me—this includes my love of animals along with my passion and lifestyle for horses.

​When I practice gratitude, it allows the awareness of what shows up in different areas of my life including health and wellness. The more I practice gratitude the more I can reroute old pathways in my brain and turn them into a positive pathway. From now on, I choose a healthy mind and body and I hope you do too!

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