With Thanksgiving right around the corner, you might be thinking of what your family will be making for dinner, which relative’s house you’ll be at this year, or maybe if you can out-eat everyone at the table. While all of those are great things to have on your mind, we’re going to suggest taking a moment to Cultivate an Attitude for Gratitude. When you Cultivate something, you are helping to grow something that was planted long ago. All of us have an Attitude for Gratitude inside of us, but not everyone can tune in to it so easily!

This Attitude for Gratitude practice is a way to bring all of that to the surface so that you can learn to pick out things that you feel Grateful for in your life. Feeling Gratitude allows us to appreciate things and people in the present moment. Sometimes a Gratitude practice can be the perfect solution for a time that you are feeling down or lonely. It can also be a great practice for times you are feeling so happy you can hardly sit still!

Where to begin:

Start a gratitude journal

• You can start practicing your Attitude of Gratitude by making a Gratitude journal.
  • A gratitude journal includes a daily reflection of something we are grateful for
    • This can be something as small as being warm and cozy in your bed at night to being able to spend time with your family or friends. Those are just a few examples, but the sky is the limit (you can even be grateful for the rain clouds in the sky)!
  • What goes in this journal?
    • Our suggestions:
      • Try sitting for a few moments, noticing your breath, body and thoughts. Once you become settled, allow your mind to focus on things that you are grateful for. Notice what pops up, allowing all answers to be okay, but choosing your favorite one or two for that day.
    • After noticing what you are grateful for, we suggest trying out one or all of the following each day for your entry:
      • A drawing
      • A picture or magazine picture
      • A poem you write about your feelings, or a poem you think talks about feelings you are having
      • A few words or sentences about what you are grateful for and why

Try journaling every day for a week, and notice how you feel! You might even want to tell some people you feel grateful for just how much they mean to you!

Teacher’s tip: This is a great practice for the week of Thanksgiving, or any holidays where families gather and people come together to celebrate. Cue more concrete methods of journaling for younger children, and more abstract ones (like finding a poem) for older students. Tailor to their developmental levels as you see fit!

Student’s tip: If you like this practice, you can do it everyday for as long as you’d like. There is never too much Gratitude!