Anchor to Gratitude

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Did you know that cultivating gratitude is a skill? It’s a mindset, it’s a way of life. It’s also a very worthwhile pursuit because of the incredible benefits of cultivating gratitude – we recommend starting by spending 5 minutes/day in a gratitude journal. Interestingly, we start experiencing MORE of these benefits the longer we consistently keep a gratitude journal. This simple 5 minutes a day helps us to shift our focus from any areas of dissatisfaction or lack, and guides it to truly being grateful for the people and blessings in our life. Some of the benefits of cultivating gratitude are as follows below:

  • More energy – gratitude helps us manage our energy in a positive way

  • More Optimal function of the body

  • Better sleep – we have a 25% better chance of having a good night sleep when we go to bed grateful

  • More vitality

  • More positivity

  • Increase self-esteem

  • More resilient

  • More happiness

  • Better relationships

  • Increased productivity

  • Deeper connection to spirituality

  • Less selfishness

As you think back on various aromas that are meaningful to you – the smell of chocolate chip cookies or homemade bread in the oven to remind you of home, baby powder to remind you of a baby’s sweetness, cinnamon & spices to remind you of the holidays… Did you know that our sense of smell is the only sense that bypasses the thinking-part of our brain, and directly access the limbic center of the brain, where our memories are stored and emotions are based? This makes smell a powerful tool in helping us to anchor in on what we want.

Here’s an anchoring exercise to help you strengthen your resolve to cultivate gratitude:

1. Use an essential oil of your choice, we recommend Wild Orange or Douglas Fir for this exercise

2. Think back to a time when you felt grateful. What were the details of the situation? What was your body language? Re-experience those feelings. Did you feel grateful for a person, and act of kindness or something inanimate?

3. Pour a drop of the essential oil you’re anchoring to in the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, cup your nose and inhale. As you inhale, think back to that experience. Use vivid language description in your mind, try to activate the senses – what did you see, smell, hear, taste, touch?

4. Release your thoughts, and drop your hands away from your face. Physically move. Deliberately think of something else.

5. Cup your nose again and inhale the essential oil. Picture yourself feeling grateful in the future, and picture yourself being able to instantly conjure up this powerful feeling of gratitude whenever you’d like. You can picture yourself feeling down about something, then raising your thoughts and emotions by being able to tune into gratitude. Picture all that you currently have, including relationships, talents, opportunities, possessions, and experience profound gratitude for what you have been blessed with.

6. Repeat the process as necessary to truly anchor in on gratitude.

7. Later, as you are wanting to continue this feeling of gratitude – use the essential oil you’ve anchored with as you write your gratitude journal or to help you raise your vibration on difficult days.

Anchoring sequence from Anchor to Your Strengths by Melinda Brecheisen.