Why practicing gratitude will change your life
Practicing gratitude will change your life – but you already sort of knew that didn’t you?
Everyone has this inkling in the back of their heads that being thankful for your fantastic life probably holds some sort of key to increasing your baseline happiness.
Yet we don’t every really practice it do we? We take basically every single thing in our lives for granted. Our food (how easily accessible it is, the amazing nutrition it provides and the fantastic taste), our water (same as food), our warm homes, balanced climate (for the most part), freedom to do what we want, amenities, clothes, transport, our ability to see, hear, touch, taste, smell and even just having all of our bloody limbs.
There are countless things to be thankful for every single day – the fact that you woke up today is an absolute privilege that we just brush off as normal. We never take the time to actually think about how blessed we are from the moment we wake up, til the moment we hit the sack.
WHAT IS GRATITUDE?
There has never been a better time in history to be a human being and we need to start being a lot more aware of that fact. Imagine how people from the past – even just the 1800’s – would react to today’s world. Clean water, sustainable cures for diseases, electricity in every home, working sewage systems, the list goes on.
Their heads would absolutely explode. Anyway, even all of that isn’t the point really; gratitude boils down to being intrinsically grateful. This means you are thankful and content with you. You are thankful for your own hard work, what is has brought to you and your life in general.
You created all of this and that deserves gratitude to yourself. Happiness comes when you are truly grateful and content in the present moment. None of this “I’ll be happy when I get this” or “I could be happy if I had only done that“. It doesn’t work like that.
Practicing gratitude simply means, give thanks to yourself first and your environment after. But always be thankful for both, no matter what the situation is.
Think back to a time when your current life was your dream life. This is one I find always gets people out of their blinkered pursuit of the future and helps them to realise that they are living a life that was once only a dream to them.
Remember when you were a kid and you wanted to drive a car, be super strong like your dad or basically do any sort of adult activity ever? Well guess what? You are living your childhood dream! You just don’t realise because you see your life every day. As the famous quote from C. S. Lewis says; “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different?”.
You just need to look back a bit more to realise how unbelievably far you’ve come – just don’t dwell there otherwise you’ll never come back to the present.
Think of gratitude as a bit of modern day stoicism.
BENEFITS OF PRACTICING GRATITUDE
The benefits of practicing gratitude stretch far beyond the five listed below but these will certainly be enough to get you on your way.
Remember, there is nothing more inevtiable than the passing of time. If something bad happens, just remember that a week, month, year will pass and you’ll forget all about it. If something isn’t going to bother you in a year, why should it bother you now?
Practicing gratitude will help you to stop sweating the small stuff and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes, zooming out to see our situation from a different perspective is just what we need.
Anyway…
STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS
Practicing gratitude on the daily will help you develop a deep appreciation for your friends and family. You will want to spend more time present with them and will want to make the most of their company while you still can.
Gratitude will teach you this lesson before it’s too late and honing these feelings of gratitude can help strengthen bonds, it makes you a better listener, a more attentive partner and an all round good egg.
CALMS YOU DOWN
This is kind of linked to what I said above about the passing of time and zooming out on a situation. Being grateful in every situation no matter what it may be, will help you to stay calm in even the most intense, stressful times.
Practicing gratitude isn’t just about being thankful for the great stuff going on in your life. It is also about being thankful for the hardship – the tests that you have to endure throughout life to make you a better human being.
Framing these perceived negatives into positive situations creates many more positive outcomes and will serve you well throughout your life. For more advice on framing negatives as positives, look into Jocko Willink’s ‘good’ mindset.
YOU LOVE YOURSELF
When you start being thankful for your gifts and realise just how lucky and brilliant you are, you will come to love yourself, your abilities and every little thing you wouldn’t notice before.
You will want to take care of yourself and have far more self-respect. I find that this usually leads to greater pride, with people taking action on their fitness goals, career aspirations or simply just treating themselves a little bit.
I know it’s a bit cringey but self-love is a real winner and if you can master the art of loving yourself then it will lead to so many great changes in your life.
OVERALL POSITIVITY
This is definitely my favourite benefit that I noticed since starting practicing gratitude. Your overall positivity will soar. How can it not, when you are saying thank you for pretty much every single thing in your life?
I, and many others, have found that this overall increase in positivity attracts lots of great people to you. This doesn’t mean in a romantic way – but when you are putting so much positivity out into the world, you tend to have that reciprocated by others who share the same beliefs as you.
You become magnetic in a sense – people want to spend more time with you because you’re far more interesting and fun to be around. You are the sum of the 6 people you spend most of your time with. Practicing gratitude and increasing your positivity ensures that those 6 are the right kind of people – people that are going to propel you to achieve your goals.
BETTER SLEEP & ENERGY
This is something I noticed almost instantly when I started practicing gratitude. Your sleep quality and thus energy levels, will absolutely skyrocket.
When you start making gratitude part of your daily routine, you will experience a hell of a lot less ‘mental chatter’ at night – that stuff that keeps you awake for hours.
This is because you won’t be stressing nearly as much as you were before. You’re not rushing through life with blinkers on, always thinking about the next thing, you’re simply grateful for how good things are and this will genuinely help you to catch some top notch shut eye.
GRATITUDE STARTER PACK
Some of this advice may seem like really cliche bollocks BUT they do hold value. How often do we eschew the fundamental cliche advice in order to try far more complex solutions just because they’re different?
Basically all the time isn’t it? The basic, cliche advice is pretty much always spot on – a balanced diet, 45 minutes of exercise a day, fresh air, meditation, whatever it is, it’s pretty much always right. So trust me on this one. If you actually do these things, you’ll set yourself up for success, no doubt about it.
GRATITUDE JOURNAL
A journal is how I started on the road to practicing gratitude consistently. It’s not any special type of journal, any old book will do. But every morning and night, write down 3 things you’re grateful for at that exact point.
It can be literally anything you want!
I will often put down things that have manifested themselves as a result of my hard work to encourage more of the same, I also often put down things such as a strong, supportive ‘inner circle’, my privileges, my missus, even if I hit a PR in the gym that day – anything goes.
This creates such a positive mindset and helps you to realise just how much you’ve got going for you in your life. Try the journal first and then make your way onto the next few points when you feel ready. You’ll be practicing gratitude consistently no time.
SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS
The biggest cliche of them all!
We all claim we spend time with the fam and friends but how much time do we really spend with them? My guess is not very much.
When we get together with our mates in particular, we will all sit round and gawp at our phones, messaging others and tweeting about how much of a great time we’re having, instead of actually being present with our buds.
Then our families…we’re running out of time to spend with them. We know this deep down but ignore it. Guess what? There’s going to come a point where your entire family is dead. A wee bit morbid but it’s true.
Make time to do things with your parents (if they haven’t popped their clogs yet), siblings, cousins, whatever – I know you can’t choose your family but you can sure as hell spend more quality time with them.
If you’re lucky enough to still have grandparents, go and see them, listen to them and actually get to know them. These people have lived through wars, lived through so many decades and have countless stories and advice to give, yet we just see them as lovely old cuddly people. They’re so much more, so dedicate a little bit of time to them and be grateful for their mere existence. And if they’re already 6 feet under, ask your parents about them, they probably led lives that were a million times more interesting than you or I.
SAY THANK YOU
This can be in the conventional sense of saying thank you whenever someone does anything for you but I also find simply saying thank you when I wake up and then about 50 more times in the morning creates a really positive outlook on the day.
If you don’t fancy saying thank you a load of times, simply say it when you wake up and say it when you hop out of bed. Being thankful for waking up and having another day to live is about as basic as it gets, but isn’t that the best thing to be thankful for?
And if you can’t even do that, you must say thank you to anyone who does anything for you. Someone lets you cross the road? Thank you. Someone gives you some directions? Thank you. Someone mugs you and leaves you for dead? Why THANK YOU. In all seriousness though, even if you can’t be thankful to yourself, making someone feel valued by thanking them and acknowledging them could make their day – spread the positive vibes dudes and dudettes.
MENTAL CHECKS
Once I started doing mental checks, my mind was low-key blown into a million tiny pieces.
Every time you do something, try and note whether you take it for granted because you do it every day. I started noticing every time I walked on a soft carpet, put a heater on, used a bloody slow cooker, got on a cross country train, used the map on my phone, walked down the street without being mauled by a tiger – the list was endless.
Once you realise basically your entire existence is made up of thousands of tiny daily miracles that people have spent hundreds of years slaving away for, you will become truly grateful for your life – something which we have all lost touch with.
It’s time to reclaim our lust for life people!
Practicing gratitude will be by far and away the best habit you pick up in 2019. You will become infinitely more aware of your privilege in life and you will undoubtedly be a more happy, well rounded person.
I know these promises sound a bit too good to be true, but they simply aren’t. Implement constant gratitude into your life and be grateful for everything in it – the rest will take care of itself.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.
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The Navy Seal Breathing Technique To Calm Down
Today's article will be discussing the Navy Seal breathing technique to calm down. This technique has been around for thousands of years in yoga practice but hasn't had as much publicity as it maybe should have. That has began to change in recent years with advocates such as Wim Hoff and the Navy Seals singing its praises.
Today’s article will be discussing box breathing. This technique has been around for thousands of years in yoga practice but hasn’t had as much publicity as it maybe should have. That has began to change in recent years with advocates such as Wim Hoff and the Navy Seals singing its praises. It has become even more popular recently after being called the “navy seal breathing technique to calm down”.
WHAT IS BOX BREATHING? Navy Seal Breathing Technique to Calm Down
Box breathing is a method of conscious deep breathing that is used to calm the mind and body. Whilst being able to boost sporting and athletic performance it can be a huge stress reliever as well due to the meditative nature of the practice.
It is named box breathing due to the way in which one is supposed to envision each breath. More on this a little bit later.
MAIN USES
Box breathing can be used for a variety of things. Its main uses include but are not limited to;
Calming the sympathetic nervous system.
Improving PTSD.
Reduce blood pressure
Decreasing anxiety and panic attack prevalence - improving mental health, reducing stress and anxiety
Aiding in the induction and quality of sleep through this well known relaxation technique
Improving pain management.
How do I do it? Navy Seal Breathing Technique To Calm Down
As mentioned before, you must envision your breathes in a box format. There are four steps to this process – each step forming one side of the box. Now we have that oh-so complicated visual exercise out of the way I’ll give you the steps.
Whilst sitting up straight, inhale for four seconds, filling your lungs with as much air as possible.
Hold the air in your lungs for 4 seconds - holding your breath is a key part
Slowly exhale for four seconds, completely emptying your lungs of any air.
Hold this emptiness for four seconds.
Repeat this process for as long as you want until you either fall asleep or are de-stressed beyond belief.
Remember, it is normal to feel slightly dizzy if it’s your first few times doing this so don’t worry about that. Just take a rest, sit in a chair and make sure you’re not standing up when you're practicing box breathing.
WHY BOX BREATHING TECHNIQUE?
If you’re looking to improve your stress levels then this can be a massively useful tool as it brings you into the present moment and stops your mind from dwelling on unnecessary details of your life. Lowering your stress and keeping yourself in a relaxed state can be one of the most important factors to focus on when trying to decrease cortisol in the long term, which can aid in increasing testosterone so give box breathing some serious thought.
The other impressive benefit of box breathing I listed above was that it can actually help you to get to sleep whilst also improving the quality of that sleep too. I know so many people who struggle with sleep and it affects them the next day in a seemingly never-ending cycle.
Most of the time, people struggle to get enough sleep because their minds are constantly doing overtime worrying about every little thing in their lives.
By focusing solely on breathing it prevents your mind from thinking about anything else, allowing you to drift into a much deeper, uninterrupted sleep. As we all know, quality sleep is key to maintaining high testosterone levels so anything that can help with this is absolutely invaluable.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done.
Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.
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Forget the dog. The Sauna is Man's new best friend.
Have you ever wondered if saunas are actually any good for you? Turns out they are. Very much so. Get your sweat on and learn about the benefits of the sauna.
SAUNA PRECONCEPTIONS
The sauna can conjure up a whole host of images for different people. For some, it’s a place where you can flush toxins, zone out and enjoy a peaceful cleanse. For others, it’s an old man’s saggy gonads swinging freely, dripping sweat just about everywhere they possibly can.
No matter what your preconceptions are of the sauna, I’m here today to tell you about the benefits you can reap if you choose the hotbox life. So long as you make sure you go in without any old overly body-confident gentlemen then you should be fine…
IMPROVES SKIN
As we all know, saunas are quite hot. The heat given off by the hot rocks of the sauna raises your skin’s internal temperature – increasing the blood flow to top-layer cells exponentially for the duration of your session.
The increase in blood flow means more oxygen (amongst other nutrients) is transported to your cells and these nutrients allow for your skin to repair itself efficiently – even as your natural reparation processes get slower with age.
STRENGTHENS HEART
After reading another article – this time from Harvard University, it became crystal clear that saunas have an extremely beneficial effect on the blood flow system. The researchers at Harvard suggested that increased blood flow caused by sauna sessions decreased blood pressure and decreased the risk of heart attacks in men in particular – good news for the fellas.
Taking a trip to the sauna has also been shown to lower cholesterol. This has been suggested to be caused by the sauna’s stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can mimic the effects of exercise – causing a decrease in overall cholesterol levels and further decreasing your risk of heart disease.
PROTECTS BRAIN FUNCTION
Studies have shown that regular use of the sauna can decrease your risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as you age. This promising research was conducted on over 2,000 men over a 20-year period which further adds to the validity of their claims.
The key here is regular use if you want to decrease your risks of brain ailments. Those who went 4-6 times per week were over 60% less likely to develop diseases of the brain than those who went just once.
BOOSTS IMMUNITY
One interesting effect of sauna exposure is that it can boost the strength of your immune system. It’s been shown that as little as two saunas per week can reduce your risk of colds and flu by 65%! That’s a huge improvement in flu resistance and highlights just how effective saunas can be to overall health.
How exactly does a sauna help with immunity? Well, once your body is exposed to the heat, it triggers your body’s immune system to ward off bacterial infection. This causes your body to produce more white blood cells whilst sweating out a whole load of toxins that would have otherwise been kept within the body. This all creates a more harmonious and balanced immune system that protects your body as opposed to fighting against it.
IMPROVES GYM PERFORMANCE
Some small-scale studies have considered the effects of saunas on athletic performance, with one in particular finding that athletes who followed running workouts with sauna sessions of only a half hour were able to run further without hitting exhaustion after just three weeks.
This was attributed to the increased levels of blood plasma in the body caused by the heat of the sauna. This increase in haemoglobin allows for better oxygen transfer from the lungs to the rest of your body – meaning that cardiovascular performance can be increased massively.
Basically, using the sauna is like real life cheat codes. Forget your Grand Theft Auto jet pack cheats, climbing into the sauna is the way forward.
If that list isn’t enough to get you down to the sauna I don’t know what is. Don’t let them Scandis keep all the good stuff for themselves – get sweaty.
Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.