Celeste’s Gratitude Journal Entries
Day 1: Today I am grateful for the birds outside my kitchen window. I love watching what they are up to and I can’t help but smile at their lively energy!
Day 3: Today I am grateful for my colleagues. I love knowing that I can reach out to them for support.
Day 9: Today I am grateful for my husband and our morning walks.
Day 10: Today I am grateful for calm in my heart, even amidst the trouble, hard work and noise of the world.
Day 11: As the day closes, I am so thankful for my body and how it digests the food I eat and tells me when it is time to rest.
Day 4 Prompt: What is something that you are grateful to have or know today that you didn’t have or know a year ago?
I have been blessed with greater ease and flow, inside and out, since making the CEO leap for myself to expand my business and bringing an assistant on board.
Day 7 Prompt: What is your favorite way to enjoy nature?
By noticing the deer on a particular hiking loop as they nest themselves in tall grasses.
Day 15 Prompt:
What is your favorite way to nourish yourself?
My favorite ways to nourish myself are through singing, cuddling by the fire, soaking in hot springs and quiet mornings watching the birds outside my window.
Day 16 Prompt:
Look around the room and name all the things you see that you are thankful for.
As I look around the room, I see so many things I am thankful for. I love the energy in the room, the beautiful artwork on the walls, especially the painting from a friend. I love the fountain that provides such soothing sound and ambiance. I am thankful for my collection of tea and the soft light filtering through the window.
Day 19: Today I am grateful to move my body, to dance and sing and sway. I am grateful for my self-expression.
Day 23: My top three ABC things to be thankful for are Kindness, Connection and Laughter!
Day 24: Today I am grateful for my community that comes together to help in times of need. I appreciate my neighbor who helped shovel heavy snow simply because he wanted to lend a hand.
Day 27: Tonight, as I reflect on the day, I notice my full and peaceful heart. Three things that made today special: waking up to beautiful, sparkling snow, a sweet call with a friend and reading a really good chapter in a new book.
Day 28: Today I give thanks for the present moment and my breath, that I can return to over and over again.
As the holidays approach, it’s natural to get caught up in the stress and strain of daily life.
To prepare for the holiday hustle, I invite you to join me in a Gratitude Journal practice. Ideally this can become a daily ritual in the morning or just before bed. This practice is also incredibly helpful in those moments you feel stuck, defeated, overwhelmed or fearful.
Our brains thrive with gratitude! The positive effects of a grateful mind help in sound decision-making and impulse control, building healthier relationships, facing stressful situations and difficult emotions and cherishing the present moment.
If you can commit to this even as a weekly practice, I am certain you will feel a shift and sense of strength and peace within. You may find you want to invest in a special journal or notebook. Some people make their lists on their phones. Even a crumpled piece of old paper will work!
Starting with just one word or sentence each day is enough. You can start with this prompt:
“Today I am grateful for…”
Throughout the month, I will provide other helpful prompts for you. One of my favorite ways to practice with my Gratitude Journal is by ending each day with this reflection:
“Three amazing things that happened today that I am grateful for…”
Other prompts I will include are journaling about what would make your day great and for an evening practice, how your day could have been even better.
Be open to what arises. There is no right or wrong way to do this and this is not about guilt or shame for all the things you think you should be doing or feeling thankful for.
This practice invites us to return to ourselves and interrupts our habitual stress responses. Not only that, research suggests that sleep, physical pain and cardiac health are improved in people that feel grateful.
