Daily Intention – Forgiveness and Gratitude

Part ten in a ten part series - By Cindy Graham 

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love.  In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.”  -Robert Muller

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”  -Melody Beady

As this series of daily intentions comes to an end, the final two topics are perhaps the most important of all.  When I think of forgiveness and gratitude, I get a mental image of a heart – it just happens automatically for me.  I suppose that it’s because both of them symbolize pure love – but they also are important to the physical well being of the heart! 

The following is an excerpt from the Harvard Medical School Journal:

“Researchers found that mentally nursing a grudge puts your body through the same strains as a major stressful event: Muscles tense, blood pressure rises, and sweating increases. Better heart health: One study found a link between forgiving someone for a betrayal and improvements in blood pressure and heart rate, and a decreased workload for the heart. Stronger relationships: A 2004 study showed that women who were able to forgive their spouses and feel benevolent toward them resolved conflicts more effectively. Greater happiness: When you forgive someone, you make yourself—rather than the person who hurt you—responsible for your happiness. One survey showed that people who talk about forgiveness during psychotherapy sessions experience greater improvements than those who don't.”

The following is an excerpt from the Christine Northrup, M.D. website:

“Research shows that heart-centered feelings associated with gratitude, appreciation, and caring are health enhancing. When you find one thing, however small, to be thankful for and you hold that feeling for as little as 15–20 seconds, many subtle and beneficial physiologic changes take place in your body:

·         Stress hormone levels of cortisol and norepinephrine decrease, creating a cascade of beneficial metabolic changes such as an enhanced immune system.

·         Coronary arteries relax, thus increasing the blood supply to your heart.

·         Heart rhythm becomes more harmonious, which positively affects your mood and all other bodily organs.

·         Breathing becomes deeper, thus increasing the oxygen level of your tissues.

Other scientific evidence that gratitude improves health comes from research accumulated by Robert A. Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. Emmons found that gratitude makes you healthier, smarter, and more energetic. He also showed that people practicing gratitude daily, for example, as writing in a gratitude journal, reported higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy than those who didn’t. If all of this happens when you focus for just 15–20 seconds on something that brings you pleasure, joy, or a feeling of gratitude, imagine what would happen to your health if you were able to cultivate thoughts of appreciation on a consistent and regularly basis.”

With all this positive information on just how powerful forgiveness and gratitude are to your health – why wouldn’t you want to embrace them to the fullest?  The health benefits are a byproduct of being grateful for all the blessings in your life and for forgiving everyone around you. 

A heavy heart is a burden.  A heavy heart cannot forgive.  A heavy heart will cannot be grateful.  Lighten your load, heart and mind and explore how gratitude and forgiveness will change your life.  It’s been proven that being in a state of gratitude and forgiveness will help you to make sense of your life and help you towards discovering your life purpose! 

To put your intention of gratitude and forgiveness into action, it all begins with a daily intention.  When you begin your day with the intention to be in a state of gratitude and forgiveness – you’ve set up your day to actually do it.  Setting your daily intention is a personal commitment for the day.  Once you have set it as an imprint in your mind – it will stay with you throughout the day.

Most people need something to keep them on track in practicing gratitude and forgiveness every day – so that they are aware of their intention to be in a state of gratitude and to identify moments where forgiveness can be extended.  They need something to help them remember; something that provides reminders to stay focused on what they’ve set out to do.  Solution: the meaning to pause® bracelet.  This bracelet gently and privately vibrates every 90 (or 60) minutes with a friendly nudge / reminder to keep you on track of your daily intention of gratitude and forgiveness. This simple and inexpensive bracelet holds the key to keeping you focused on your daily intention and your commitment to be more grateful and forgiving!

For more information go to: www.meaningtopause.com

 

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

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Daily Intention - Mindfulness

Part nine in a ten part series - By Cindy Graham

“For many years, at great cost, I traveled through many countries…saw the high mountains and the oceans. The only things I did not see were the sparkling dewdrops in the grass just outside my door.”  – Rabindranath Tagore

The term “mindfulness” can be seen in many places today.  It means different things to different people.  I’ll explore some of the common definitions and beliefs – as well as share what I think it means to be mindful. I will start with the master guru of mindfulness – Jon Kabat-Zinn – truly a pioneer on the subject and the most “plain speaking” kind.

 

  “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the

present moment, and non-judgmentally.” 

Let’s continue….with a few deeper explanations from various mindfulness focused organizations: 

1)   “Mindfulness refers to being completely in touch with and aware of the present moment, as well as taking a non-evaluative and non-judgmental approach to your inner experience. For example, a mindful approach to one's inner experience is simply viewing "thoughts as thoughts" as opposed to evaluating certain thoughts as positive or negative. The term comes from Eastern spiritual and religious traditions like Zen Buddhism. However, mental health professionals are beginning to recognize that mindfulness can have many benefits for people suffering from difficulties such as anxiety and depression.”

 

2)   “Mindfulness is a practice that involves the cultivation of a present-oriented, non-judgmental attitude. It is part of the Noble Eightfold Path practiced by Buddhists as they work towards enlightenment, as well as being a part of hatha yoga practice. It also has applications in depression treatment as part of a type of therapy called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, a type of psychotherapy aimed at preventing depression relapse by teaching patients to let go of the negative thought patterns that perpetuate and worsen depressive episodes.”

  

3)   “In a nutshell, mindfulness is about being completely in touch with the present moment and being open to experiences as they come. Mindfulness has been around for ages. However, mental health professionals are beginning to recognize that mindfulness can have many benefits for people suffering from difficulties such as anxiety and depression.”

All of these definitions have basic commonalities within them – which takes us back to Jon Kabat-Zinn who boiled it down into a few words.   My definition (non-professional of course) of mindfulness means paying attention to things around you and in you and accepting these things for what they are – not for what you think they are.  Being mindful also means just having one single thought – but not controlling that thought – just accepting that thought.  It can also be said that mindfulness is the antithesis of multi-tasking – something that is all too common in the world today.
 
Let’s face it – when we multi-task, we can only be partially effective in all the different things we are doing.  When you are present and mindful doing a single thing – that is when you are at your best, your peak, your optimal ability.  However, on the other side of this….we’ve missed the exit, we’ve caused an accident, we’ve sent an e-mail to the wrong person, we’ve forgotten responsibilities, we’ve completely dropped the ball on something – and we ask ourselves – how can this happen to me?  People in the world today (especially the US) have become victims of the hurried, noisy, fast pace environment that we have all created and all contributed to. How can anyone pay attention and place awareness on a single thought with all the noise, chaos and calamity in our current environment?  It is because of this that we must SEEK mindfulness and CREATE our own environment of awareness on the present moment. 

“Mindfulness is made up of several skills, all of which require daily, continual practice.

 

1.   Awareness - One skill of mindfulness is learning how to focus your attention on one thing at a time. Being aware of and able to recognize all the things that are going on around you (sights and sounds), as well as all the things that are going on inside you (thoughts and feelings).

2.   Non-judgmental Observation - This skill is focused on looking at your experiences in a non-judgmental way. Simply looking at things in an objective way as opposed to labeling them as either "good" or "bad." An important part of this skill is self-compassion.

3.   Being in the Present Moment - Part of mindfulness is being in touch with the present moment as opposed to being caught up in thoughts about the past or the future. An aspect of this skill is being an active participant in experiences instead of just "going through the motions" or "being stuck on auto-pilot."

4.    Beginner's Mind - This skill of mindfulness focuses on being open to new possibilities. It also refers to observing or looking at things as they truly are, as opposed to what we think they are or evaluate them to be. For example, going into a situation with a preconceived notion of how things will turn out can color your experience. This can prevent you from getting in touch with the true experience.

Practicing Mindfulness - Mindfulness takes practice. The best way to bring mindfulness into your life effortlessly is to create a daily intention.    As you go about your day, try to find as many opportunities as you can to practice mindfulness. The more you practice, the easier it will become to bring mindful awareness into your life experiences, which in the end may also help you cope with a number of personal issues.

Most people need something to keep them on track in practicing mindfulness all day – so that they are aware of their intention to seek out moments to practice mindfulness.  They need something to help them remember; something that provides reminders to stay focused on what they’ve set out to do.  Solution: the meaning to pause® bracelet.  This bracelet gently and privately vibrates every 90 (or 60) minutes with a friendly nudge / reminder to keep you on track of your daily intention of mindfulness. This simple and inexpensive bracelet holds the key to keeping you focused on your daily intention and your commitment to be more aware and mindful.

For more information go to: www.meaningtopause.com

"Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t)."  - James Baraz