Sit down or lie down. Get into a comfortable posture.
Bring your attention to the rising and falling of your chest without changing its movement. If you feel like releasing a sigh (or two), go ahead.
Allow your body to soften and relax by just holding the thought ‘Soft’ or ‘Jelly’ (this seems to work well with many people). Any word that just feels soft and relaxed to you.
Now, say the words ‘Thank You’ silently, repeating it.
(It helps to remember a moment, a time when you felt deeply and joyously thankful for something or appreciated something beautiful)
As you do, let your attention go to a part of your body that responds comfortably to those words. For me, this is often around my abdomen. Sometimes, right in my tummy:) (And other places too. But I choose to keep my attention on one place only)
Now, repeat the words ‘Thank You’ enjoying that sensation and the feeling in your body wherever you sense and feel them most. Keep repeating each time you notice the sensation or feeling.
When thoughts and images come to your mind that have been causing you stress or fear or anxiety or any kind of unpleasant feeling, let them happen. Don’t fight them.
When you’re ready (you’ll know) return to that part of your body where you were sensing/feeling good as you said/thought the words ‘Thank You’.
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was Thank You, that would be enough – Meister Eckhart
Don’t hurry the process. Don’t force anything.
Just allow yourself to remember ‘Thank You’ and take your attention to where those words seem to trigger a pleasant response in your body.
Within a few seconds to a few minutes, you might feel a great sense of relief. A reboot if you like.
Smile :). Let your whole body smile 🙂
By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action…the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain..
…a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress…
Dr. Andrew Newberg, Neuroscientist & M R Waldman in Words can change your Brain
NOTE
This is not about being thankful for anything as such. It is about enjoying that feeling of appreciation.
Researches at Open University, UK have found that saying Thank You as an expression of Appreciation (rather than Gratitude which s so often confused with indebtedness) helps relationships endure 🙂
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