drops of gratitude
There is a theory that if you do aerobic exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes in the morning, you increase your metabolic rate throughout the day. Since I am more firmly No a morning person i will never know if this works for me or not.
However, there is one exercise that I do regularly every morning to boost my energy for the day. It’s easy to do, takes just a few minutes, no special equipment is required, and you don’t have to sweat or worry about straining your muscles or hurting other parts of your body. Best of all, it can be done while you’re still lying in bed.
Like aerobics, this exercise raises your energy to a higher level, but in this case it’s emotional energy. Your higher emotional energy supports you throughout the day to react and respond to events that come your way in positive, efficient and effective ways.
As you’ll know by reading my previous article, How Fear Makes You Stupid, any form of fear, from mild stress to intense anxiety to intense terror, affects how your brain works. When you feel fear to any degree, everybody brain activity stops except in the brainstem, which is where the fight or flight response is stored. In other words, all logic and reasoning stops when you feel any kind of fear to any degree. This means that you can only think of two things: flee from the cause of your discomfort or fight against it. Neither of these options will solve the problem and, in fact, will only cause it to last longer and often grow even larger.
Imagine, then, how you are going to respond more effectively and positively to any challenge that comes your way during the day because you did an exercise in the morning to raise your emotional energy and now you are feeling emotions far above those in the morning. fear range.
I call this simple yet amazing exercise Gobs of Gratitude.
Here’s how you do it: Think of something you’re grateful for. When you think of something, say out loud “I’m thankful for ____________.” Repeat this a total of ten times. Anything you’re grateful for doesn’t need to be monumental. For example, this is what I thanked this morning:
- warm flannel sheets
- My new rabbit slippers
- Organic olive oil that I use to moisturize my skin.
- Being retired so I can get up whenever I want
- The oven that keeps our house warm and cozy.
- Non-fluoridated drinking water
- The backyard squirrels that are so entertaining
- Hot licorice root tea
- My two loving cats
- The sound of rain on the roof.
That is all. Easy peasy. So simple and yet so powerful.
Give it a try for a few days and notice the difference in how you feel and therefore how you respond to people and events throughout the day. When and if you feel your emotional energy rate drop, just say three or more Gratitude Gobs to revitalize your emotional energy.