Gratitude Tools During The Holidays

Hi there! Liz here wanting to wish you all a happy holiday season! Can you believe it’s here already?!? I know that is so cliché but 2018 was a whirlwind for me; it was jam packed with ups and downs and flew by, how about you? How are you doing this holiday season?

 

I know that during the holidays there are so many women out there struggling with really loud food and body fears. Is that where you find yourself today or are you in a different place this year? I know that these kinds of repetitive and persistent thoughts really distract us and take us away from the fun, joy, connection, and celebration that this time of year can bring. If we are worried about all of the calories in those cookies our mom makes every year or about all of the butter in the mashed potatoes, it is really hard to be present with enjoying these delicious foods and feeling the nostalgia and memories we have associated with them. So many of my clients talk about how much they miss the way the holidays used to feel, when they weren’t stuck in their heads, distracted by counting, or feeling “guilty after binging.” During this time especially, I think that gratitude can be a helpful tool to get us out of our heads and back into the present moment and able to appreciate what deeply matters to us. I have listed a few different gratitude practices below that I hope can be practical and useful for you during this holiday season. Thanksgiving is a fitting time to slow down and create space for acknowledgment and reflection in our life so I hope that you try a few new practices and see how they fit into your life!

Daily Gratitude List:

Daily gratitude practices can really support us in re-wiring our brains so that we are more prone to notice the things we appreciate as opposed to our brains being stuck in constant problem- solving. It can be helpful to start the morning by listing five things we are grateful for and then in the evening listing five more things we are grateful for. When starting this practice, try to keep in mind that it is most effective to mix up the big and small things we appreciate. Sometimes when we are struggling it feels hard to think of anything we are enjoying in our life, as we are focused on what we wish were different. That being said, we can train our brain to appreciate and take comfort in even the smallest things through daily practice. So this morning my gratitude list included: “my husband, my clients, my car starting, the Pumpkin Creamer in my coffee, and a good night’s sleep.” We might feel blocked at first but I have found that by making it a daily routine the list comes easier and I am noticing more things throughout my day to be thankful for!

Gratitude List For Our Bodies:

When struggling with negative body image, I find it most helpful for the women I work with to shift their focus away from the evaluation of their bodies based on its appearance and size and instead give more air time to thoughts about the functionality of their bodies. I often offer clients the mantra, “My body is an instrument for my life, not an ornament.” If we think about it, our bodies are really our vehicles to move through the world, and these vehicles allow us to do so many tremendous things in our lives! I encourage you to write a list of some of the things your body makes it possible for you to do in a week. Here is my recent Body Gratitude List: dancing, seeing a sunset, smelling rain on the ground, hugging my best friend, walking to work, smiling at a stranger and seeing them smile back, hearing a client share a victory, brushing my teeth, holding my husband’s hand, tasting my dad’s homemade pizza, participating in a beach clean-up with my alumni organization. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to have these experiences if I did not have my eyes, no nose, my hands, my thighs…my body and all of its parts! I do want to note that as I write this I am immensely aware of my privilege in regards to my physical health and the fact that I am living without physical disabilities. I know that there are many out there who live with disabilities, chronic pain, or even temporary illness that might make doing a gratitude list like this painful. And at the same time a lesson I continually learn is that we can usually find small things to appreciate while still honoring our pain and grief, both can happen at the same time.

Appreciation vs Expectation

There are so many expectations that we have during the holidays around what this time is “supposed to be”. It is hard to turn the television on, open up our social media pages, or even walk into a store without seeing picture perfect “Hallmark Holidays” where families are laughing, hugging, playing in the snow, and surrounded by beautiful decorations. These kinds of images create super high expectations about what our holidays “should look and feel like.” And those that struggle with disordered eating are often also perfectionist in other areas of their lives on top of that! So the struggle is real in trying not to be overtaken by the expectations and hopes for a “perfect holiday!” I don’t know about you but I have never ever had a “perfect holiday.” From my train being late, to getting in an argument with my dad about how to make yams, to feeling sad about a gift not being thoughtful enough or appreciated enough, the list goes on and on. When we go into the holidays with these high expectations it is so easy (almost a set up or a guarantee) to feel disappointed. So another gratitude mantra I offer to women to use during this season (and throughout our lives really) is “appreciation not expectation.” How can we step out of future oriented thinking about what our holiday should look like, and instead focus on being present in the moment and finding little things to appreciate as the days unfold? How can I be surprised by something to be thankful for like a spur of the moment conversation with my aunt, or breaking out into giggles with my sister when our gingerbread house falls apart, or enjoying a cookie my coworker brought that I have never tried before? “Appreciation not expectation” has been such a helpful intention for me to use and has truly allowed me to be witness to the beauty and joy that is actually here in the moment as opposed to the movie I think it should be.

 

Gratitude Alphabet and Prompted Gratitude Questions

If it is difficult to find things to be grateful for there are two other practices that can be helpful in getting your mind going.

One seems silly but can be really fun and spark your imagination in thinking about what is there to appreciate in your life. I call it the Gratitude Alphabet. The way it works is that you go through the alphabet, A to Z, and state one thing you are grateful for starting with each letter. Here is an example: A-apple cider, B-books, C-Catherine (my sister), D-dogs etc. Be creative, have fun with it!

You can also use prompted gratitude questions to help guide you. I have added one that I often offer to clients:

• I’m grateful for these three things I hear:
• I’m grateful for these three things I see:
• I’m grateful for these three things I smell:
• I’m grateful for these three things I touch/feel:
• I’m grateful for these three things I taste:
• I’m grateful for these three blue things:
• I’m grateful for these three people:
• I’m grateful for these three things in my home:
• I am grateful I am able to do these three activities:

Letter of Gratitude

Using gratitude as a practice in our life is also about expressing that gratitude directly towards others and letting them know how much we appreciate them. Something that might be meaningful and add some cheer to your holiday season (as well as someone else’s!) is to write an unexpected letter of gratitude. As opposed to sending a text or a holiday card, we can choose one person in our lives to whom we feel grateful for (maybe someone we haven’t told in a while or ever) and write them a letter we mail or give to them in person. Who in your life has recently shown you kindness, taught you something, been there for you as a listening ear, or gone out of their way to help you? Writing that person a letter, in which we are really specific about how they have added to our lives, can actually be a wonderful activity to boost our own mood. It will likely be an awesome gift for that special person too; however, you might be surprised about how much the simple act of writing the letter improves your day too!

Gratitude for our Struggles

Being grateful for our difficulties is a really tough one but can be immensely helpful to our healing journey in that it helps create meaning to our pain. This is very hard to do in the movements in which we are deeply suffering and I don’t suggest trying this right in the thick of it, as it doesn’t give us enough space to feel and validate our emotions. We do not want to skip over sadness, anger or hurt by jumping to gratitude; however, it is often life changing when we allow both experiences to be true at the same time, we are both sad it happened and grateful for its lessons. My suggestion is that when we are out of the intensity of the moment we take some time to reflect on how our current struggle is supporting or helping us. For example, I am often able to feel grateful for my personal struggles with anxiety, perfectionism, etc. as they have allowed me to be a therapist and coach who deeply understands and relates to my clients’ experiences. And I believe (and hope) that my deep empathy based on my own pain helps my clients to feel understood, seen, and less alone. Another example is that in moments when I feel frustrated because plans suddenly change, I practice gratitude that I am being offered an opportunity to continue to let go of my desire to control the future. Are there struggles you have faced or are currently dealing with that you can create some meaning to? How did those struggles support you in becoming the person you are today? Or how might they serve you in the future?

 

I hope that this blog was helpful for you in thinking about some tangible and simple practices to bring more gratitude into your life during this season. I wish each of you a peaceful, comfy, joyful, fun, delicious, holiday season spent with those you love most!

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