The Code to Joy

      Gratitude.  It's so "in" right now, hearing the word "gratitude" can be annoying.  It almost feels counter-intuitive.
       Over the years of working with clients and teaching both yoga and reiki, I have dabbled in affirmations and gratitude.  For many of my clients and students it feels false.  The affirmation "I am a succdessful and confident reiki practitioner"  feels like a lie when you really are anything but.  Trying to find gratitude when it feels like your world is crumbling apart feels like you are ignoring reality.
       Code to Joy: The Four-Step Solution to Unlocking Your Natural State of Happiness by George Pratt, Ph. D and Peter Lambrou, Ph. D reframes the idea of a gratitude journal in a way that really makes sense to me.  You begin by making an easy list of a dozen items.  Mine always begins with hot water (even after being back in the States for nearly 20 years, I am always grateful for hot water, and as much of it as I want!)

My gratitude journal.  I am working my way forward
from the back of my regular journal.

        Here's where it gets interesting.  The authors explain why and how this is beneficial... "What you are doing through this exercise is retrainin a portion of your brain called the reticular activationg system (RAS)... The RAS has been described as a "Google of the brain," a search engine that we literally program to pick relevant and useful bits of data... As you build your gratitude list, your RAS makes a subtle shift in it's hierarchy of priorities.  Rather than looking for what is wrong, you are programming your neural search engine to look for what is right."
         I love the idea of strengthening the "gratitude muscle."  When I go to a yoga class, I don't expect to learn a difficult move the first time I try.  I go home and practice, forming muscle memory of the correct way to move.  Gratitude journaling does the same thing to your brain.  Who knew?
       As we move ahead into this year of possibilities, why not add this practice into our lives?    maybe it is time to discard an old option, something that is not working for you, and devote 3 minutes each day to retraining your brain.  At worst, there are 3 minutes every day that you feel great.  At best, your whole outlook on life changes for the better.  I'll take option two.