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We all know the mental health benefits of experiencing gratitude, but thereโs so much more to it from a spiritual perspective thatโs seldom explored.
The abundance of teachings from a scientific-Westernized perspective oversimplifies gratitude as some new-age trend that will come and go. The traditional understanding has become diluted, and most people think itโs nothing more than a feel-good emotion.
This perspective couldnโt be farther from the truth.
Gratitude is a vibration that resonates at a high frequency. Because the vibration of gratitude is high, it corresponds with love, happiness, joy, and higher paradigms of consciousness that we all want more of in our lives.
In this article, Iโm going to share my understanding of the vibration of gratitude and tell you a little about why it’s so important along our spiritual journeys.
Gratitude Is More Than a Feeling
Every feeling that we experience has a vibration, ranging from extremely dense to extremely light. The denser the emotion, the lower the vibration, and the more that energy is associated with suffering. On the other hand, the lighter the emotion, the higher the vibration, and the more that energy is associated with joy.
Energies such as shame, resentment, and hatred are on the lower end of the vibrational spectrum, meaning they are some of the densest emotions that cause a great deal of suffering.
Gratitude is one of the highest vibrations we can experience, meaning it has a direct connection with happiness. And it makes sense because the more gratitude you feel, the better you feel. Ideally, we would all love to be overflowing with gratitude because our life experiences would vicariously be filled with so much joy.
In my eyes, there are 3 primary pillars of happiness: gratitude, love, and compassion. These are 3 of the highest vibrational energies we can experience, and the more we experience them, the happier we become.
It’s that simple.
Gratitude is an energy that comes from the heart chakra. Itโs the feeling you get when something really good happens to you, and you feel deeply appreciative of something. Iโm not talking about muttering a thank you when someone gives you a hand, but the real feeling of deep appreciation that comes from the heart.
It doesnโt matter how privileged someone is, if they are not grateful for what they have, anything in their life won’t mean a great deal. Even if you have little, if you genuinely feel gratitude for everything you have, you will feel abundant.
This is the paradox of gratitude. Itโs an energy that needs to be cultivated, not an emotion that is triggered. So, we will look at some things you can do to cultivate this energy and feel the vibration of gratitude more in your life.
Gratitude Is Bad for Business!
Gratitude isnโt good for a materialistic society for a simple reason. If people are satisfied with what they have, then they wonโt want to buy more. If people are dissatisfied, then you can bet that they will be spending cash to try and quench that desire.
More gratitude = less need to consume = less contribution to the economy.
Our societal structure is built around making people feel like theyโre lacking, and this is one of the challenges youโre up against. Unfortunately, these giant corporations, marketers, and governments are very good at making people believe that they need more to be satisfied.
After all, if they didn’t do this, they would be out of business!
Most of us are indoctrinated with this belief that more = better. Of course, believing you need more to be satisfied isnโt good for your personal growth, which is why I wanted to talk about this.
Next time you catch yourself conforming to some new trend, ask yourself, is this necessary? Will buying this thing make me happy, or just fulfill an artificial need that shouldnโt be there in the first place?
Cultivating the Vibration of Gratitude
Anyone on a spiritual journey should make gratitude one of their top priorities.
If youโre genuinely grateful for everything that life gives you, you donโt need wealth. You donโt need friends or a partner. You donโt need a good job, a high salary, or any material possessions to be grateful.
All you need is life, and if youโre reading these words right now, then congratulations, you qualify.
Everybody has something that they can be grateful for. People who are abundant in things may have an advantage, but if theyโre not grateful for what they have, then itโs pointless having it. Since most of us have so much, we normalize all the good things that weโre abundant in, instead of appreciating them.
What a wasted opportunity.
There is so much that you can learn to appreciate. You can be grateful that you have a job and make an income. Be thankful for your opportunities, and health, that you are alive and experiencing this journey. You can even be grateful for the pain youโre enduring and all the wisdom it has given you.
Experiencing the vibration of gratitude is a practice of cultivating a sense of appreciation for everything in your life. To increase the vibration of gratitude, there are 2 angles we need to work it:
External gratitude: Being grateful for your external conditions is to appreciate everything you have. Often we take these things for granted until we lose them.
- Access to clean water
- Access to delicious food
- Having family and loved ones
- Friends and companions
- Having a place to stay
- Being in good health
- Having a stable job
- Having and mobility
Internal gratitude: Being grateful for your internal condition is to appreciate your life, your intrinsic qualities, and your experiences. I believe this is the most powerful form of gratitude, and has the greatest potential for personal and spiritual growth.
- The opportunity to be a human
- The challenges you have faced (and what you’ve learned through them)
- The pain you have endured (and the wisdom you have gained)
- All the memories made
- Being self-aware
- Being on a personal growth journey
- Being a good person
- Having lived the life you have
Building the Muscle of Gratitude
Look at your sense of appreciation as a muscle. The more you work this muscle by expressing gratitude for any given thing happening in your life, the stronger it gets.
As the muscle of gratitude strengthens, it will become easier to feel thankful, and youโll start doing it more often, and for smaller things. Likewise, the sensation of gratitude will become stronger, meaning you will feel happier.
This is why someone with a dilapidated shack can feel happier than someone with a luxurious mansion โ Because they have learned to appreciate it.
When you feel genuinely grateful for something, an energy will begin emitting from the heart chakra. Gratitude is a similar vibration to love because both of these energies come from the heart chakra. So really put your focus into your heart and feel it from there. You need to mean it for it to make a difference.
Stop Taking Things for Granted
There is always so much that we take for granted, including the bare necessities like fresh water and air, shelter, and warmth.
You can appreciate anything as long as you build that mental muscle, and train you to see how good you have it. Take a moment to bring your attention inward and realize where you are right now.
Are you wearing enough clothes to be warm? Do you have a full stomach? Are you living a lifestyle that allows you to indulge in simple pleasures like eating chocolate or having a coffee?
Do you have a job and earn an income? Think of all the little things that usually slip past unappreciated, and take a moment to be thankful for them.
Donโt just say it, but feel the sensation of being complete as you realize that you have enough. You have everything you need for this present moment, and thatโs what matters.
Celebrate the Small Victories
We are so focused on what goes wrong or what could go wrong that we are blind to everything that goes right. By developing a lens of optimism, you can learn to feel more appreciative of everything that happens.
Did the train arrive on time? Amazing! Didnโt lose your job after the embarrassing mistake today? Fantastic! Itโs not raining, great, you can enjoy the sun. Is it raining? Great, the plants need water anyway.
To many people, these will seem like the most trivial accomplishments. But to others who have built the muscle of gratitude, each trivial success is a huge victory.
If you can perceive every small occurrence as a victory, think about how many victories you encounter daily. Life is goading you to appreciate the little things.
By focusing on the positive aspects of life, you bring a positive perception into your reality, and your reality dictates your experience.
So milk the experience and focus on what doesnโt go wrong.
Delay Gratification
Have you ever been in a situation where you didnโt have access to water for a long time, and you were really thirsty?
Youโve been dreaming about the first gulp of that sweet nectar rejuvenating you. It might have been a struggle, but when you finally had that first drink of water, it was the best thing ever!
Pay attention to that feeling. The feeling of being absent of something you want, because once you get it, youโre so much more appreciative of it.
This is because of delayed gratification.
I encourage you to push yourself a little and not fall into temptation whenever you want something. This can take some discipline, but if you allow yourself to experience a little more discomfort daily, youโll be rewarded with more gratitude.
A fair trade in my eyes!
Use Contrast as a Springboard for Gratitude
Enduring a difficult situation helps you realize how good you have it. Every bad situation has a silver lining, and this is by making you appreciate theย regularย situation more.
Think of it this way. If you contracted a serious illness that admitted you to hospital, during this time itโs probably going to be difficult for you. You are going to wish that you were back at home in good health, eating normal food again, and not needing people to look after you.
As you are suffering the unpleasant effects of poor health, you realize how good life was before.
Itโs not because the regular situation has changed, but because the contrast makes you pay attention to the ampleness of it.
This experience might make you appreciate being able to walk around, see friends, and get out in nature. Suddenly, your normal life becomes ideal.
When you return to normal, you are likely to be much more grateful for your health, because you have experienced the contrast. Going through difficult experiences humbles you, and forces you to realize what you have taken for granted.
This means that the hardest experiences are there to help you find balance and align with gratitude. So use difficult experiences to realize just how good you have it.
Donโt forget the struggles you have been through.
Bless the Things That You Consume
Energy is always interacting, and you put your energy into everything that you consume.
Something I learned when I worked with Ayahuasca shamans for half a year in Ecuador is that they spend a lot of time appreciating everything they take. And I mean, a LOT of time.
Whether itโs drinking a cup of water, eating some food, or drinking their delicious medicine, shamanic healers have a strong habit of blessing the things they take. They take their time with the process and feel that sense of appreciation before, during, and after they have it.
Spending time doing gratitude prayers isnโt just important to build the muscle of gratitude, theyโre also putting the vibration of gratitude into the things they consume.
Therefore, spend some time appreciating the things that you consume. Every time youโre about to drink some water, take a moment to feel your appreciation for having that water.
The vibration of gratitude matters!
If you’re on a spiritual journey, aiming to experience more gratitude is a great target to have because the vibration of gratitude adds a lot of value to your life.
Especially if you’re stuck in low vibrational states that don’t make you feel good, experiencing more gratitude can raise your vibration as a whole and open the doors to a much more beautiful life experience.