Use Cross Crawl and Affirmations to Rewire Your Brain for Gratitude
Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. — Zig Ziglar
Every Thanksgiving, many people set aside a special time to reflect on what they’re most thankful for. Did you know our hypothalamus floods our brain with dopamine every time we express gratitude? Brain science shows that it actually rewires the brain. This gives us a natural high which can motivate us to spread more love and kindness to those around us. Instead of making a point to express gratitude once a year on Thanksgiving, why not make it a daily habit since it’s so good for us!
Gratitude improves your life in many ways:
- Gratitude decreases aches and pains
- Grateful people have more energy and vitality
- Gratitude reduces toxic emotions like anger, envy, resentment, regret, irritation, and depression.
- Gratitude increases the quality of your sleep, helps you fall asleep faster, and sleep longer.
- Gratitude reduces jealousy and social comparisons
One way to help rewire the brain with gratitude is to speak affirmations out loud while performing cross crawl movements. Cross crawl involves movement of the opposite arm and leg, like when you walk or march in place. As a result, integration between the left and right hemispheres of the brain occurs. This makes it’s easier for the conscious and non-conscious mind to accept new learning and make positive changes. (You can learn more about cross crawl in my SK Master Series level 1 workshop!)
Speak the following affirmations out loud while performing a cross crawl movement:
My life is full of blessings.
I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy.
I am grateful I have all the strength and energy I need for today.
I have many gifts and talents which I’ll use to bless others today.
I joyfully and freely share my resources with others.
I am content and blessed with all I have.
I am grateful for the hard times because I know empathy will result.
I am grateful I know who I am and that I can speak the truth in love.
I am grateful for my strong and healthy body.
I release those who have hurt me and speak blessings over them.
I take comfort in the fact that gratitude is not something we’re born with but rather it’s a character quality that needs to be taught, forged, and decided on.
In all honesty, I struggle daily with the challenge of choosing to have an attitude of gratitude. This message is so much easier to preach than to live out daily… especially with all the challenges we have faced this last year! It’s been hard to get a footing amid the unpredictability. I am a firm believer that necessity is the mother of invention. I probably wouldn’t have created my online SK Master Series if it wouldn’t have been for the pandemic and resulting lockdown.
Just today, I was blown away by a text message I got from my daughter-in-law sharing with me about my 6-year-old granddaughter’s gratitude list. She had memorized the 23rd Psalm and was reciting it for my son and daughter-in-law. The Psalm starts with “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” As they discussed the Psalm’s first verse which is about God’s provision, my granddaughter at her own volition decided to tear up her Christmas list. She then wrote a gratitude list instead that said the following, “I am thankful for Mom, Dad, Grace, and my food, and God.”