The concept of mindfulness has been discussed and practiced for millennia, first within various Eastern spiritual traditions, much later in Western psychology, and pretty recently by everyday folks in the U.S. Similarly, gratitude is another concept which is increasingly talked about in the pursuit of mental wellness. While practicing mindfulness and increasing one’s sense of gratitude can be quite valuable independent of each other, the two actually overlap quite seamlessly and offer unique benefits when integrated together.

Mindfulness can be thought of as the process of purposely brining one’s awareness to the present moment without judgment. In other words, practicing mindfulness just doesn’t happen by accident, it’s intentional. Bringing our attention to the present is what’s most often associated with mindfulness - connecting to the current moment rather than past or future ones. Finally, and possibly most challenging, is to do so without judgment; this can be tough, in part, because we’re conditioned to consciously and unconsciously judge and label our experiences from a very young age. As opposed to assigning judgment (e.g., “good,” “bad,” “pleasant,” “unpleasant,” etc.), mindfulness practice asks us to observe our experience in the present moment from a place of curiosity.

Another concept with a long history that has been gaining traction in the mental health world is gratitude, which can be thought of as the state of being thankful or appreciative. Gratitude practice can help us bring awareness to the meaningful aspects of our lives that we might often overlook or take for granted. Importantly, the intention here is not to eliminate the things we label as negative in our lives, but rather to bring our attention to aspects we appreciate. Sometimes, when I discuss the notion of practicing gratitude with folks, there can be the response of “there’s not much positive in my life right now.” Among other things, this statement reflects a belief that gratitude only comes in large packages. In fact, gratitude toward small, everyday experiences can have even more impact than toward larger and potentially one-off experiences. Everyday gratitude can look like having appreciation for our bodies for functioning the way they do, or for the sun or rain for sustaining life, or for an individual who showed us kindness.

The intersection between mindfulness and gratitude is quite large, and integrating them together as a practice can be exponentially potent. In fact, practicing mindfulness can significantly increase the power of gratitude work, because the very process of mindfulness helps us more deeply and intentionally connect with our present-moment experiences. While gratitude for big events has an important role, bringing our awareness to smaller things in life that that we appreciate gives us a chance to notice something which is often present but usually flies under our radar. One of the aspects of mindfulness and gratitude work that I appreciate the most is how accessible it can be. The act of noticing gratitude toward something in our everyday lives can happen pretty much anywhere and anytime. Here’s a quick and powerful way to practice this:

Next time you’re traveling on a path that you often take (e.g., your commute to class, through your favorite park, on your way home), be intentional about noticing something that you might otherwise overlook – how your body and mind are able to get you to where you need to go, the way the sunlight highlights leaves or branches on a tree, the aesthetic of a building, etc. In addition to noticing these often-discounted details, take a moment to notice what it feels like to be doing this all of noticing!

Michael Carrizales, Psy.D.
Senior Staff Psychologist