Gratitude meditation is a great way to raise your mood and put your mind and body in a positive and happy state. It can be done within minutes and it is a great way to balance yourself anytime you feel stressed or anxious or as part of your daily meditation routine.
Here are 2 ways you can practice gratitude meditation:
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Gratitude Exercise #1: Gratitude Visualisation
A simple visualisation based gratitude meditation involves sending gratitude to a loved one via an imaginary gift. This takes a few minutes and is easy to practice.
Gratitude Visualisation
Total Time: 2 minutes
Pick a person
Close your eyes, get comfortable and think of someone you want to send gratitude to, and visualise them. It could be a friend, a stranger you just met or a loved one. Whoever it is, picture them clearly.
Think of your gratitude
Imagine a compliment or message of gratitude you want to send to them. It can be a simple message or a positive thought. For example – “thank you for helping me last night” or “I’m really grateful for your company each day”. It can be a simple message or a positive thought. 
Send them your ‘gift’
Once you’ve decided on your message of gratitude, imagine wrapping it up like a gift with a lot of positive energy and kindness. Now, imagine the person standing next to you and give them this gift!
Notice the reaction
As the last step, visualize their reaction on being handed the gift. Are they excited, happy, surprised? Watch them slowly unwrap the gift and picture how happy they are seeing your gift. See their smile and begin to notice how this gratitude meditation is making you feel. 
Try out Evolve’s audio on sending a gift of gratitude!
Gratitude Exercise #2: Immersing Yourself With Gratitude
This is an easy meditation exercise you can do on your own anywhere, even if you’re travelling. What’s better, you don’t need to close your eyes either!
Step 1. Settle down. Take a few deep breaths and slowly look around you, paying attention to every small object. For about a minute, become aware of your surroundings.
Step 2. Express gratitude to what’s around you. Once you’re settled, pick out any 3 objects or people around you and express gratitude towards them. If it takes you some time to think of gratitude, force yourself to think of something small. For example, you could be grateful to the chair you’re sitting on for providing you comfort.
Step 3. Expand your horizon. Once you’re able to complete Step 2, your mind and body will automatically switch into a state of gratitude, allowing you to be thankful for a lot more than what’s around you. Depending on how much time you can spend on the meditation, use the time to think of people you may be grateful for who are not around you and express some gratitude towards them in your mind.
Anytime you express gratitude, you allow positive energy to flow into your body and mind. As a result, you feel happy and relaxed, with your serotonin levels going up! If you try out any of these two exercises, we’d love to hear your thoughts and experience.
Evolve’s guided audios help make meditation and mindfulness light and refreshing, and tailored around your daily schedule. The Evolve app is now live globally on Android & Apple, you can try it for free!
With over 300 articles published on Evolve. Jash is one of the most viewed writers on topics such as Sleep, Mindfulness and Stress. Drop a mail at Jash@evolveinc.in to connect with him.
