4 Effective Ways To Practice Gratitude During The COVID Pandemic

_{*Disclosure* Some of the links in this post might be affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link & make a purchase, I’ll receive some commission- at no extra cost to you, which helps me cover the costs for this blog.}

How many of us introspect or decide to be grateful for the things we have received? How many things in our life do we take for granted?

I certainly am guilty of taking the good stuff in my life for granted and complaining about the things I lack. I have done it for the longest time, especially when I was unaware of the power of gratitude.

Gratitude is powerful. Much more powerful than we realize. It has the power to change your mood & uplift your mind. Gratitude has the power to heal.

Gratitude doesn’t mean that we become delusional or brush away our problems. Being grateful means being aware of negativity & still choosing positivity. Gratitude means being grateful despite our problems.

To keep ourselves positive during the current COVID pandemic, practicing gratitude is essential. Whenever we feel that we are slipping into an abyss of negativity, depression, anxiety or dissatisfaction, gratitude is our anchor.

Here are 4 effective ways to practice Gratitude:

1.Gratitude Journal

This is by far the most talked about method of counting your blessings or expressing gratitude. Maintaining a gratitude journal and writing about the things you are grateful for can be of a great help.

Sit comfortably in a quiet place or close to a window to get a view of the outside world. Light some candles or turn on your favorite music. Close your eyes for a few minutes and mentally run through everything in your life that you are thankful for.

It could be your family, friends, your pet or even material items like your cozy home, your car, the latest gadget in the kitchen, the places you have visited, the cuisines you have tasted, the books that you have enjoyed… it could be a seemingly trivial thing or a big milestone in your life.

Your gratitude journal doesn’t have to look like an article from a newspaper or like a book from the printing press. You do not have to bother about the grammar, nor run any spell checks . All you need to do is write and express your gratitude for every single item that has brought joy. The journal is for your eyes only.

You can scribble just a few lines or write multiple pages. You can journal every day or once every week. It doesn’t matter how many lines you write or how often you update your journal.

Gratitude journaling can also be modified as ‘bullet journaling.’ Write down your gratitude list as bullet points. 

2. Gratitude Pot/Jar

You don’t have to run to the store to buy a fancy jar to implement this. A simple mason jar from your kitchen will work! If you like being artistic, you can paint/decorate your jar.

Below is a picture of my gratitude jar that I made a while back. It’s a simple earthen pot that I painted using acrylic colors.

_{Gratitude pot painted by me}

The idea here is to make note of the items that you are grateful for. Take a small piece of paper and jot down what made you happy on that day. Fold the paper and drop it in the pot/ jar. Keep the jar/pot in a place where it will be visible to you. If you want, you can encourage your family members to add their gratitude notes as well.. Take a moment to think what you are grateful for on that day and write it down.

It is best to do this activity at the end of the day so that you have an overview of the entire day.

It could be as simple as- Today am grateful for

• The great coffee/food I had
• The new running shoes.
• The beautiful weather.
• The “me-time” after ages.

You can try this gratitude pot/jar activity for a period of 40/90 days or for an entire year. At the end of this period you can empty your pot and read all your notes. It feels great to re-live the happy moments & remember that you have so much to be grateful for.

3. Volunteer for a cause

I think any gratitude practice is incomplete without helping someone or volunteering for a cause. While donating to charity is also good enough, volunteering for a cause like opting to help the less fortunate in your own way (other than donating money) is the best way to practice gratitude.

I have personally experienced this when I taught Dance Movement Therapy for free to senior citizens at an NGO in Singapore over a period of 6 months.

The feeling of giving back to society is amazing & unmatched. When we help those who are in need, we have a realization of all the wonderful things we have. The unfortunate help us realize how fortunate we are. Volunteering also helps us become more empathetic to other people’s troubles & needs.

During this trying time, if possible, you can volunteer to help the poor & sick people; and/or the migrant labourers in your city/country by giving them food/groceries or helping them in other ways.

The possibilites of helping others during this time are endless & the happiness you get from helping others & the gratitude you feel when you realize how much you already have, is incomparable.

4. Gratitude meditation

Gratitude Meditation is a form of mediation where we focus on gratitude for what we are thankful for. There are numerous guided gratitude meditation videos available on YouTube. If you are beginner in meditation, I suggest short (10 min or less) videos.

Gratitude meditation is an extremely powerful tool, combining the benefits of meditation & the feeling of contentment you get when you are grateful.

It is definitely a great mood booster! 🙂

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I hope you liked these 4 methods of practicing gratitude. When we intentionally practice gratitude, it is extremely powerful.

I know it is tough to practice gratitude especially when you are having a bad day or when we are faced with diffcult times like these. That is precisely the reason to practice it even more.

When we intentionally practice gratitude during a bad day/time, we become naturally more hopeful, happier & more resilient.

Practicing gratitude is like lighting a candle in a dark room. It will keep you warm, fuzzy & happy.

Do you practice gratitude? Have you used any of the methods listed here? I would love hear more about your gratitude practices. Please share it with me in the comments section below! 🙂

5 Health Benefits Of Fasting; How Does It Help?

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Hi guys, it’s May already! Time flies and we are through with 5 months of the year. Feels unreal, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I think now is a perfect time to write about fasting and it benefits. With all of us staying at home, it is quite easy to get carried away and binge-eat.

I personally have been watching my food portions during this circuit-breaker period in Singapore (lockdown/stay at home whatever you call it). Other than that, like always, I fast once a week, on Mondays. It was around 4 years back that I started fasting a day a week, on a regular basis. Initially I ate food allowed for the vrat/upwas but I didn’t feel a lot of difference. When I began fasting by limiting my food intake to minimal (usually fruits/dry fruits & lots of water), I began to see the benefits.

Fasting is a concept which has been practiced for centuries in India in the form of vrat/upwas and on special occasions. It is also practiced in other religions & cultures across the globe.

Fasting may or may not be done for religious purposes, but it can certainly be done for health reasons.

There are various types of fasting and intermittent fasting has gained a lot of traction in today’s world with a lot of people opting for it. Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. There are many different types of intermittent fasting, such as the 12 hour intermittent fasting or the 16:8 or 5:2 methods.

Irrespective of the type of fasting, the benefits attached to it are innumerable.

Here are 5 benefits of fasting:

1. Fasting improves your immune system

Fasting improves the immune system because it reduces free radical damage, regulates inflammatory conditions in the body and starves off cancer cell formation.

In nature, when animals get sick they stop eating and instead focus on resting. This is a primal instinct to reduce stress on their internal system so their body can fight off infection.

Our immunity improves if there is a faster regeneration of cells, which happens when you fast.

According to one study, a three day fast can lead to the regeneration of the entire immune system and the production of totally brand new white blood cells which have a stronger ability to fight disease.

How cool is that?

2. Fasting aids weight loss & improves metabolism.

Fasting can be a great way to lose weight as many studies have shown that fasting allows the body to burn through fat cells more effectively than just regular dieting.

Fasting allows the body to use fat as it’s primary source of energy instead of carbohydrates. Many athletes use fasting as means to hitting low body fat percentages for competitions.

Fasting also gives our digestive system a rest, and this can energise our metabolism to burn calories more efficiently. If our digestion is poor, this can effect our ability to metabolise food and burn fat. Fasts can regulate our digestion and promote healthy bowel movements, thus improving our metabolic function.

3. Fasting Can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes has become incredibly common in recent times with unhealthy lifestyles & high amount of sugar intake in people due to improper diet and over consumption of processed food.

The main feature of Type 2 Diabetes is high blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance.

Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, fasting has been shown to have major benefits for insulin resistance and lead to an impressive reduction in blood sugar levels.

Thus, because fasting is extremely beneficial in reducing insulin resistance & increasing insulin sensitivity, which can be of much significance in lowering blood sugar levels, it thereby proves to be helpful in reducing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

4. Fasting Helps Clear The Skin And Prevent Acne

Fasting can help clear the skin because with the body temporarily freed from digestion, it’s able to focus its regenerative energies on other systems.

Not eating anything for a while has shown to help the body clean up the toxins and regulate the functioning of other organs of the body like liver, kidneys and other parts.

Since the digestive system gets detoxified and bowel function improves, the skin also benefits from it and flushes out the toxins it has accumulated thus becoming clearer and healthier.

5. Fasting Improves Your Brain Function

Fasting has shown to improve brain function because it boosts the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF.)

BDNF activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health. This protein also protects your brain cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Ageing of brain cells can slow down, thus increasing mental alertness & awareness which helps to improve brain function.

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These were a few health benefits of fasting. There are numerous benefits of fasting apart from the 5 listed here. Fasting is known to improve heart health, reduce risk of cancer and also helps in regulate hormones. The list of it’s benefits is very long.

It doesn’t matter what type of fasting you practice; intermittent or not, any form of fasting is beneficial.

I personally have experienced feeling mentally alert and more active when I fast. My ‘fast day’ is usually more productive and more creative than the rest. I feel quite energetic as well.

Fasting should be done carefully and it does not mean starving yourself. Also, prolonged period of fasting is counter-intuitive and can cause more harm than good.

Fasting should only be done once or twice a week with regular meal days in between.

Anyone with diagnosed medical conditions and on specific medications should avoid fasting. Fasting should also be avoided by underweight people, people with eating disorders and by pregnant or lactating women.

Fasting can also feel initially tough to those who have never done it before and any extreme form of fasting should be avoided. The body takes time to adjust itself to fasting and it is important to be gentle with your body.

Tht said, I hope you found the article useful and I hope you do give some form of fasting a try, keeping in mind your health & body capability too! 🙂

8 Things I Miss About Travel During Stay At Home Due to COVID-19

Are you missing traveling as much as I do? The stay at home situation is teaching me not to take things for granted, including travel.

I have always loved traveling for as long as I can remember and I find that the best way to learn and grow yourself is to travel.

Photo clicked by me – Hong Islands- Krabi, Thailand.

Travel is something which helps you get out of your comfort zone and many a times I have had positive as well as negative experiences which have brought me out of my comfort zone, encouraged me to travel more and helped me to understand more about life.

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

So here are 8 things I miss about travel:

1. The Anticipation

The feeling of anticipation I get, when I visit a new place for the first time, is something I am currently missing. It makes me hopeful and happy when I know I am going to visit a new place!

2. Last Minute Packing

This one is strange, since I NEVER have liked packing. Whether it is moving homes or countries or traveling, all of which I have done often, the one thing I absolutely don’t like is packing my stuff. Whenever I do travel, my packing is almost always done last minute, since I cannot make up my mind completely before that 😀 So I always am rushing to pack my bags, last moment, every single time, which annoys my husband very much since he is quite a meticulous planner. 😀

Strangely enough, ever since I am at home, I am missing packing my bags and going to discover some place new. I miss the last minute rush and craziness of it all!

3. The Culture & People

I am a people’s person and I love discovering new places and different cultures and I like to interact with the local people and observe them. I find each travel experience teaches me something new and helps me broaden my horizons. This is one of the primary reasons I love traveling, since it teaches me so much about the world!

4. Airports

I love airports and the sense of being in transit and the vibe of it all. I really enjoy having a cup of tea/coffee before I board the plane and I love to observe people as they rush through to different destinations.

In fact, I am one of the few people who loves a longer transit time in between flights. Of course, not all airports are that interesting or well developed, so it also depends on the airport whether I enjoy my time there or not.

My favourite airport is of course Singapore Airport. There is absolutely no competition there! I haven’t heard of or seen a more creative and interesting airport than Singapore Airport! The next one which I like is Mumbai International Airport!

5. Nature

Whenever I travel, I make it a point to visit some scenic place. I love connecting with nature. The lush green trees, the chirping birds and the ache I get when I walk too much. I feel calm and refreshed and energetic connecting with nature. I miss that feeling right now.

Also, I am a sea person and like they say, I need a dose of ‘vitamin sea’ when I travel. Watching the waves, feeling the sun and wind on your skin and the sand underneath my feet, is an incomparable feeling.

I miss my dose of nature & sea!

6. The excitement of being in a place for the first time

The thrill of going to a new place for the first time, being amazed at the new things I tumble upon and the feeling of wonder on discovering something new, I miss that.

7. Photos

How obvious is this one!! Every girl likes getting clicked and so do I. For me though, my love for photos extends beyond myself. I love to capture the food, the place, the people, nature and everything else that I can, in my photos. I love capturing photos since photos are memories for me. Memories I cherish and I wish to treasure.

I also love sorting out the unwanted photos on my phone and keeping the good ones. For me, travel and photography go hand in hand and any place I travel to, is incomplete without photos!

8. Coming Home

Although, I love traveling much more than an average person, I also love the feeling of coming back home. Home is like a safe space for most of us, isn’t it? I love coming back home enriched with wonderful experiences and a new perspective on life. Unwinding at home after travel is a great feeling and I miss it.

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

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These are a few things I miss about traveling. As I write this, I feel the urge to travel again!

I hope that we all overcome the Coronavirus Pandemic and are able to travel, make new friends, collect more memories and learn more about each other!

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

When was the last time you traveled & where?

What are things you miss about travel?