Gratitude meditation is a set of meditation and contemplation practices that dates back to early Buddhist teachings in India in the fourth and fifth centuries BC.
The correct name for gratitude meditation is Metta Bhavana, an ancient Pali word translated as 'the practice of loving kindness'. Many different loving kindness practices work in areas such as compassion, gratitude, and appreciation.
Gratitude practices are a fundamental part of my personal practice and teaching. I often dedicate an entire class to gratitude practices. I first learned them by attending meditation classes at the London Buddhist Centre and at the Buddhist Society.
At the time, the only meditation training available was through religious groups; which predated what we now call mindfulness training. The term 'mindfulness' only became popular after I had learned to meditate. We previously called it Presence.
One of the key practices that I teach is gratitude journalling. Gratitude practices have evolved from meditations and have developed with the input of modern psychology.
The gratitude journal practice, which I teach as part of my seven steps to connection training, transforms and changes the lives of one in ten students who learn it. Some of my students still fill out their gratitude journals from classes I taught over ten years ago.
Gratitude practices work by bringing our attention to our real-life positive experiences and feelings in a world that seems determined to feed us an endless stream of hyped-up, anxiety-inducing threats.
Attention and behavioural influence are critical for businesses that need to cut through the noise of the endless stream of imagery that comes through all of our devices 24/7. It is not called media manipulation for nothing.
If I want to get a group of people out of a room, I can go in there and ask them to please help me by leaving the room, which would get some people's attention, but they might just choose not to leave. Or alternatively, I could shout, "Fire!"
Some threats are real, but we need to keep them in proportion to the warmth of connection and joy of life that we can experience if we allow ourselves to do so. The joy of connecting with others and nature can bring with it the contentment and happiness we can find if we see the world in a balanced way.
On June 1, I will join Marie from Penrose Meditation and some of my other students to run a Gratitude Retreat at St Benedict's at West Malling in Kent. We would love you to join us.
RobertMitchell
Visit the Galleries page on the Bromley Mindfulness website to get a feeling for our retreats.
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