I received one of the most beautiful and humbling compliments recently. Someone I just met told me, she instantly felt comfortable and at ease when I greeted her. The energy I sent out was received in a positive way and we immediately connected. That made me incredibly happy.

When I look back at my year so far, there were times where I was everything but at peace. It took time and determination to find my way back to bliss and inner peace.
I've experienced loss, fear, heartache, insecurities, desperation, change, cried a lot, moved...the list goes on.
Just because I meditate and practice yoga doesn’t mean I don’t have my own struggle.
But instead of concentrating on what wasn't working in my life, I began to shift my focus to what actually worked.

Looking back, my own problems seem small compared to those of others.
What seemed big and hopeless to me at the time, feels like a blessing now.
I'm grateful for the experience, because I came out a much stronger, humble and (hopefully;-) wiser person.

Today I'd like share a few things that helped me find my way back to a state of balance and gratitude. I hope it'll help you too!

My Guide to Gratitude:

1. Create your own gratitude list that you can read back when feeling down, lonely or lost. Reading, listening to or saying your affirmations daily will help subconsciously ingrain a grateful attitude. Listen to these amazing Morning Gratitude Affirmations. I love this and sometimes I just let it play in the background while I'm doing something else.

2. Think about what made you happy today (e.g. a friend who brought you coffee, your favorite song suddenly played on the radio, seeing the sun again after 5 days of rain,...:)

3. What did you do well today? (e.g. you took the stairs instead of the elevator and you felt great afterwards, you ignored your colleagues' bad mood and created good vibes around you, you finished a project on time,...:)

3. Meditation
Try to include the things that you are grateful for in your meditation. After focusing on your breath and arriving in the wonderfully calm state of meditation, let your inner eye see the things for which you are thankful for in your life. That way you manifest the feeling of gratitude and the state of bliss into your consciousness.

4. Ignore bad vibes.
Don't let other people's negativity ruin your mood. Instead, reply to them with a smile and create positive vibes around you. They should have no power over you. Walk away from it when you can.

5. Three-step-method
1) Stop what you're doing in this moment. 2) Look around and take in your surroundings. Be grateful to be able to breathe, to be here in this moment.
3) continue what you were doing.
To be in the moment and really see everything that's happening around you, means to understand all the things that are right now. Take it all in. You may have overlooked something or someone very beautiful or kind. Be thankful that you get to experience these things right now and let it have a positive effect on you.

6. Be kind to yourself. Don't pressure yourself if gratitude and awareness don't come easy to you. Each moment is a new opportunity to feel thankful. Allow gratitude to become part of your life slowly and patiently and observe how all things change in a positive way. And soon you will feel that you are connected to life, people and all the other things.

I love the quote "You get what you attract". It's as simple as that. Negative thoughts attract negative energy. But if you can trick your mind into positive thinking, you will eventually attract positive things into your life!
No matter what mood you're in. If you remind yourself of what you can or could be thankful for, then your mood will brighten up instantly.

Wishing you all a happy day full of gratitude and positive vibes...

🖤
Nadia