You may be wondering how does gratitude relate to stress, anxiety, emotional as well as physical healing? Well it has a lot to do with it. It is important to remember that in addition to a regular meditation practice, it is important to have tools or skills that you use to help lift your mood or what I like to term raise your vibration. When you make a point to turn your focus to gratitude, you open your heart. You also divert your attention away from a stressful, anxious or emotionally taxing situation. Placing your attention on something more uplifting is an important tool to use in a holistic approach. As a result, use it even if you are taking any type of medication. Medication is not the cure. It may help to alleviate symptoms but if you do not address the issue of the constant mental chatter in your brain, then you have not gotten to the root.

What you can do

1. Try a 21-day Gratitude Challenge. For 21 days, make a list or recite 21 things for which you are grateful. Make this the first thing you do in the morning or the last thing you do at night.
2. Make a gratitude list and place it on your vision board to remind yourself to focus on being grateful.
3. When you are experiencing an anxious, stressful or emotional taxing moment, either take out your list or start making a new one. This will shift your mood. Remember, the more you do this, the more of a habit it becomes. Also, remember that meditation trains your mind to focus so with meditation it becomes even easier.