What is Gratitude, Really? The Spiritual Mindset of Gratitude, & Exercises

What is gratitude, really? What is the spiritual mindset that truly allows for deep authentic gratitude? In this episode we discuss what gratitude is and ways you can practice gratitude daily. We'll do 4 simple gratitude exercises and tips to increase gratitude so if you wish you can build a daily gratitude habit. 

I do truly believe that gratitude increases positive mindset, emotional well-being, and personal growth... AND, I also firmly believe that our mindset, our somatic experience of presence, and our spiritual growth are what truly build authentic and deep gratitude in the first place. Ultimately it is our spiritual paradigm of surrender and our understanding that we are the recipients of Life's hand to us, that brings us gratitude as an inevitable result. 

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This podcast show explores meditation, mindfulness, consciousness, spiritual awakening, and spiritual growth, with a strong focus on personal healing, trauma healing, emotional healing, and somatic healing. We dive into nonduality, embodied spirituality, the true self, life purpose, and spiritual practice, while also addressing shadow and integration themes like spiritual bypass, ego-death, root causes, and holistic healing. Episodes draw from psychology and attachment theory, as well as ancient wisdom traditions, esoteric wisdom, energy healing, and indigenous wisdom, offering grounded insights for seekers on a path of inner healing, wholeness, and deeper realization.

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1:31 What is Gratitude? / The Source of Gratitude

7:54 - Gratitude during Difficult Times

11:46 - Exercise 1 - Gratitude for Overcoming Hardship

13:54 - Exercise 2 - Gratitude During Hardship

13:22 - Exercise 3 - Gratitude Towards Helpful People

18:39 - Exercise 4 - Gratitude feeling Pleasure and Enjoyment

23:17 - Savoring and Reminiscing

23:51 - Finding Gratitude in Difficult Moments

24:30 - Gratitude as a Healing Balm

25:59 - How We Can Build Gratitude in Our Lives

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Keywords: meditation, mindfulness, consciousness, spiritual awakening, spiritual growth, personal healing, trauma healing, emotional healing, somatic healing, inner healing, nonduality, embodied spirituality, wholeness, grounded spirituality, life purpose, spiritual practice, enlightenment, realization, the true self, ego-death, spiritual bypass, attachment theory, psychology, root causes, holistic healing, energy healing, ancient wisdom traditions, esoteric wisdom, esotericism, indigenous wisdom, bhakti, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, sangha, Divine Will, spiritual ascension, collective awakening, collective healing, global ascension, connecting with angels, and connecting with spiritual guides.

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Transcript

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Gratitude is a result of realizing that our wellbeing and our joy and our achievements and everything we hold dear is a result of factors that we did not control. Realizing that it's not a given that these factors occurred. Not taking anything for granted. Welcome to the Ground of Love. I'm your host, Olivia Frazao. This is a podcast for people who are deeply dedicated to the spiritual journey. You are here for self-growth care, for others, and being of service to the world. This podcast is in service to you to help you remember who you are and why you are here, you will receive inspiration, clarity, and no BS Love. We are walking each other home. Let's begin. today we're talking about what is gratitude really. And how can we be more grateful? It's easy to tell someone. You should be grateful. It's easy to think within ourselves. I hear gratitude can help me be happier. How can I be more grateful? what are the building blocks of gratitude? What is the space within which gratitude grows. What is gratitude? What does it look like and feel like? And how can we welcome it into our state of being in a more natural way? Gratitude is the result of a worldview. A worldview of knowing ourselves as being a recipient of joys and happenings, connections and healings that we did not orchestrate. Gratitude stems from the understanding that life is bigger than us and that what we are given in life is exactly that: is what we have been given. Understanding that we are recipients of life's blessings, Sometimes we think that we are the little God of our own life and that we are the ones who determine the outcomes of everything, gratitude stems from a worldview where we understand that our life is in greater hands than our own. A worldview of knowing ourselves as being dependent upon the great forces that move our life along Gratitude is understanding that life could have been otherwise. It's the act of not taking anything for granted. It's trusting that we are blessed by life's hand and recognizing that. Gratitude is giving recognition to life's offerings to us. This is a particular relationship we have with how things happen. It's an understanding that we are not at the helm. We are not in the driver's seat, ultimately of life's occurrences. Some people might call it luck or chance. I call it grace, blessings or life's hand. What we are given. Gratitude is giving recognition To all of the ways and the specific ways that we have been held, that we have been guided, that we have been nurtured. Nourished. Healed. It's paying attention to the present moment with enjoyment, and it's also looking at how the past brought us to the present moment with an eye towards meaning. Understanding that who we are and where we have arrived to today was a result of many hands beyond our own, of the hand of God, of the hands that held us. The human hands that hugged us and held our hand guiding us forward. Gratitude is giving recognition to the ways that we have been shown truth and shown love, and shown ourselves and shown what reality is and what matters. Shown everything that most matters to us. And as I say these things, I'm including easeful life events as well as difficult life events, easeful relationships, as well as difficult relationships, easy ways of learning things, as well as tough ways of learning things. When we are very, very deeply in gratitude, we can include not only the pleasures, but also the pains in understanding that both of them have brought a gift. Gratitude is a result of understanding that everything that life gives us is for a greater purpose for our evolution. So in this way, we can be indiscriminately grateful. Everything can become an opportunity for gratitude when we see that everything is taking us forward, that the tapestry of our lives is being woven by every moment, by every variable, by every person coming in, by every event occurring, that there is a, a path that we're walking. We're being pushed forward by what has occurred and as we. Allow ourselves to be recipients of our learnings. We can be grateful for the opportunities to know ourselves better, to know the divine better, to know each other better, to know what matters more deeply, where the greatest loves that we have received have helped us heal, have helped us mend our heart. And where also the great pains that we have received have softened our heart, shown us compassion, Help us feel then in the easeful moments how nothing is to be taken for granted. Gratitude is a result of realizing that our wellbeing and our joy and our achievements and everything we hold dear is a result of factors that we did not control. Realizing that it's not a given that these factors occurred. Not taking anything for granted. when we are given grace, when we are given ease, when we are given love, when we are given open doorways and beautiful opportunities, we get to receive these blessings, heal the parts of us that have been needing those energies and those connections and that wellbeing for so long, and we get to share the emanation of what we are able to be and hold and give to others, And a gratitude born out of faith and trust. What does that look like? What is a, let's say, spiritual level of gratitude? It's the indiscriminate gratitude. It looks like being grateful even in the hard times because there's trust. There's trust that everything we are given. Can be a stepping stone to a higher understanding of who we are, Knowing that the difficult things can be grist for the mill meaning. These triggers that hit up against the egoic parts of us that were subconscious or that were dormant, that are now being touched, that are now being rattled, that are now coming to the surface. There is an opportunity each time we experience an internal upset, each time the external world triggers the internal upset within us. This is actually an opportunity to bring even this to the light of awareness. Even this to the heart of compassion. Even this giving over from the I Egoic will to the divine will, even this into greater surrender. It can be very difficult to have gratitude for what we really, really, really, really, really, really don't want. So this isn't an invitation to force or fake gratitude. It is simply a reminder to all of us. That gratitude somehow, some way is actually amazingly enough, always available somehow, and maybe even not in the right now moment. And that's okay, but at some point we look back and we understand why things needed to have happened the way that they did. At some point. And we can see how we have grown and who we have become. And so in every moment we have the opportunity to take everything as a gift. Gratitude is the result of the decision that we consciously make to take as a gift that which we did not control. choosing to take as a gift that which we did not control. Trusting that what is happening or what has happened, if it's a difficult experience, holds within that difficulty a light. Holds within the pain a gift. And when we trust that, if we allow ourselves to trust that, if we choose to trust that, if we take the risk of allowing that trust, we can find a way to be grateful for how we can grow, for what we can learn. For who we can become. So let's do a few gratitude exercises and you can see which one might be your favorite or what calls you the most. But just humor me here and try all of them. Why not? If you're listening to this anyway, you might as well actually do it. If you're driving, cooking, multitasking, that's okay. Put whatever percentage that you can into it and let that be enough. You have full permission to do it messy right now. Okay, let's do the first one. Think right now where you're at feel where you're at today in this phase of your life and consider a time. When things were harder, it could be in the recent past. It could be a long time ago, a time when things were harder, and how much you would have loved to be where you're at now. Some people are in the place where things are very hard in this given moment. And if that's the case, we're gonna do an exercise for that in a moment. Okay? So for anyone who right now can feel, wow, I'm grateful to be in this place. Because I remember something that was hard in the past that's no longer occurring or that healed, or that I overcame or that became resolved. We can feel in this moment how our past self could only dream of being in the wellbeing or in the ease, or in the healing, or in the resolution that we're now currently sitting in. And in this moment, we enjoy and give gratitude for this moment on behalf of our past self. And if you wish to right now, just for a moment, very brief moment, you can imagine a specific scene that you may have been in in the past and now feel the exact scene that you're in now, wherever you're sitting, standing, walking, et cetera. And just allow them to be linked in some way. Feel a line of light or a bridge or a thought that you send to that past self and that past self sends to you in the here now. Or you can feel that you, and this you holding hands in whatever way. There's just a little brief, hello. A brief moment of, hey, we made it and you can open your heart and send the love in your heart to that past self because by the way, it's the same heart, so it doesn't have to go anywhere distance wise. Let's do another exercise. So now we're considering, let's say we're experiencing difficulty in the moment. Okay, where can we look for the silver lining of what's happening? Where can we look for the hidden blessings? How can this be an opportunity that brings us closer to the truth, closer to ourselves, to who we truly are and truly most deeply in our deepest soul wish to be? And where might it be giving us the opportunity to be deeper in our heart? To understand other people's suffering more, to be more compassionate. Where has this hardship inevitably brought us to our knees in a way that we are actually opening our spirituality in a deeper way where we are giving ourselves in surrender to God's will because we're understanding that. We are small in the face of that which is greater in a way that maybe we didn't most viscerally understand before until now. How can we find the light in the darkness? How can we find the secret gift, the secret blessing within this packaging of whatever this experience is that we definitely would not have chosen? It doesn't mean we're happy with it. It doesn't mean it's easy. It doesn't mean it's okay. It doesn't mean we want more of it. It means we wanna move forward with healing, with ease, with resolution, with regeneration into our highest emanation, highest wellbeing. I And, and how can this exact moment or the recent past that's not yet healed, how is it a call to our highest evolution, to our highest emanation, to our highest connection with divinity. that is the definition of gratitude. Gratitude is the respect for what life has given us in trust and in faith, as hard as that may be, let's do another one. This is a sweet one. Who has helped you choose one person. Right now, just pick one person. Think about something that's important to you that you have, that you healed, that you achieved because someone else supported you because someone else helped you get through something because someone else gave you a gift of some kind because someone else taught you something, because someone else protected you in an important time. However you may have been supported, helped given to nurtured, loved, cared for. Imagine just one person who comes to mind. Who feels like you feel the strongest feeling of gratitude for when I name those things? And imagine just for a moment, if they had not existed in your life, what would things feel like? What would've potentially not happened? And just noticing the difference. What was their special energy to you? What was your life experience that you were able to have because of them? How were things easier because of them? How were things more joyful because of them? Who have you become because of them? And can you, if you're with them, can you tell them? Or if you're not with them, can you send them a simple text message or make them a phone call? Just simple. Don't say to yourself right now, oh, I'm gonna write them an amazing letter next week, and then I'll send it by mail with beautiful stickers and cursive writing, right? No, we're gonna keep this really simple. You can send the text now and then next week. If you still feel like making your magical letter, then you can also do that. But let's do the lowest hanging fruit, the smallest step of sharing this gratitude without making it complicated. That would be my suggestion. Let's do one more. This is a fun one. So choose something that makes you feel good, that makes you feel happy, that makes you feel loved, that makes you feel calm and peaceful and safe. It could be a person, it could be a place, it could be an activity that you do. And envision it. So you might envision that you're playing with your dog, or you might envision that you're holding your baby, or you might envision that your loved one is holding you, or you might envision that you're dancing or that you are swimming, or whatever it is that you most love, and imagine it with your five senses. Just for a moment, just for a moment. What can you visualize? What are the details? If someone's holding you? Can you feel their hand on your shoulder? Or if you're playing with your dog, can you hear your dog? Or if it's the image of holding the baby, can you feel the baby's breathing on your chest? Or if it's the feeling of dancing, can you even move your body to let your body match the memory and hear the music? And let your mouth actually smile right now. How can you in this moment connect most viscerally with images, sounds, experiences of the five senses, so that that memory can come alive right now in the here now, so that you can map on the past into the present so that the brain circuitry can light up in all the places where it originally was when that experience was happening. And so now sit in the feeling of what comes up. Sit in that joy, sit in that comfort, that coziness, that excitement, that fun, that relaxation. Whatever m main sensation is that might be coming up, feel the energy of it. Let yourself feel it in your cells. Let yourself feel it in your body. And what percent of your attention is in that energy right now? What percent of you can really feel that? Is it like 20% here? Is it 20% alive? And let's say it is, let's say it's 50 or 65, whatever, how can you put more of your attention in this moment into that feeling, not into other things going on in your current environment or distracting thoughts, but just right now, just for a moment, how can you bring that to the forefront. Turn up the dial. Let this be in the foreground. This feeling of what you love, this feeling of feeling good. And to amplify that, you might wanna amplify that five senses experience. Really hearing the voice of your loved one. Really feeling the touch of someone's hand in your hand, really feeling the wind in your face as you're bike riding or. Whatever it is that feels fun. Whatever it is that feels good, maybe feeling your soft, cozy blanket with the fire in the winter or the sun and the blue sky behind the palm trees in the wind in the summer. Whatever your image is, just for a moment, let it be strong. Let it be detailed and you don't have to see the whole scene just focus on one detail if you wish. Really let yourself feel it. Enjoy it, enjoy it. how can you, in moments where maybe you can't sleep at night and you don't really know what to do, and your mind is racing and thinking about stressful things. Or maybe in a moment when you're feeling lonely or you're feeling really upset about something, how can you bring this feeling back? How can you bring this image back? Can you remind yourself? Okay, in my back pocket I have this exercise. So gratitude can be something that is simply the choice to focus on what feels good, to focus on happy memories and happy moments, and not take them for granted, and to find the light in the darkness, to find the gift in the pain, and to bring even gratitude about something that feels good into a moment where maybe it's really needing some of those good energies. So that would be the summary here. I'm gonna say that one more time to make it a little more clear. Gratitude, enjoying what we love, either as a memory or the living moment, not taking it for granted, not letting it pass by while we're distracted, but really noticing and savoring. That would be the first category, let's say enjoying the pleasures of life. And reminiscing on the pleasures of life, really giving more and more of our attention to that and letting ourselves savor it, letting ourselves really feel it. And so the next one, next category, let's say, would be, and this is the harder one I know, but it's finding gratitude even in moments of difficulty. What's the silver lining? What's the learning? What's the help that at least you're receiving? Imagine if you weren't, if you hadn't. What's the blessing that might come out of this in the future? How might you finally be evolving and growing and learning and becoming more of yourself through this or more connected with others, or more connected with what matters? And then the third category would be gratitude as a healing balm. In moments when it's needed. So perhaps we are sitting in the train and we have a very long train ride and we have nothing to do, and we could scroll on Instagram or we could close our eyes and we could feel what it used to feel like when our grandmother would hold us when we were a child and hear her voice, hear her voice singing us her lullaby. How can we reminisce? On the beautiful moments of our lives, in simple moments in our day. How can we bring a memory of our favorite vacation when we were laying in the hammock, feeling the breeze, feeling the music Maybe at a time when we're laying in bed in winter and we can't sleep. How can we bring ourselves this balm because imagination is very real. It will change our state and we can map the past onto the present, and we can select within our present also, where we place our attention, we can place our attention on the part that shines and let ourselves feel that light getting bigger and bigger. One last thing I'll say about gratitude is let's not relegate gratitude to a mental exercise. Let's let gratitude not just be felt in the thoughts, like, oh, I'm grateful for you. Oh, thanks so much. I'm so grateful for you. Right, but let us hold gratitude in the heart, in the emotional body. Let us hold gratitude in the body, in the sense body, in the sensory feeling part of ourselves so that we're inside of it. We're not just thinking about it, but we're inside of it. So. I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about gratitude with you, to think about it with you. And I hope that this can be something that you get to reminisce on or re-listen to, to do the exercises or redo the exercises, and maybe we can bring a greater opening to recognition of what is beautiful into our daily life and give ourselves the opportunity to reminisce in that and to allow ourselves to really feel it. And take it in. It's a practice. Maybe at first we feel a little numb or we feel a little intellectual about it, and that's okay, but how can we get this feeling of feeling good into the sense body? It's really enjoyment. Gratitude is the recognition of what is beautiful, the recognition of life's beauty. the recognition of what is a blessing. Recognition. Simply allowing ourselves to focus our attention and realize and recognize and hold our attention there. What happens in our lives is not a choice, but choosing to look through a particular angle that finds its gifts, that's the choice that we have. That's the gift that life has given us of our free will. To be able to choose how we see things, and we always have the opportunity to choose again. blessings. thank you for being with me in The Ground of Love. You can follow this podcast to receive the next episodes, and who is it that comes to mind to share this episode with? Who Could Benefit? Is it a family member? A friend, a client, who would be inspired, reminded of what matters to them by being in our energy that we've shared here today. So please go ahead and pass this along to them and go ahead and leave a review or a rating if you wish. I thank you for that. For other offerings that I provide, you can go to the ground of love.com I also provide one-on-one healing sessions and I will also be offering a group membership. All of that is on the website, the ground of love.com. Blessings to you. May you be protected, held, regenerated centered. And taken forward with all light, love, truth and highest and best health and wellbeing on all levels and taken forward to make the greatest, most beautiful impact doing exactly what you're here to do. God bless you. Protection, grace, protection, grace. So it is.