In this post I talk about the second part of this Practice for Happiness. If you haven't seen the first part, please follow this link and give it a read.
THANK YOUR BED.
Yes, you read it correctly. Thank your bed. I realize that it may sound a bit weird to some of you, but trust me, it's a good one.
BUT WHY..?
It's all about gratitude. I will definitely write more about it later on, because I talk about it with my clients all the time- ever since I learned about all the science behind it and started consciously practicing it by myself. However, just in short, being grateful hugely contributes to you raising your level of overall life satisfaction as well as improving your current mood no matter how low or high it is to begin with. Even, or perhaps especially, if you're feeling a bit low, crabby or even crappy, even if you've just had a terrible day, a little bit of gratitude can help you elevate your happiness level at least a bit higher. But the trick it to consciously practice gratitude. It's not enough that you consider yourself a grateful person. You need to express it, purposely bring your own attention to it. There are so many ways you can do it and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you soon, but for now let's focus on the topic of this post- thanking your bed.
SO HOW DO I DO IT?
The research behind gratitude suggests that in order to experience its true benefits, simply saying thank you is already a good start. So why not get your first one in right at the very beginning of the day? As you cultivate the habit of making your bed each morning, pair it with a little thanksgiving. Teach yourself to say "thanks" as you throw your bedspread over your bed. That's it. But you need to say it out loud or at least consciously bring it to your mind's attention and say it in your head.
I personally say it out loud, but I realize that this could be a bit too much for some people. I've even gone further than that and over the years I've unintentionally given my bed a name.
I first decided to pair saying thank you with tucking my blanket in on one side of my bed. I started with "Thank you". But then I've grown even fonder of my bed and added "Thank you, Bed". And with time, thinking how grateful I am to have it, "Bed" somehow turned into "Bedsie". Kind of like Betsy, but mine is male so I christened it Bedsie. You may laugh now- I don't care.
As I've shared this practice over the years I've come across 2 scenarios people usually mention. One, when people wake up after a good night's sleep, and the other, when they didn't get the rest they'd hoped for.
In the first case I suggest they thank their bed for all the the comfort, the suport, the warmth, and/or the feeling of security it gave them. For providing a safe place for their body to restore and their dreams to appear in their mind. And for whatever else that's a positive thing their bed might have helped them with the night before.
In the second scenario, when they wake up feeling crabby, because they didn't get to sleep enough, their body aches and their mood is low to begin with, I encourage them to simply think about the wonderful fact that they have a bed. A bed! We take it for granted so often. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a bed. Even if yours isn't as comfortable as you wish it were- it's still a bed! I think this is a very good reason to feel grateful. And I bet that if you think this way you'll feel at least a little better right away.
Side note: if you're anything like me, please don't let the thoughts of all the people who don't have beds bring you down! That's not the point of this practice. If you happen to think about them, send good energy their way and cherish the fact that thanks to having a bed you get to do some great things in your day, things that you wouldn't be able to do if your main concern was to find a place to sleep for the night.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is just no way you could not be grateful for having a bed. And if the mere action of uttering those two words as you make your bed can have such positive impacts on your day (and life), what do you have to loose? Just do it. Make it a habit to say thank you each morning and express gratitude for simply having a bed. And no, you don't need to name your bed. A "thank you" alone is enough.
Make sure you haven't missed the first part of this Practice for Happiness: here!
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