“To live a life of gratitude
is to open our eyes to the countless ways
in which we are supported by the world around us.
Such a life provides less space for our suffering
because our attention is more balanced.
We are more often occupied
with noticing what we are given,
thanking those who have helped us,
and repaying the world in some concrete way
for what we are receiving.”
– Gregg Krech
Gratitude has the power to change your life.
This is a bold statement, and I believe it wholeheartedly.
This is my invitation to you to join me on a journey towards growing with gratitude. I want you to be open to the possibility of big shifts in short periods of time. The more fully you show up for yourself and this practice, the more growth you will experience. Just by being here right now, you have more awareness of the practice of gratitude, and even that seemingly small step will fuel change.
Since mid-2013, I have been cultivating a gratitude practice and I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. I have grown into a version of myself that I never would have believed could exist. Now, I want to share that practice with you.
Registration is open now! Join us here.
(Growing with Gratitude is $60; if you are feeling drawn to join us and this provides a financial hardship, send me and email and we’ll make it work)
What will these 30 days look like?
A daily quote, chosen especially for this journey.
A daily gratitude practice, inviting you to explore more deeply.
A weekly theme to teach you how gratitude can work in many ways.
A weekly letter writing exercise to integrate the work on a deeper level.
An ongoing and supportive community to help you increase the power of gratitude by sharing.
Don’t have a lot of time? Don’t worry! The emails are short, and the practices are simple to integrate into your daily routine. You can dive as deep into this practice as you want. If you’re just starting out, you can keep it simple and go slowly. There’s no rush – this is your journey.
What are the weekly themes?
To experience Growing with Gratitude, we will explore inner and outer, past and future. You will learn how to practice:
Gratitude as Self-Care
If you’ve heard me talk about self-care before, you know that I believe taking care of yourself is the foundation for your health, your family, and your happiness.
Self-Care comes in many forms – including making time for the things you love, nourishing yourself with delicious food, and making a gratitude practice part of your routine.
A gratitude practice is an act of self-care that you can fit into the tiny crevices of your day. You can make this part of your evening routine as you wind down from the day and get ready for rest. You can make this part of your morning, just a few moments, to begin by setting the lens through which you view your day.
Gratitude is a way to take care of yourself by shifting your mindset from negativity to positivity.
Gratitude is a way to take care of yourself by reminding yourself of the beautiful moments that often slip between the cracks of the frustrations and complications.
Gratitude is a way to take care of yourself by making a little bit of time for you to process all that happens during the waking hours.
Gratitude is a way to take care of yourself by creating a life filled with joy.
In the first week of Growing with Gratitude, we’ll be focusing on gratitude as self-care. By the end of the first week, you will feel more love for yourself, more compassion towards yourself, and more open to receiving the beauty of life.
Gratitude as Forgiveness
What have you wanted to let go of?
What is it that you’ve held onto for far too long?
What load are you ready to put down?
What can you release that will help you feel lighter, freer, and ready to move forward?
That’s what gratitude as forgiveness gets to the heart of. It gives you the strength that you might not have even known you had within you so that you can move away from the gunk that gets in the way of living the life you are ready to embrace.
The challenging parts of our lives thrive on darkness and staying hidden. That’s what helps them grow. When we shed light on them, when we hold them with compassion, they loosen their grip on our lives and we begin to be able to release them, to free ourselves.
Gratitude as Connection
We get nowhere by ourselves. Life is a constant collaboration between the people who help and support us, and those who we help and support. You know it feels amazing to be on either side of that, and acknowledging and expressing gratitude for those moments deepens the power of their impact.
Often, we move through our lives without fully expressing gratitude for all that we have done for others (yes, you can be grateful for that!) and for all of the support we have received. Even with our close friends and loved ones, we say “thank you” and “I love you” and of course we mean it, but how deeply are they felt when they become part of our routine to say?
When is the last time you felt truly connected to someone or to an experience that you had? I’m talking about taking a moment to pause, to really soak in the love and support of another, to look them in the eyes and express how much it meant to you.
This is the power of gratitude. It’s about so much more than expressing thanks.
It’s about deepening our connections with the world around us.
It’s about strengthening our relationships.
It’s about expressing ourselves fully.
It’s about truly living our experiences instead of simply having them.
Gratitude as Growth
We don’t grow by looking back, we grow by looking to our future.
When you get clear, crystal clear, on what it is that you want in your life, when you dream it so much you begin to believe it, when you express gratitude for these dreams – that’s when the shift begins to happen.
Most of the time, we stay stuck in the past. We focus on what hasn’t worked, we focus on regrets, we focus on all the little things that add up in our mind to a life filled with negativity. That’s no way to live!
Gratitude can pull you out of the past and into the future, leaving you free to dream the biggest dreams you can and truly believe that they can become your reality.
Gratitude can pull the dreams out of the depths of your soul and into the light.
Gratitude can help you create the vision of the life you want to be living.
Gratitude can help you start to live that life right now.
When you are grateful for your dream, your vision, everything you do in life becomes colored by the feelings that live behind that dream.
When you live the feeling of your dreams, everything else begins to fall into place.
Why Gratitude?
When you practice focusing on what you’re grateful for, you create an entirely new way of seeing and experiencing the world that allows you to feel more peace, ease, and trust.
We give a lot of lip service to gratitude and thankfulness, but the growth happens when we learn to live daily from a place of gratitude.
When you begin focusing on gratitude daily, here’s what’s going to happen in your life:
You will wake up in the morning feeling ready to handle whatever comes your way.
Your relationships will grow stronger, and you’ll be able to handle those challenging people without becoming one yourself.
Your productivity will soar because you won’t be weighed down by the small stressful moments as you’ll be focused on the joy instead.
You will be taking better care of yourself and as a result, you’ll be better able to take care of and support those around you.
Who is this for?
You. Because everyone could use more gratitude in their lives.
How do I join?
Whether you are brand new to the idea of a gratitude practice or you are wanting to recommit to a practice that you know has been a powerful addition in your life, Growing with Gratitude is a perfect way to greet each day in November. The short, inspiring and actionable emails won’t add much time to your day, but they hold the power to transform your life.
Regardless of where you are on your journey, Growing with Gratitude can help you to live a more fully authentic and empowered life, so I invite you, your friends, your partner, your family, your co-workers – everyone, to experience what gratitude can do for your life.
What are others saying?
I am a strong believer in gratitude as a way of living and as a path towards healing. I use gratitude in my daily life and within my business. It is part of who I am, so it was a delight to receive support from Xandra. I loved her daily prompts. Her guidance allowed me to step away from my regularly used gratitude topics, and see other parts of my life within the framework of appreciation. She stretched me while also allowing a soft space.
Xandra, I want to thank you so much for this beautiful programme.
November was chock full for me and so I haven’t been able to share over here as I would have liked, but I have read every email. Each one just slows my breathing down, my shoulders drop and I relax.
You know how I love my gratitude practice, but having this external stimulus was great, and added a different twist to my existing daily practice. Very refreshing.
Thanks so much for creating something so beautiful.
Angela https://www.facebook.com/kilifecoaching
I feel a hundred times lighter after spending some time working through and learning how to be grateful for a rather difficult experience that has haunted me for years. When I think back to that time, the shame and isolation that were always the first feelings that came up have shifted. It’s really incredible that some of the reasons I’m grateful for that experience having moved to the forefront. I’m really thankful for that!
A simple and powerful way to start or jumpstart a gratitude practice. Xandra’s guidance is clear, compassionate, and helpful. I valued having the personal gratitude practice in the presence of community. It was a wonderful way to be seen and sit with humanity in all its diversity and beauty. I have a relaxed forgiveness, more openness and acceptance. I was simultaneously doing inner work I had already started around shame and “busy-ness.” This journey grounded me in strong and tangible ways. I feel a lot more flow into and out of a compassionate place.
Sheila Pai
http://www.sheilapai.com/
I felt myself more present and joyful in simple quiet moments; like watching my children play or petting my dog. The realization that I really need to focus on self compassion came out of this and for that I am grateful.
Xandra, thank you for facilitating this. I really enjoyed the work we did, even when it was hard. I am so thankful for the past 30 days, and looking forward to continuing this work.
Karena