Gratitude Practice

What is Gratitude practice?

It is a feeling of appreciation to someone or an event that has happened which you are truly grateful for. You have to really acknowledge and recognise the positive and how it’s impacted your life.

There is definitely a difference between being grateful and practicing gratitude. Most of us are brought up being told to be grateful for what we have. However, practicing gratitude is a totally different ball game.

Why Use it for getting pregnant?

Research on gratitude practice has shown tons of benefits, including reducing stress and improving sleep quality, both of which are important to getting pregnant. 

When we are stressed, we release cortisol. This has an affect on our ovaries by affecting the hormone estradiol. Reduced levels of this hormone, impairs the development of follicles and in turn the oocyte (immature egg). A study published in NIH ‘impact of stress on oocyte and reproductive outome’ is a good read and has a great diagram showing the impact of stress on reproductive organs at the bottom. Here is the link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4812655/.

When it comes to sleep, some studies suggests that stress and irregular sleeping patterns  could be potential pathways to infertility. Lack of sleep affects the fertility hormones and throws them off balance. Lack of sleep can also increase your risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This also has a negative impact on your chances of getting pregnant.

The paper ‘Sleep, Sleep Disturbance and Fertility in Women’ has more information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4402098/

My Gratitude Practice for getting pregnant

I started practicing gratitude during the Paradigm Shift program by Bob Proctor and after reading ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne.

I have to admit, at first it was really hard. Thinking of all the dreadful events that had happened had become a habit for me, and I had to really search through and beyond the cloud of negative thoughts to find anything positive.

I started writing about my cat Asha, as at the time she was the most obvious and easiest “thing’ to be grateful for! This then led onto my husband (if you’re reading this, sorry you weren’t first on the list!) and so on.

Within a short space of time I was writing 10 things or more each morning and found on waking I was really looking forward to my morning gratitude journalling.

I did it after my meditation and visualisation and followed it with affirmations and acupressure. With time I was less stressed and my sleep definitely improved.

Continuing gratitude practice

I still practice gratitude today, and I genuinely feel upbeat throughout the day even though my sleep still isn’t perfect, (thanks Sofia & Asha!). To be honest, when I do get 3 hours continuous sleep, I am totally grateful!

I am a total advocate to gratitude practice. I even have my phone alarm set 4 times a day, to remind me to take a moment to be grateful for events happening that day.

Before going to sleep, I try to remember 3 things that happened that day, or a person to be grateful for. I still get stressed and have sleepless nights, but those episodes are not so frequent.

I certainly believe that gratitude practice made a difference when it came to my fertility and it’s well worth a try.

Here is a link to my template for gratitude journal for all my subscribers. Try it for just 1 week and you will hopefully feel the benefits too.

Thanks for reading x