by Stacy Bremner, MA, RP
Beginning with Wonder
Last week, I wrote about wonder — and how beginner’s mind, pronoia, and the small synchronicities of daily life can open us to a sense of feeling supported. All of these practices point toward the same thing: well-being. A way of living that feels more spacious, more connected, more alive.
A Practice Arrives at the Right Time: Gratitude as a Felt Experience
Today I want to touch on the practice of gratitude. For me, gratitude is another one of the simplest and most powerful ways I know to cultivate a state of well-being.
I began practicing gratitude in 1997, when someone gave me The Simple Abundance Journal. At the time, I was a deeply negative thinker. I had grown tired of my own unhappiness, tired of the familiar loop of dissatisfaction. Gratitude arrived at exactly the right moment — I was ready to shift my inner world.
When Gratitude Becomes Embodied
Over the years, my practice has changed shape. In 2004, I learned something that transformed it completely: gratitude can be more than a mental exercise. It becomes truly potent when we feel it in the body.
When I began letting gratitude land in my chest, my belly, my face, down my arms, and into my breath — something shifted. What had once been a list on paper became a kind of blissful mini-holiday, a place I wanted to return to. I’m convinced every cell in the body benefits when we bathe in good feelings. And the more I practiced, the more life seemed to meet me with small, unexpected gifts.
New Pathways, New Possibilities
After years of practice, I noticed something surprising: I felt happy more often, and for no particular reason. I would be walking through the house and suddenly realize I felt peaceful, grateful, or quietly optimistic. My brain had carved a new pathway; one it now uses more readily than the old ones.
And on the cold, gray days — the ones that tend to pull me down — I easily identify my negativity and gently turn toward gratitude instead. I’m grateful for my warm car. I’m grateful for the local eggs I’m about to pick up. It doesn’t have to be profound to be powerful or effective. It just has to be felt.
Regardless of what we see happening around us, there is no shortage of things we can find to be grateful for. With a willingness, we can shift.
Ideas to Try
If you’re looking to deepen or refresh your own practice, here are a few ideas you might try:
• The Three-Breath Drop-In
A tiny ritual you can do anywhere:
One breath to arrive.
One breath to notice something good.
One breath to let your body feel it.
• Sensory Gratitude
Instead of naming an object or event, name a sensation: the warmth of a mug, the softness of a blanket, the way sunlight lands on your cheek.
This anchors gratitude in the body. Allow it to spread…
• Gratitude While Moving
Let each step — in the house, on a walk, in the grocery store — become a quiet rhythm of thank you, thank you, thank you.
There is so much ease here…
• Gratitude for Future You
Ask: What will I be grateful for tonight when I look back on this day? And allow a smile…
• The “Micro-Yes” Practice
Notice the tiny things that go right: the green light, the easy conversation, finding your favorite item on sale as you happen to pass by that aisle at the market.
These micro-moments accumulate.
A Soft Place to Land
Gratitude doesn’t require perfect circumstances. It just asks us to pause long enough to feel something good — even something very small — and let it register in the body. Over time, that simple act becomes a way of being, a soft, steady companion that keeps guiding us back to the truth of ourselves.