As I look around me I see so many posts about gratitude for the American Thanksgiving. In Canada we have already had our Thanksgiving in early October close to last harvest.  These once a year celebrations remind us to take the time and acknowedge all that we have to be grateful for.
  
Regardless of where you are in the world  having a regular or consistent gratitude practice is an important part of a healthy mindset.  Gratitude  is something that needs to be visited more regularly throughout the year.   Research has shown that having an ongoing gratitude practice can make you feel better about your life.
  
Having a creative gratitude practice makes it all the more fun, so I decided to share some ideas I’ve come across to get you started.
  
I’ve used a free gratitude email service which prompts me to reflect on what I am grateful for when I’m on the go.  It’s a quick easy way to capture the things you are grateful for, however, if you receive a lot of e-mail it can easily get buried and forgotten about.

If you want to invest a little more of yourself into your gratitude practice, here are some ways you can:

  
• Use cue cards or primed playing cards to make your own gratitude cards. This way you can refer back to them to remind yourself of something you are grateful for.  Simply collage*,  draw or paint  a picture on the card that signifies something you are grateful for in your life.  Keep adding to this gratitude deck, when you are inspired to and keep it in a special box or jar that you can easily access.  Whenever you are needing a quick pick me up simply pull a card to remind yourself of something you are grateful for.  Keep blank ones nearby so that you can easily make a new one.  If you are short on time, simply write  what you are grateful for on the card and embellish it with art later.

• You can create a gratitude mandala. Using magazine pictures, pick out images that represent things that you are grateful for.  Make a collage* of all that you are grateful for arranging the pictures in a circular pattern.  Use single word reminders to cue your memory for things you are grateful for. Mandala can be hung in a prominent place in your home where you will be reminded of what you are thankful for.  Focusing on this gratitude Mandala can help ground you when you are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.

  
• You can make a deck of gratitude reminder cards or rocks each with a symbol that represents general areas in your life.  Write on each stone or card words to meditate on and cue thoughts of what you are grateful for.   For example you can have a card or rock  for peace, hope, happiness, calm, health, work, school, family and so on.  Each time you pull one you respond with a corresponding thing that you are grateful for in that category.  Say it out loud or write it in a gratitude journal.

  
• Make your own gratitude journal. Get a simple journal (from the dollar store is fine), decorate the outside with some images of the things you are most grateful for in your life.  Inside you can doodle your gratitude, write poems about what you are grateful for that day (and no it does not have to rhyme), or paste pictures*.

  
• Write a letter to whatever. whoever you are grateful for put it in an envelope and place in your journal or if you can send or give it to the person you feel thankful for.

  
You can practice these tips daily or once a week. Switch them around and try out different ways of creatively expressing your gratitude.
  
What creative ways to you practice gratitude?
  
*Tip: Have pre-cut pictures from your favourite magazines ready to use in the above gratitude art.