Whether you are familiar with lutein or you’ve never heard of it, you’ll quickly see that it’s more than just a nutrient–it’s something to be grateful for. Live Conscious loves lutein, which is why we picked it as an active ingredient in our OptiWell supplement. Considering the amount of screen time in our lives, we couldn’t be more grateful for its eye health benefits. 

This is why we think it’s so important to include lutein in our daily gratitude practice. We know that both are essential to living a healthy life, and they’re so rarely connected, so why not pull them together and give thanks for lutein while we look deeper into the importance of gratitude.

Why Is Gratitude Important

The definition of gratitude is the quality of being grateful or thankful. It’s hardly an apt definition for a feeling that has so much significance and importance in our lives. Gratitude is a deep, inner acknowledgment of good things we have or receive in our lives. Expressed gratitude lets others know that you appreciate the role they played in your life. 

Gratitude is very important because there are numerous additional benefits and rewards you can reap if you learn to practice gratitude and incorporate ways of being grateful into your everyday routine. 

♦ Gratitude boosts your mental health. A study that looked into writing gratitude letters and how it affects mental health suggests that these activities may train the brain to be more sensitive to gratitude in the future.

♦ Gratitude can improve your physical health. This is a trendy topic and well worth the research that is going into it. Berkeley.edu sums up gratitude by suggesting it might be one of the fundamental pillars of a healthy lifestyle.

♦ You might sleep better. Starting with the premise that poor sleep compromises well-being, an article in Applied Psychology details a study on the positive effects of gratitude journaling and sleep.

♦ Boosts self-esteem, at least for athletes. A study looking at self-esteem in athletes determined that gratitude helps, which can then enhance their performance.

These are just a few different, proven ways that gratitude is very important and can help your mind, body, and soul.

How to Be Grateful

If you’re sold on the idea of incorporating gratitude into your life, the next step is to find a way to be thankful every day. Let’s look at some different methods of cultivating gratitude, and we’ll focus on lutein as our example.

♦ Keep a gratitude journal or write gratitude letters. One of the best ways to express gratitude is by writing about it. Here’s the best part, you don’t have to make it a letter you send or a journal that’s a story. Check out our lutein example below:

Today, I’m thankful for lutein. I spend a lot of time on my computer, so I’m bombarded by blue light on a regular basis. I know the simple act of taking a lutein supplement can help protect me from cataracts and the possibility of age-related macular degeneration in the future. Lutein can improve my health, and I feel better about my choices.

It’s that easy to quickly jot down something you’re grateful for, and as you can see by our example, it can truly be something small and “insignificant” in your daily routine. In fact, when you start your gratitude journal, it’s a great idea to look for these little, everyday things that help your life in some small way.

♦ Focus on what’s making your life better, but don’t forget the bad times. This is a tricky one, but once you get the hang of it, it will help you find things to be grateful for. So, with our lutein example, you can think about a bad time that hasn’t even happened yet, and now it possibly won’t. You can be thankful that your lutein supplements have helped your eyes maintain their integrity and health. 

♦ See through the eyes of gratitude. Start to appreciate all of the things around you, cultivate this feeling and transfer it to all of your good choices. If something in your day makes you smile, make sure to take note and file that away as something you’re grateful for. 

♦ Choose to be grateful. One of the very first steps in embracing a life filled with gratitude is making that choice. It absolutely takes work and effort and doesn’t come naturally for most people. There’s an awareness involved that needs to stretch beyond the apparent gestures and things in your life to the very small ones, the things you would have found insignificant or meaningless if you hadn’t selected to live a life of gratitude.

Daily Practice of Self-Care

These tips will help you establish a daily gratitude practice that will enhance and enrich your life. You can further enhance your life by focusing on giving yourself the gift of health. Taking high-quality supplements like Live Conscious’ OptiWell with lutein is another way to say thanks to your body for doing what it can to be better. 

Living life to its fullest means taking advantage of health in different ways to come to your own level of peace and happiness.

If you’re looking for other tips on incorporating some healthy practices into your daily routine, connect with us on Facebook @weliveconscious and Instagram @weliveconscious where you can find tips to help you on your journey to a life in balance.

Waking Up To Wellness

Gratitude is more than being aware of good things and the people who have helped you along the way. Gratitude is a sense of thankfulness that fills you with joy and appreciation for the life you’re living. Gratitude is free and available for anyone willing to embrace it and make it a part of their lives.

Some ways to practice gratitude include writing letters or keeping a journal, expressing your gratitude to others, making mental notes of things that add to your life, and making a commitment to your body to feed and fuel it well so that it can continue to reap and enjoy the rewards surrounding you on a regular basis. If you make gratitude the foundation of your mental health, you may soon discover how much you really have to be thankful for.