A Simple Morning Practice

Greetings from New York City. I hope this message finds you healthy, staying safe and more importantly, staying home. 

During this quarantine, which many of us around the world are experiencing, it is vitally important to maintain our mental health (along with our physical health). 

Routines are one of the best things that you can create at a time like this. Routines calm the instinctive mind which is the state of mind that experiences fear. When confined to the house for days on end like this, the first thing you want to do is create a routine for yourself. 

One of the things you can incorporate into your morning routine is the practice of expressing gratitude. 

My guru, Gurudeva Subramuniyaswami, once said, “Gratitude and appreciation are the key virtues for a better life. They are the spell that is cast to dissolve hatred, hurt and sadness, the medicine which heals subjective states of mind, restoring self-respect, confidence, and security.” 

When we have a sense of gratitude for what we have it changes our perspective on how we view life. As opposed to seeing what we don’t have, we see the abundance of what we do have. This practice dramatically changes our mindset allowing us to view everything from a higher consciousness which will allow us to make better decisions in handling the current situation that we are all faced with. 

Homework: I would love for you to join me in a 31-day gratitude practice so that we can all maintain an elevated consciousness. Every morning, write down 3 things that you are grateful for. In expressing gratitude be specific. 

You can use the Dandapani app to help you with this practice. It is FREE to download on the App Store or Play Store. Within the app there is a daily journal and within this journal is a daily gratitude practice. You can use this, if you like, to do this practice with me. The app has a built in feature that allows you to download all your daily gratitude notes if you ever need to do so. 

Click these links to download the free Dandapani app on the App Store or Play Store.

If you’d like to share some of your daily gratitude exercises with the world to inspire others to do so, take a screenshot of the Dandapani app journal page, tag me and share it on Instagram. I’ll reshare it on my Instagram Stories. Let’s help others realize the countless things we can all be grateful for and let’s help people elevate their consciousness. 

I also want to use this opportunity to check in on you to see how you did with the homework that I gave you. Did you make a list of three things you have been wanting to do but have not? Did you get them done? 

As part of doing what I say, I’ve cleaned and reorganized my extensive spice cabinet (I like to cook) and also my clothes cupboard. And I plan to do the third item on my list later today. Let me know how you’ve done with your list (due to the volume of emails I get you may not receive a response). 

Stay safe and stay home!  (If you have found this post helpful please share it)