The Magical Practice of Gratitude

Gratitude is magical.  Practicing gratitude - focusing our attention on what we are thankful for in life - rewires our brains, switching our "filter" to look for the good in life, also rerouting our neural pathways from negative loops around fear/stress to positive ones. 

Studies have shown that gratitude not only improves sleep, lessens anxiety, and releases dopamine and serotonin, it actually changes the neural structures in our brains.  

I am all about accessing the magic in this life, so naturally I have been giving gratitude a go.  And it is pure magic, plain and simple.  Maybe even a little addictive?  I have also noticed that gratitude feeds itself - it may seem awkward and unfamiliar at first, but once we get going with it, the more we we find to be grateful for!

Practicing gratitude every day has had a sweet bonus for me - it has brought to my attention things in this life and world that I truly love. 

One of those things is water!  As I practiced gratitude for all of the ways I have experienced being on, in, and around water in my life, I realized that I have a lot of amazing experiences to be thankful for.  I have been very blessed to have had so many magical experiences, and I cherish every one and have endless gratitude for all of them.

I have worked with dolphins as an Earthwatch volunteer in Hawaii, met baby gray whales in San  Ignacio Lagoon, and cruised in the wooden longtail boats of Thailand both on a lake with breathtaking limestone cliffs and on the crystal clear blue ocean waters there.

I have swam every morning in the Lombok Strait off of the beaches of Gili Air in Indonesia and paddle boarded quiet narrow passages every morning on Lake Powell before breakfast.  I have kayaked on the emerald green waters of Puget Sound with seals playing nearby.  

I have swam with sea lions and even scratched a baby sea lion's belly in the Sea of Cortez off of La Paz, Mexico.  

In the Aegean, off the coast of Turkey, an octopus left suction marks on my ankle.  ​

Bali

Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya, Thailand

Assos, Aegean Coast of Turkey

Jaibalito, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Om Ham, near Ubud, Bali

Rogue River, OR

Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

San Juan Island, Puget Sound, WA

Lake Powell, AZ

Cheow Lan Lake, Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

Koh Tao,

Thailand

San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur, near San Ignacio, Mexico

Puget Sound off of Brighton Beach, Whidbey Island, San Juan Islands, WA

Lombok Strait, Bali Sea, off of Gili Air, Indonesia

I have been on countless rivers both in day trips in canoes and on longer overnight trips whitewater rafting.  I have even spent 21 days rafting the Grand Canyon.  

In Ayutthaya, Thailand, the call of the river was so strong that I could not rest the day I arrived there until I was on the river aboard one of the restored wooden rice barges.  It was dusk when we set out, and when I felt the cool air on my face and smelled the river, tears immediately filled my eyes.  

Those same tears fill my eyes today, but it is because I am overflowing with gratitude for the many beautiful experiences this life has brought me.  Gratitude is pure and potent everyday magic - it is the spell we can cast that actually clears out toxic emotions and at the same time helps us not only create more joy and happiness in our lives but paves the way for generating even more to be thankful for, locking us in to that positive feedback loop.

That is magic worth practicing every damn day.  This is the stuff "The Art of Consciously Creating Life" is all about.  Expect a miracle!

​~Kasey