The 13 Minute Pause - For Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

1. Introduction and Project : Hi, everyone, and welcome to this class, the 13 minute pause for cultivating an attitude of gratitude. Now, why 13 minutes? Because contrary to popular belief, 13 the number 13 is not an unlucky number. It's actually a very powerful and sacred number. And when we use 13, in anything that we do, we actually give an opportunity for a bit of magic and transformation to happen. I'm Don Cora I'm an artist, a designer, an holistic health educator, with a real desire to help people make positive changes in their lives. Now, this is a very short class on how to just cultivate an attitude of gratitude. And by setting ourselves a 13 minute window in every day, then we're much, much more likely to stick to this. And really, all you're gonna need is a wee notebook, a pen. If you're anything like me, then a cup of tea to get going and a favorite cozy spot. And that's all it takes, really, to just, yeah, have a go with writing down the things that you actually feel grateful for in a day. And you will find that by doing this as a daily practice, things very subtly start to change. I mean, big things can change as well, but very subtly over time, you'll start to notice that actually positive changes begin to happen in your day and in your week and then in your life. So it's well worth cultivating this lovely little practice. 2. Gather What You Need: Oh. By gathering your notebook, your pen, a upper, if you're anything like me. Maybe you want to put on some favorite music just to get the mood going for you. And keep your notebooks to a small size like these. These are absolutely ideal, even a small notebook like this, because basically, you know, when you open it, you're not then overwhelmed by a huge page that you're wondering how to fill. So this size is really ideal. I mean, I've got four little gratitudes on that page there, and that's all I needed. You know, it's not like I've had to write down ten or even 20 to fill the page. So keep your notebooks pretty small. 3. Find A Comfy Place To Write: Find yourself a comfort spot either inside or outside. And if this is the same spot every day, then you're already anticipating your 13 minute pause, and you're letting your body and your mind know that it's taking a break from the business of the day. So you're already set up by going to the same place each day. If you can, if you can't, that's also fine, as well. No rules here. I just happened to be doing this on my desk as it's just a bit easier for me to film this. I have two or three favorite spots. I've got my little spot in the garden where I just take my notebook out there with my cup of tea and sit in my favorite place there. Or if I'm inside, I'm usually sat on the sofa next to the window where I can look out the garden and watch the birds or you know, if I've had a really busy day and I haven't managed to find my 13 minutes in the day, then bed is the best place. Last thing at night, bed before I go to sleep to just write down there what I'm really grateful for, you know, on reflection that's happened during the day. 4. Set A Timer: Set your timer for 13 minutes. It's not 10 minutes. It's not 15 minutes. It's unconventional, if you think about it. And that in itself can really help us to think in a slightly more unconventional way to kind of break thought patterns or habits that we have around the way we think to just embrace a bit of a change, embrace something that's a little bit different. The other reason why I've chosen 13 as well is because in a lot of traditions, it actually symbolizes rebirth and transformation. And it's associated also with feminine energy, as in the balance of feminine and masculine and also in heightened intuition. And given that we're writing a little book of gratitude, all those things felt very helpful and supportive in getting us to perhaps focus on things and see things from a different perspective that we might not have seen before. 5. Focused Thoughts On The Page: So now that you've set your time, just allow your mind to gather its thoughts and simply write those thoughts out. Date the page, don't overthink it or make it complicated. Just keep it really simple. And it doesn't matter how much you write or how little. It might take you 13 minutes just to write one thing of gratitude. But as you practice this little, you know, what are we going to call it exercise for want of a better word. Once you practice this exercise regularly, as in daily, you'll find that you're able to write more. You'll find that you are focusing on more positive things, which will start building up and building up and bringing a positive energy around you. And as you've probably heard in, you know, my other classes, when we are able to create positive energy, then we end up attracting more positive energy towards us. 6. Wishing You Well…: We can bring about positive change in our lives, even though sometimes it might feel a bit hard. You know, maybe you're feeling a little bit flat or a little bit unmotivated, but you will start to notice a difference by just using this little practice of writing what you're grateful for every day in a little book. Even if it's only one or two little sentences, you will begin to notice a difference. If you're interested in making your own little notebook, then you could check out my class before this one, which was a mission to play, design, make, and print your own notebooks. And of course, you know, you can just write this down in any notebook at all. So I really wish you well on your little gratitude journey. And in the meantime, until I see you in the next class, please take care and have a great summer. Lots of luck.