I have been starting each new year by completing the 28 day gratitude challenge called “The Magic” for the past few years. This book is part of a 4 book series featuring “The Secret” which you may be familiar with. In this post I’m going to share my top 5 gratitude practices from “The Magic” so that you can implement them in your life and shift your mindset.
There is so much power in implementing gratitude in your daily life. Gratitude is the best way to shift your mindset from one of lack to one of infinite possibilities. When you practice gratitude for what you currently have, the Universe will give you more of what you desire. I believe there’s ALWAYS something to be grateful for and by reading “The Magic”, you’ll truly change your circumstances in the most magical way.
The Magic is part of The Secret series, which centers on using the law of attraction. This particular book consists of a 28 daily gratitude practice that claims to revolutionize your health, money, job, and relationships. It is strongly suggested that you follow the daily practices consecutively. If you miss a day, you’re encouraged to go back 3 days in order to regain the momentum. I highly recommend you get this book and try this gratitude challenge at any time of the year. It will change your life.
Before you begin
The first part of the practice consists of DREAMING. You are asked to write down (or type) your greatest desires in as much detail as you prefer. Get clear about what you actually want out of life in terms of your relationships, career, finances, health, etc. Make a list of everything you desire without worrying about how it will happen. By creating your list of dreams, “you are giving a definite direction to the way you want gratitude’s magical power to change your life.” So get clear on what you want and most importantly, ALLOW yourself to dream because anything is possible! Without further ado, here are my favorite practices from the book for you to start with.
1. Count your Blessings
My favorite practice from The Magic is the very first one given, which is called, “Count your Blessings.” This practice consists of writing down 10 things/blessings you are grateful for (and why). Do this every morning (or as early in the day as you can). Write anything that comes to mind, there’s no such thing as something being too small if you’re truly grateful for it.
Some of the categories you can use as inspiration are the following:
- Health and body
- Work
- Money
- Relationships
- Happiness
- Nature
After creating your list, read each blessing out loud or in your mind followed by “thank you, thank you, thank you.” The important thing is to feel the gratitude in your body. This is the foundation of the 28 day gratitude challenge as it is a requirement to create a new list every morning for the rest of the challenge. An example is, “I am so grateful for my comfortable bed because I always fall asleep quickly and wake up fully rested.”
2. The Magic Rock
The next practice I recommend you begin implementing in your life is “The Magic Rock.” This is a very simple yet powerful practice consisting of using a token item such as an actual stone, rock or a crystal. Place your “magic rock” on your nightstand where you will see it every night before bed. Then each night before you go to sleep, hold it in your hands as you think of the best thing that happened today.
This simple practice will have you think back on your full day scanning through all the good things that happened. It should put a smile on your face as you decide on your favorite one. Once you choose the best thing, say “thank you.” This is the second practice in the book and it’s the only other practice that’s required to be completed for the rest of the challenge. By starting your day writing down your list of 10 things you’re grateful for and ending your day choosing the best thing that happened, you are guaranteed to begin shifting into a more positive and grateful state.
3. Works Like Magic
This practice enhances your gratitude and appreciation for your work or career. “Works Like Magic” consists of spending one work day imagining that you have an invisible manager recording every thankful thought and feeling you have about your job. So you are to find as many things as possible to be grateful for at work. From having office supplies, functioning equipment, internet, etc to being grateful for the people you currently work with. There is always something to be grateful for. If this one feels difficult for you, begin by feeling gratitude for actually having a job in the first place (if you do). If you’re a First-Gen Latina like me, I’m sure you have relatives who have had labor intensive jobs and you probably don’t, so that’s something to appreciate.
When you find something to be grateful for, feel as much gratitude as you can in your body. For this practice, I prefer to write out my list throughout the work day. When I did this last year, I wrote down over 50 things I was thankful for at my 9-5 (and this was a job that I didn’t enjoy!). So there is always something to be grateful for.
4. Magically Heal Your Relationships
I have to share a practice that improves relationships because our human experience centers around that. The practice of “Magically Heal Your Relationships” consists of choosing a broken, difficult or problematic relationship you currently have. Then proceed to write down 10 things you’re grateful for about the person involved. The book suggests thinking back to the way things were before the relationship ended or deteriorated. It also suggests thinking about any good qualities in the person if the relationship was never good.
For example, if you don’t have a relationship with your father because he was distant and neglected you as a child, you can choose to be grateful for the following things:
- The family he built with your mother
- The qualities he has (hard worker, provider)
- The few positive memories you may have (birthdays/celebrations)
- His kindness towards your mother or other siblings?
This gratitude practice can unintentionally bring you freedom through forgiveness.
5. The Magical Air You Breathe
The last gratitude practice I’ve chosen for you is “The Magical Air You Breathe.” It consists of being grateful for…you guessed it, the air you breathe. If you really think about it, this is a miraculous feat yet we all tend to take it for granted because of how mundane it is. The book reminds us that nothing is an accident. Our planet is perfectly placed in our galaxy surrounded by a protective atmosphere that beyond it doesn’t have air or oxygen. “There are thousands of parameters and ratios that support life on Earth; all of them are on a knife-edge, and their fine-tuning is so critical that a fraction of a difference in any of these parameters and ratios would make life unlivable on planet Earth.”
We need air for our survival yet we don’t think twice about appreciating it. We expect it to always be there for our next breath. When we breathe in oxygen, it feeds the cells in our body making this element the most vital gift we could receive. So this practice consists of taking 5 intentional deep breaths while feeling the air moving in your body. Then feeling the job of breathing it out. Take 5 sets of 5 deep breaths throughout your day followed by the words, “Thank you for the magical air that I breathe.” Feel the gratitude for this precious yet abundant gift we have.
Bonus: The Magic Check
I just had to add this practice because money matters. After getting into a feeling of gratitude around your financial state (even if you wish it were better), print out a Magic Check and fill it out with the amount of money you want to receive. Make sure you are aware of all the different ways you can magically receive money. After filling out your magic check, hold it in your hands and imagine using the money for whatever you want. Again, the key factor is feeling as much gratitude as possible as if you were really using the money already. Keep this check in a place where you’ll see it often until you receive the money. Feel free to continue this practice by printing out new checks and increasing the amount as you please.
Final thoughts
So now that you’re familiar with The Magic, make sure to pick up a copy of the book so that you can complete the full 28 day challenge. You can begin to use the power of gratitude by implementing the practices on this post before you get the book of course. Let me give you a final practice from the book that you can use at any time which is called “Cue the Magic.” This practice consists of being alert of your surroundings and using “gratitude cues” to be grateful for something. For example, hearing an ambulance can cue you to say, “Thank you for my health and safety.” Another example is seeing a bank or an ATM can cue you to say, “Thank you for the money I have.” This is one I like to practice when I’m out and about.
Next year I plan on beginning the new year doing “The Magic” with you guys so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, let me know if you’ve completed this gratitude challenge in the past. I’m curious to hear of the magical things you created from it. After completing it this year, I’ve felt a major shift around appreciating my current circumstances. I feel that I get something new each time I complete it. Anyway, feel free to DM me on Instagram and of course, make sure to follow me on there too. And finally, make sure to sign up for my newsletter HERE. Thank you for reading!
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