In Saturday’s blog, I presented information on how appreciation is similar too, but different from gratitude and pointed out five tips for practicing appreciation.

But how do you know when you are raising your positive anabolic energy? Pay attention to your emotions. Abraham advises looking for any feeling of relief as an indicator that you are shifting your energy.

For me this means starting to feel more at ease, being more present and peaceful, and having those feelings build to contentment, satisfaction, love, and ultimately joy. It is the pinnacle to get to the point where you are absolutely and completely in love with life and are eager for more

Any improvement in your emotions is letting you know you are shifting to a more anabolic state.

Here are some more tips for practicing appreciation.

Make it a game. One of the keys to practicing appreciation is to lighten up and let go of taking life so seriously. In a less serious state, you are more willing to play and let anabolic energy flow.

Ways to make appreciation a game are to:

• Think of things you appreciate that start with every letter of the alphabet. For instance, I appreciate Apricots, Bananas, Cashews, etc.” (Humm, must be time for breakfast!)
• Or pick one letter and see how long you can make the list. I’ll give an example with the letter O. I appreciate oranges, orangutans, ostriches, oscillating fans, openers, onions, olives, organs (both those in my body and those that play music), ovens—you get the idea.
• Or pick a taste you a like and think of everything you appreciate with that flavor. For instance, salty. “Popcorn, pretzels, pistachios, nuts of all sorts, roasted vegetables, etc.”
• Or pick a topic and think about everything about it that you appreciate. I love reading, so an example would be, I appreciate the feel of the paper under my fingers, and the play of words, and the images and new worlds that are evoked, and the creativity of the writers, and the way I can get carried away in a story, and all the things I learn from books, etc.

Appreciate yourself. This can be a tough, particularly when you are beginning to practice appreciation. But truly, if you don’t appreciate yourself, why would anyone else appreciate you? Here are some ways to do this.

• Appreciate your body. Get away from how you look if that hangs you up and think about all the amazing things your body does for you every day. Start off appreciating your external body. For instance, appreciate your toes because they give you balance and your feet that help you move from place to place and enable you to do almost everything. Appreciate your ankles and calves for being flexible and enabling you to walk and run. Appreciate your hard-working knees that take the impact of every step you take, etc.
• Appreciate your internal functions. Your heart for pumping blood and the life-giving oxygen it supplies to every part of your body. Your brain that is interpreting so much data every second and enables you to function, etc.
• You can also appreciate your personality, or things that you know, your gifts, your talents, etc.

Appreciate others. Focusing on the people in your life and looking for all the things you appreciate is a powerful exercise that can change relationships for the better. Start with the people who are easy to love and work up to those people who make you cranky. When you let go of those things that annoy you, and instead focus more on the things you admire and appreciate you are seeing those people more as Who they really are.

Appreciate things about your life. What do you appreciate about your relationships, your work, your play, your home, your environment?

Appreciate things about your world. Is your life better because you have central heat and air? Appreciate it! Is your life better because you have windows and air to breathe? Appreciate it! Running water, indoor toilets, even your toothbrush are things that may get taken for granted, but add so much to your life.

Appreciate what you eat. A powerful exercise for optimal wellness is to focus on appreciating your food as you buy it, prepare it, and each bite as you eat it.

Practicing appreciation is about mindfulness, being in the present, getting the most out of your life right now, and acknowledging the magnificence of All-That-Is (God, the Universe, Source Energy, Higher Coach—whatever works for you) that has facilitated the creation of everything about your life and world.

What can you do today to practice appreciation?

Together we can do it!

Photo from www.freedigitalphotos.net