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We usually show our gratitude to others when we feel indebted to them, when we have benefitted from their actions, and when we want to make our feelings towards them known.

Showing gratitude is sometimes a required or expected thing, but at other times, a spontaneous "thank you" to someone who has unknowingly made our day. On most occasions, we show gratitude to bring the good feelings we have been gifted back to the gifter.

While it is admirable to want to share our gratitude and good feelings with others, we rarely stop to think about what giving others our gratitude does for us.

As it turns out, it does quite a lot for our brains and mental wellbeing.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients connect to more positive emotions and enjoy the benefits of gratitude.

Research shows that gratitude can (Morin, 2014):

Help you make friends. One study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek a more lasting relationship with you.

Improve your physical health. People who exhibit gratitude report fewer aches and pains, a general feeling of health, more regular exercise, and more frequent checkups with their doctor than those who don't.

Improve your psychological health. Grateful people enjoy higher wellbeing and happiness and suffer from reduced symptoms of depression.

Enhance empathy and reduces aggression. Those who show their gratitude are less likely to seek revenge against others and more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, with sensitivity and empathy.

Improve your sleep. Practicing gratitude regularly can help you sleep longer and better.

Enhance your self-esteem. People who are grateful have increased self-esteem, partly due to their ability to appreciate other peoples' accomplishments.

Increase in mental strength. Grateful people have an advantage in overcoming trauma and enhanced resilience, helping them to bounce back from highly stressful situations.

With all of these benefits to practicing gratitude, your next question is probably "How do I do it?"

If so, you're in luck! Read on to discover some of the most popular exercises and activities for this, as well as tips to cultivate your own gratitude practice.

13 Most Popular Gratitude Exercises and Activities

There are infinite ways to show our gratitude to others, to ourselves, and to a higher power or even "the universe" itself.

However, it can be tough to get started without practical ideas. These gratitude exercises and activities are some of the most well-known and proven ways to practice and enhance your gratitude.

1. Journaling

Writing down a few things you are grateful for is one of the easiest and most popular exercises available.

The purpose of the exercise is to reflect on the past day, few days, or week, and remember 3-5 things you are especially grateful for. In this way, you are focusing on all the good things that happened to you in a given set of time.

What is the appropriate amount of journaling one should do per week? Some people propose doing it every day while others suggest once per week. The arguments against doing it every day are that it can be tedious and forced. It becomes a practice you feel you should do or need to do instead of something you want to do.

When journaling becomes a banal task and not an enjoyable practice then you need to adjust the amount of journaling you do.

Besides the benefit of focusing on the wonderful things, this practice actually can increase your quality of sleep, decrease symptoms of sickness, and increase joy (Marsh, 2011).

It is important to cater your practice to what you need. Perhaps journaling every day for a short amount of time works for you, but over time, it feels better to journal every Friday.

Paying attention to what you are grateful for becomes easier as you practice it.

Imagine your life without the things or people that matter to you, before you begin writing. That should definitely boost your gratitude barometer.

2. Gratitude Jar

The gratitude jar is a stunningly simple exercise that can have profound effects on your wellbeing and outlook. It only requires a few ingredients: a jar (a box can also work); a ribbon, stickers, glitter, or whatever else you like to decorate the jar; paper and a pen or pencil for writing your gratitude notes; and gratitude!

Step 1: Find a jar or box.

Step 2: Decorate the jar however you wish. You can tie a ribbon around the jar's neck, put stickers on the sides, use clear glue and glitter to make it sparkle, paint it, keep it simple, or do whatever else you can think of to make it a pleasing sight.

Step 3: This is the most important step, which will be repeated every day. Think of at least three things throughout your day that you are grateful for. It can be something as benign as a coffee at your favorite place, or as grand as the love of your significant other or dear friend. Do this every day, write down what you are grateful for on little slips of paper and fill the jar.

Over time, you will find that you have a jar full of a myriad of reasons to be thankful for what you have and enjoy the life you are living. It also will cultivate a practice of expressing thanks.

If you are ever feeling especially down and need a quick pick-me-up, take a few notes out of the jar to remind yourself of who, and what, is good in your life.

3. Gratitude Rock

This exercise may sound a little silly. You may be thinking, "A rock? How can a rock help me practice gratitude?"

The secret to this exercise is that the rock is a symbol, a physical object you can use, to remind yourself of what you have.

The instructions are about as simple as instructions can be: just find a rock!

Make sure to pick one you like, whether you like it because it's pretty because it is smooth or has an interesting texture, or because you picked it up from a special place. If you have another small object you'd rather use instead, feel free to substitute that for the rock.

Carry this rock around in your pocket, leave it on your desk where you will see it throughout your day, or even wear it on a chain around your neck or your wrist.

Whenever you see it or touch it, pause to think about at least one thing you are grateful for. Whether it's something as small as the sun shining down on you in this moment or as large as the job that allows you to feed yourself or your family, just think of one thing that brings you joy or fulfillment.

When you take the stone out of your pocket or off of your body at the end of the day, take a moment to remember the things that you were grateful for throughout the day. When you put it on or in your pocket again in the morning, repeat this process to remember what you were grateful for yesterday.

Not only will this help you remember the things you are grateful for, but also it can trigger a mini-mindfulness moment in your day. It will bring you out of your head and into the present moment, giving you something to focus your attention on. It can also act as a switch to more positive thinking.

When you flip this switch multiple times a day, you will likely find that your average day has become much more positive.

4. Gratitude Tree

The gratitude tree is a great activity for children, and it can also be effective for adults who are open to experiencing a childlike sense of fun and wonder. You will need several double-sided colored sheets of paper, string or ribbon, scissors, twigs or tree branches, some stones or marbles, a vase, and a sense of gratitude.

Step 1: Make one or more leaf cutouts to use as a template for your leaves. Trace leaves on your colored paper.

Step 2: Cut out the leaves, punch a hole at the top of each leaf, and loop your string or ribbon through each hole.

Step 3: Put the stones or marbles in a vase and stick the tree branch or twig in the middle.

Step 4: Have your (or your child) draw or write things that you (or your child) are grateful for on the leaves. You can also use photographs if you'd like.

Step 5: Hang the leaves from the branches, and behold your gratitude tree!

This activity is easy and results in a pretty reminder of the things that bring you or your child joy throughout your daily life. It may be intended for kids but there is no age limit on finding creative ways to cultivate your gratitude, so get to drawing!

Here's a quick how-to video on the gratitude tree:

5. Gratitude Garden

The gratitude garden activity is a good activity to follow creating gratitude trees. This is also intended for children, but adults can certainly follow along to get into the gratitude spirit.

Follow these steps to journey to the gratitude garden (All Done Monkey, 2012).

1. Start the Journey: Stand up in front of the group, with the Thankfulness/Gratitude Tree in clear view. Explain that you are all going on a trip to the Grateful Garden, but to get there you have to go through three dangerous places. (Insert a word other than "dangerous" if more appropriate to the age group). The Thankfulness Tree will help you get through each one so you can make it to the Grateful Garden.

2. The Frowny Forest: The first stop is the Frowny Forest. Have the kids all mimic you as you frown, cross your arms, and hunch over. There is a lot of wind in the Frowny Forest, so mimic being tossed about by the wind, turning back and forth as if you are trying to fight it. The only way to leave the Frowny Forest is to feel happy again, so ask the kids to shout out things they are grateful for (using the Thankfulness Tree as a prompt). After they have named a few things, mimic great relief, with a big smile.

3. The Sad Swamp: But, oh no! Just beyond the Frowny Forest is the Sad Swamp! Hunch over again, swing your arms down low, and walk (in place) in big, heavy steps, as if walking through mud or water. Again, have the kids shout out things they are grateful for, so you can all leave the Sad Swamp.

4. The Mad Mountain: Past the Sad Swamp is the Mad Mountain. Have them imitate you as you pretend to climb up the mountain with great effort, making angry faces. Again, have the kids shout out things they are grateful for, so you can all feel happy again.

5. The Grateful Garden: Finally, you have all arrived at the Grateful Garden! What a good job they have done! To celebrate, everyone can do a Happy Hop!

Going through each of these negative emotions can be a fun and interactive learning opportunity for kids. For older children (or young-minded adults!), you can even add in a few other, more complex negative emotions, like the "Disgusted Dock" or the "Petty Pier."

To read these instructions, click here.

6. Gratitude Box

The gratitude box is a thoughtful way to share your feelings with loved ones and cultivate your own sense of gratitude.

This is another easy activity that requires only a box, some paper, and a pen or pencil to write down gratitude messages. You can make the box yourself or buy one, the prettier the better!

On the paper, write down a heartfelt message of gratitude to your loved one. If you're not sure how to start, here are some suggestions to begin your message:

1) "Thank you for..."

2) "What I love about you..."

3) "My holiday wish for you..."

You can also collect messages from others about your loved one, to pack the box with multiple messages of gratitude and love.

Place the message(s) into the box, wrap it up or put a bow on it, and give it to your loved one as a special gift, to both your loved one and yourself.

Read more about gratitude boxes here.

7. Gratitude Prompts

Gratitude prompts are a great way to get started, continue your practice, or kick-start a stalled gratitude practice. This is also a relatively simple exercise, with only one instruction: fill in the blank!

These prompts provide several ways to begin a gratitude statement, with infinite possibilities for completion. They cover multiple senses, colors, people, and things. The goal is to identify at least three things in each category that you are thankful for.

The prompts include:

I'm grateful for three things I hear:

I'm grateful for three things I see:

I'm grateful for three things I smell:

I'm grateful for three things I touch/feel:

I'm grateful for these three things I taste:

I'm grateful for these three blue things:

I'm grateful for these three animals/birds:

I'm grateful for these three friends:

I'm grateful for these three teachers:

I'm grateful for these three family members:

I'm grateful for these three things in my home:

I'm grateful for these three people who hired me:

Etc.

This simple exercise is a great way to identify all the things you are grateful for. To see all of the categories and examples for each category, click here.

8. Gratitude Amble

This exercise only requires your sense of gratitude and a pair of feet or wheelchair.

When you are going through a particularly rough time, try cleansing your mind with a gratitude walk. Just as the combination of meditation and gratitude can combat stress or increase feelings of wellbeing, walking with a gratitude focal point can offer the same remedy.

Walking is therapeutic in itself.

It has health benefits like increased endorphins that decrease stress, increased heart health, and circulation in the body, decreased lethargy, and decreases in blood pressure. Couple this activity with a grateful state of mind and you are bound to nurture a positive mind and body (Rickman 2013).

The goal of the gratitude walk is to observe the things you see around you as you walk. Take it all in. Be aware of nature, the colors of the trees, the sounds the birds make, and the smell of the plants. Notice how your feet feel when you step onto the ground.

The effects are more potent when you can enjoy a gratitude walk with your partner or a friend. In this way, you can show them an appreciation for being able to spend the time walking together.

9. Gratitude Reflection

Reflection is an important part of mindfulness meditation and the cultivation of a sense of self-awareness. These practices can lead to an enhanced sense of wellbeing, among other benefits, although enhanced wellbeing is enough of a benefit for most of us.

To practice gratitude reflection, follow these steps (Still Mind, 2014):

1. Settle yourself in a relaxed posture. Take a few deep, calming breaths to relax and center. Let your awareness move to your immediate environment: all the things you can smell, taste, touch, see, hear. Say to yourself: "For this, I am grateful."

2. Next, bring to mind those people in your life to whom you are close: your friends, family, partner.... Say to yourself, "For this, I am grateful."

3. Next, turn your attention onto yourself: you are a unique individual, blessed with imagination, the ability to communicate, to learn from the past and plan for the future, to overcome any pain you may be experiencing. Say to yourself: "For this, I am grateful."

4. Finally, rest in the realization that life is a precious gift. That you have been born into a period of immense prosperity, that you have the gift of health, culture, and access to spiritual teachings. Say to yourself: "For this, I am grateful."

10. Gratitude Flower

The gratitude flower is similar to the gratitude tree, except that instead of creating leaves of gratitude, we create flower petals of gratitude.

Start by cutting out a circle from colored paper. Yellow is a popular color for this piece since it will be the center of the flower.

On the circle, write "Things I'm Thankful For" or write your name or family name, or even an overarching thing you're grateful for (i.e., "my family").

Next, use a template or freehand cut to create flower petals. You can use several different colors for a bright and vibrant flower, or the same color for a more uniform looking flower.

On the flower petals, write down things you are grateful for. These can be things like the sunny weather, having wonderful parents, or a promotion at work.

Glue or tape these petals to the center to create a flower. This is your gratitude flower!

11. Gratitude Letter or Email / Gratitude Visit

This might be the most powerful gratitude exercise. Write a hand-written letter to a person you are particularly grateful to have in your life.

Be detailed. Express all the wonderful qualities about this person, and how they personally have affected your life for the better.

If you have the time personally deliver this letter to the person yourself.

Do it unexpectedly. Your level of gratitude should skyrocket, as you observe the bliss the receiver gets from your generous act. It will probably be one of the greatest gifts you will ever receive.

The positive effects of this gratitude exercise were researched and carried out by Kent State professor Steve Toepfer, associate professor in Human Development and Family Studies.

In his 2007 study, his undergraduate students experienced enhanced levels of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as decreased symptoms of depression. Toepfer's goal of this study was to determine the psychological benefits, if any, for the authors of these gratitude letters (Vincent, 2007).

The results of this study are quite straightforward. If you wish to increase your gratitude and happiness levels then intentionally script letters to inspiring people in your life.

If you are feeling down and maybe even depressed, you should most certainly give this practice a try. For an even further joy boost hand deliver your letter to the receivers so you can witness the receiver's reactions for yourself.

This activity can be either an email or a letter which you can send off in the mail or deliver personally.

Think about a person who has recently done something good for you, to whom you have not yet expressed your gratitude. This person may be a friend, family member, coworker, teacher, or mentor.

Try to pick someone who you can visit within the next week if you are practicing the visit component.

Next, write them an email or letter. Use these guidelines to write an effective and grateful letter:

Write as though you are addressing the person directly.

Don't worry about getting your grammar or spelling perfect (unless you are sending the email/letter to them).

Describe what this person has done that makes you grateful, and how they have impacted your life. Be as concrete as possible here.

Describe what you are doing in life now, and how frequently you remember their act of kindness or generosity.

Try to keep your letter to about 300 words or so.

If you are writing an email or a letter to be mailed, go through the letter to make sure it is clear and you get the intended message across. Hit the "send" button or drop it in a mailbox.

If you are delivering your letter in person via a gratitude visit, follow these steps:

Plan a visit with the recipient. Let him or her know you would like to meet with them to share something, but be vague about what you have to share.

When you meet this person, let them know that you are grateful and that you would like to read them a letter you wrote expressing your gratitude. Ask that he or she does not interrupt you until you are done reading the letter.

Take your time reading the letter. While you read, pay attention to the reactions of both you and the recipient.

After you have read the letter, listen to his or her reaction to the letter and be ready to discuss your feelings together.

Remember to leave the letter with this person when you leave.

If you are located far away from this person, you can arrange a phone call or video chat instead.

12. Meditation

Gratitude meditations are a double-whammy for wellbeing. You are performing two of the most impactful happiness practice at the same time.

Meditation isn't always easy especially when the mind is aggressively wandering and distracting your attention, but if you practice this kind of mediation consistently be prepared to experience incredible upgrades in gratitude and joy.

Unlike a normal meditation where intentionally become aware of your breath and keep your mind clear, during a gratitude meditation you visualize all the things in your life that you are grateful for.

It is important to give each person or item the concentration it deserves. You can take the time to go through all the people you are grateful for or all the physical objects you are grateful for.

I like to simplify this sometimes and show gratitude for the things that are often taken for granted: the ability to breath, hands to touch, eyes to see, legs to walk and run, etc. There are numerous advantages to meditating. These advantages magnify when you take the time to target your reasons for gratitude.

Spend some time really taking stock of the things you are grateful for and I am certain you will feel much better afterward. It is a powerful exercise.

13. Collage

This is similar to the gratitude journal, except you are going to take pictures of all the things you are grateful for. This gives you the opportunity to visualize your gratitude.

Try taking a picture of one thing you are grateful for every day for a week. Notice how you feel. Take a look back at the pictures every week. You don't have to find grandiose things to be grateful for. A simple picture of a flower will do.

The more you do this the easier it will be for you to spot out the things you are grateful for. You will no longer take these simple things for granted.

Perhaps you will document multiple pictures in a day. After a given time period put all your pictures together in a collage and simply be grateful for all that you have.

A Gratitude Trick That Marie Forleo Learned from Robert Emmons

The following video shows the results of a USC study where students kept a gratitude journal for 10 weeks. Watch what happened when the three groups had different prompts-and results.

If one of the three prompts mentioned in the video resonate with you, why not give it a try? If not for 10-weeks, for two weeks? You might be surprised with the slow and steady benefits this simple tip brings.

Gratitude Exercise: The Can of Beans

The following gratitude exercise was invented by Seph Fontane Pennock. For this exercise you're going to need:

Many of us can buy a can of white beans without thinking much, let alone the food many of us are fortunate to put into our bodies. For this exercise, we invite you to have a meal of a can of beans. Nothing else that night. Just the beans.

There's no warming them up or pouring the beans into a nice cup. That beats the purpose of the exercise. You simply grab a spoon, open up the can, imagine you're sitting around the campfire at the foot of the Sierra Madra, and dig in.

What is the purpose of the exercise?

The purpose of this gratitude exercise is to realize and appreciate what we have. Appreciation. It can make you realize that every day, you are able to eat all sorts of foods, flown or shipped in from all over the world for you to eat. It is quite extraordinary if you think about it, but it can be easy to take for granted for those who have food security.

During this exercise, you may start to compare the beans that you're eating with other meals you crave. This allows you to take a moment and appreciate those usual foods, and how they fuel you.

The benefits:

Performing this gratitude exercise once a week:

1. Makes you a more mindful eater.

2. Makes you appreciate what you have in life, or at least, what you eat.

3. Makes you realize that we don't need so much in order to satisfy our basic human needs.

4. Allows you to actually enjoy the ritual and experience positive emotions while your eating beans that tend to last throughout the whole evening.

The most powerful thing about this gratitude exercise is its simplicity. Performing this exercise is easier than its alternative, which means cooking up a whole meal (and ending up with the dishes).

What about your spouse or kids?

In case you are living with someone or if you have kids, you're going to have more of a challenge in performing this exercise.

You can either explain the exercise to them and invite them to join you if they wish (it's important that they decide to do so themselves), or do the exercise on one of those evenings that you don't get to eat together with your family or spouse.

2 Gratitude Quizzes and Questionnaires

Looking for a quick way to assess how grateful you are? These quizzes and questionnaires are readily available on the internet.

1. Greater Good at Berkeley Quiz - This 20-item quiz is based on a scale developed by psychologists, Mitchel Adler, and Nancy Fagley. It is available online, and completion will give an overall gratitude score, as well as being given steps on how to promote further gratitude in life.

2. This is the GQ-6, a brief questionnaire that may take as little as about 30 seconds to complete. It was devised by Michael E. McCullough, Ph.D., Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., Jo-Ann Tsang, Ph.D. The GQ-6 gives an impression of how grateful a person is already. It consists of 6 questions, with responses in a Likert-type scale from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'.

Handy Gratitude Worksheets

If you like easy to follow worksheets, we have several suggestions that can help you get started practicing gratitude.

Try one of the following worksheets.

Gratitude Exercises

This handout describes several useful gratitude exercises, some of which are included above, in a short paragraph. Consider this your master list of the best gratitude exercises with a quick and easy explanation.

You can find this worksheet here.

To learn about these gratitude exercises in more detail, try the worksheets below.

Gratitude Journal

This worksheet is a quick and easy way to document the things you are grateful for each day. It begins by noting that keeping a journal helps to improve your mood. The worksheet then instructs the user to write at least three entries for each day.

This simple worksheet lists each day of the week with five sections of blank space to fill out with things that make you grateful. Gratitude Journal

Why I'm Grateful Worksheet

This simple worksheet helps you find things you are grateful for, complete with prompts to get you started. These prompts cover multiple areas of life and dive deeper into your sense of gratitude.

Instead of just helping you identify what you are grateful for, this worksheet digs into why you are grateful.

The prompts include:

"I am grateful for my family because..."

"Something good happened this week..."

"I am grateful for my friendship with... because..."

"I am grateful for who I am because..."

"Something silly that I am grateful for..."

"Something else I am grateful for..."

Simply fill in the blanks on this worksheet to discover more to be grateful for in your life! Click here to use this worksheet.

Gratitude Letter

Produced by Allina Health, this sheet looks at 'overlooked blessings' and reflections on positive things about the individual's health and body, activities they enjoy, and relationships they are grateful for.

Finally, the worksheet prompts individuals to write a gratitude letter.

Daily Gratitude

This worksheet provides a template for a daily gratitude journal, with room to record three things in the last 24 hours the client is thankful for, and three things that they are looking forward to in the next 24 hours.

Gratitude Journal Activity

This provides a gratitude journal activity creating a list of 100 things an individual is grateful for by completing 5 mini-lists, each containing 20 lines. For example, the prompt for the first list is to "list 20 things that you are grateful worked out for you...evidence that the universe is on your side."

Examples of Gratitude Interventions for Adults

Many of the gratitude exercises described above have been used in interventions to increase gratitude, with varying results. Check out the following studies.

Gratitude as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention

A paper by Robert A. Emmons and Robin Stern (Emmons & Stern, 2013) describes how gratitude can have a positive impact on patients and clients in therapeutic relationships.

The authors also outline several different methods of applying gratitude interventions to adults, including keeping a journal. The article includes a case study of a woman facing severe stress and multiple challenges in her life.

Susanna was suffering from thoughts of leaving her marriage, her husband's motorcycle accident, the reveal of an extramarital affair on the part of her husband, and finding out that her husband had been hiding a gambling addiction that had nearly bankrupted them.

Susanna's therapist worked with Susanna to develop a course of treatment that heavily incorporated gratitude. Her therapist encouraged Susanna to reflect on all of the things she had to be grateful for and helped her "self-right" her perspective to truly appreciate each moment in her daily life while building a new life that better suited her strengths, weaknesses, and her circumstances.

This treatment improved Susanna's ability to function and helped her to remain emotionally available to her children and more self-aware.

The authors end by noting the ways that gratitude interventions differ from most other types of interventions.

First, the prosocial and relational nature of gratitude can build unique pathways to happiness and wellbeing. Gratitude is also a fulfilling practice, facilitating an appreciation of both the current moment and one's past.

There is much evidence that gratitude interventions result in many positive benefits, and that incorporating gratitude into therapy can help clients and patients realize these benefits.

Using a Gratitude Intervention to Enhance Wellbeing in Older Adults

This study (Killen & Macaskill, 2015) utilized the "three good things" exercise to enhance gratitude in adults 60 years and older. This exercise involves writing down three good things you have to be grateful for each day, generally at night.

The study was conducted on a group of 88 healthy adults aged 60 or over and lasted for 45 days. Results showed that this gratitude intervention improved wellbeing via flourishing, at multiple points throughout the duration of the study. Perceived stress also decreased over the first 15 days.

This intervention was effective whether administered via paper or online and showed that gratitude journaling can have a significant positive effect on older adults.

Gratitude and Wellbeing: The Benefits of Appreciation

This piece by Randy A. Sansone and Lori A. Sansone (Sansone & Sansone, 2010) explores the effects of gratitude on wellbeing.

The authors describe several studies that have provided evidence of a link between these two constructs.

For example, the authors describe three journaling methods for investigating these effects undertaken by gratitude researchers Emmon and McCullough, including one group that journaled about negative events or hassles in life, one group that journaled about things they were grateful for, and one group that journaled about neutral life events.

The group focusing on things they were grateful for reported significantly higher wellbeing than the other two groups.

Another study pitted a group who completed the "counting one's blessings" exercise, in which participants wrote about things they were grateful for or for which they felt blessed at the end of each week, against a group who identified challenges or hassles in life and a control group. Those who counted their blessings seemed to experience a boost in wellbeing.

The authors conclude that gratitude can be an effective way to enhance wellbeing, and suggest several exercises that can be used as interventions in therapy, including:

Journaling about things for which to be grateful.

Thinking about someone for whom you are grateful.

Writing and/or sending a letter to someone for whom you are grateful.

Meditating on gratitude The "count your blessings" exercise.

Practicing saying "thank you" and really meaning it.

Writing thank you notes.

If you are religious, incorporating your gratitude in prayer.

To read about these examples and learn how to measure gratitude, you can read the paper here.

4 Gratitude Lesson Ideas for Teachers

The modern classroom sees teachers educating about far more than literacy and numeracy. Social and emotional learning is now incorporated into the curriculum. Teaching gratitude provides students with powerful life-skills. Here are some resources to utilize in planning gratitude lessons.

1. What is Gratitude?

After an initial 'activation of thinking' exercise, brainstorm about gratitude. Then, students can watch a video, such as Gratitude HD, Moving Art on YouTube, and jot down reflections from it on post-it notes. Then, in pairs, students work through guiding questions and the teacher introduces a book that is age-appropriate.

After the story, in pairs, have students discuss what they noticed in the book, what they connected with, and what they are thankful for.

Use photos, calendar images or Visual Talking Cards to provide a starting point for a discussion about gratitude and sharing knowledge among the class. Before closing the lesson, use an ABC Brainstorm Template (available from the link provided below) to generate a list of things students are grateful for.

Find the lesson idea here at its source (Heart-Mind online, 2014).

2. Acts of Kindness (Grades K - 2)

This lesson is designed for students to be given the opportunity to identify ways that they have acted with kindness and caring towards others.

Firstly, provide an explanation to the class about feeling grateful and have a discussion. Then, have the students close their eyes and visualize someone they have been kind to or helped, and to recall how this made them feel as well as what the other person said or did.

Ask students to open their eyes and share what they visualized. Then, ask students to draw a picture of what they visualized and write a caption to go with it. Alternatively, students could write a short paragraph about it.

To extend this lesson, older students could be encouraged to record times when they show kindness to others, the reasons why they did, and how they feel, in a gratitude journal. Or, the class could be prompted to talk about an act of kindness they could do for someone in the school and the teacher can help them put this into action.

3. Food Gratitude (Grades 3 - 5)

The class lists as many different fruits as they can. Then, they vote on which fruit is the favorite fruit for most people in the class.

Guide students through a visualization of all of the people or resources who made it possible for them to enjoy this fruit.

In groups of four, students discuss the visualization and on a large piece of paper, draw all of the people, tools and natural elements necessary to produce the fruit. As students draw, discuss the many people involved in the process of making the fruit available, and prompt the class to think about how they would show gratitude to all of the people-they then add this to the drawing.

The following day, bring in some of the fruit that the students selected (being sure no student is allergic) and ask them to think of all of the properties of the fruit and reflect upon all the people involved in its production.

Finally, before the class enjoys eating the fruit, invite them to recall the expressions of gratitude that they wrote on the drawings and to feel that gratitude.

4. People Who Made a Difference (Grades 6 - 8)

This exercise is designed to help students understand that they can feel gratitude to people whose actions benefit the whole of society and these benefits can last for centuries.

Students identify a historical figure who did something that they feel grateful for. Then, helps students visualize the person, what it would be like to be with them, and the sense of gratitude the student has. Following this, students write an essay looking into what the person did that they were grateful for, and consider the intention and motives of the person.

Students should also think about the 'cost' of the figure's actions, not only in terms of money but more general personal sacrifices. Ask students to reflect upon how they have benefited from the person's actions and how the whole of society may have benefited.

To conclude the lesson, the class can present brief summaries of the historical figure they researched.

Here are the original sources for Lesson Plans 2-4 above (Zakrzewski, 2016).

Gratitude Games and Ideas for Kids

By now, you're probably thinking about all the good things that can happen when gratitude is incorporated into one's life. This is particularly true for children and using gratitude to boost resilience, enhance wellbeing, and encourage a positive outlook on life.

7 Tips for Fostering Gratitude

This piece describes seven ways to encourage the development of gratitude in children.

These tips include:

1. Model and teach gratitude. This is the best way to teach any trait you want your child to develop.

2. Spend time with your kids and being mindful with them. Quality time is not only a positive experience for both children and adults; it also offers opportunities to model empathy and cultivates a sense of appreciation for the things you love.

3. Support your child's autonomy. Allowing your children to be semi-autonomous helps them to build their strengths and talents, and encourages them to take ownership of their actions.

4. Use your children's strengths to fuel gratitude. Create opportunities for your children to be helpful and cooperative with others, enhancing their ability to feel and express gratitude.

5. Help focus and support kids to achieve intrinsic goals. In steering children away from the pursuit of materialistic goals and toward intrinsic goals, you can help children fulfill their own higher-level needs and aid in their development. Savor their accomplishments with them as one way to boost their sense of gratitude even more.

6. Encourage children to help others and devote time to nurturing relationships. Volunteer to help others with your child, and encourage them to offer a helping hand to loved ones in need of support. Helping them to develop strong, positive relationships is a great way to make sure they have something to be grateful for.

7. Help kids find what matters to them. Assisting your child in finding what he or she is passionate about is a good way to help them find gratitude as well. A sense of purpose or meaning in life helps us all to discover what we love, contribute to society, and practice gratitude.

More information on cultivating a sense of gratitude in children can be found here.

Gratitude in the Classroom

If you'd like to build gratitude in your children or the children you teach or mentor, try these suggestions:

1. Create a classroom gratitude book for each child to take home and add a page of pictures and descriptions of what they're grateful for. Switch out each week so every child has the opportunity to add a page.

2. Take a picture of each student holding a large piece of paper with one thing they are grateful for written on it, frame the picture, and send it home as a gift.

3. Create a gratitude collage or bulletin board, with pictures of things each student is grateful for.

4. Have each child write down something they are thankful for on strips of paper, and use the strips to create a gratitude chain, which can be hung around the classroom.

5. Hold a "Special Friends Day" before Thanksgiving, in which each student brings someone special to class. Each pair will write or draw something they are thankful for, which will be posted on a bulletin board.

6. Have the children create gratitude surprise sticky notes. Hand these sticky notes out to students and have them write down something they're grateful for in regards to someone else around the school, then encourage them to "deliver" the note to that person's locker, mailbox, or classroom door.

For many more classroom gratitude ideas, visit this website.

Gratitude Exercises for Children

The website www.blissfulkids.com also provides popular gratitude exercises that can help develop gratitude in children.

The top three gratitude exercises according to Chris Bergstrom and Blissful Kids are:

1. The Gratitude Journal. Provide your child with a journal and encourage them to write down five things they are grateful for each day. Bedtime is a great time to practice this exercise since children will have the whole day from which to choose what to write about.

2. The ABCs of Gratitude. Have your child sit comfortably and close their eyes. Tell them to list things they are grateful for, beginning with "A" and working all the way through the alphabet to "Z." Don't be surprised if this exercise gets a little silly-it's bound to get silly at some point, so just embrace it and enjoy the laughter with your child!

3. Bedtime Thank Yous. This can be incorporated into the gratitude journal or practiced as a standalone exercise. Help your child to think of happy things that happened to them during their day. They can simply say these things aloud, write them down in their journal, draw a picture of them, or simply think of them. This exercise can ensure that your child drifts off to sleep with a heart full of love and gratitude.

How to Develop Your Own Gratitude Ritual

Creating a gratitude ritual can be tough, just as starting any new habit can be difficult to stick with at first. Like most other practices, the more you do it, the easier it will get.

Try these tips to help you cultivate a fulfilling and impactful gratitude ritual (Rodrigues, 2017):

Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and take several slow, deep breaths.

Think of something good that has happened to you recently.

Think of a person or animal you love.

Think of an occasion when you were honored or appreciated by others.

Think about your present situation and what is going on in your life.

The popular website www.tinybuddha.com also provides several useful suggestions on implementing and sticking to a gratitude ritual.

Their steps are as follows (Russell, 2016):

1. Commit to your practice. There will be days when you feel like doing anything other than finding reasons to be grateful, but pushing through these days will empower you and help you build the strength and resilience necessary to push through other challenges.

2. Begin your practice. Just do it! Sit down with a pen and paper or a computer and start simply, with a prompt like "I am grateful for..." You may need to sit and think for a while, but that's okay. If you give it time and put in the effort, it will come!

3. Write it down. Sometimes thinking about what you are grateful for will not be enough. Be sure to write down what you are grateful for. Writing can have a powerful impact that just thinking may not bring about.

4. Feel it. Allow yourself to fully experience gratitude. Let it come up from your heart and throughout your body. Savor the feeling.

5. Choose a set time of day. This can be extremely helpful when starting a practice. Some popular times to practice gratitude are first thing in the morning and last thing at night, but choose a time that works for you.

6. Practice present-moment gratitude. While you may be writing these things down at the beginning or end of the day, make sure to notice all of the things for which you are grateful as they pop up throughout your day. Allow yourself to be in the present and to fully appreciate each thing you are grateful for as it arises.

7. Share the gratitude. Find a gratitude partner to share your list of things you are grateful for with, to discuss your challenges and your successes with, and to motivate you when you are not feeling up to the task (and vice versa).

8. Don't stop when you start noticing results! Although counterintuitive, it can be tempting to stop any practice once you start seeing the benefits. Make sure you are committed to your practice, whether it feels beneficial in the current moment or not.

9. Allow yourself to be human. It's alright to miss a day once in a while, and it's alright to feel grumpy about having to follow through on your commitment when it's the last thing you want to do. We are human, and we will make mistakes. If you're having trouble coming up with anything, at least write something like "I am grateful I am writing my gratitude list."

The popular dating website eharmony also provides tips on how to cultivate gratitude, especially in the context of dating and relationships. They suggest four steps (Libby, 2016):

1. Breathing. Simply close your eyes and take a deep and intentional breath, repeating until you feel calm and grounded.

2. Awakening your awareness. Allow yourself to meditate on your truth in the present moment.

3. Recognize your blessings. Think about what you are experiencing with your five senses if you have trouble getting started.

4. Emotions flow. Allow your emotions to come and go, to rise and fall as they will. Focus your attention on enjoying the feeling of gratitude working its way through your mind and to your heart.

5. Finally, Chris Libby from www.livehappy.com provides four rituals that you can implement to build gratitude in your life.

These rituals are (Libby, 2016):

Amazing Grace. Reflect on what you are grateful for at the dinner table before you begin eating, whether alone or with your family.

Focus on the "Haves." Instead of thinking about what you are missing, think about what you have. Write down at least three things you are grateful for each night.

The Write Stuff. Write a letter to someone you are grateful to or for, and read the letter aloud to them if possible. you can find more instructions for this exercise earlier in this piece.

Thankful Awareness. Try something new and fulfilling, such as volunteering at a food bank or soup kitchen, or handing out toys at a children's hospital. Witnessing the trials and challenges of others can often be a spur for you to notice the good things in your own life.

Gratitude Apps That Help You Stick to It

Sometimes, even when we know all of the right steps and have all of the right tips, practicing regular gratitude can be difficult. This is where an app can help! Try one of the gratitude apps described below to help you keep a regular gratitude practice.

1. Gratitude Journal

This classic gratitude exercise is put into digital form, with a daily journal for you to fill with things you are grateful for. It includes space for writing down several things each day, ratings of your feelings, daily quotes, and up to three photos per journal entry.

This app is available through iTunes here.

2. Gratitude Garden App

This app not only allows you to recall and record the things you are grateful for each day, it also rewards you with points for journaling. You can build up a gratitude garden with these points, a pretty space that can bring you joy by reminding you of what is good in your life.

You can also receive gratitude cards, which contain suggestions for further actions that can increase gratitude and happiness.

This app is free, and you can download it on iTunes here.

3. Grateful: A Gratitude Journal

Grateful was developed to make expressing gratitude both easy and fun. By recording your blessings in Grateful, during those 'down' moments you can be reminded of all the things in your life that you have to be grateful for.

Available here from iTunes.

4. Happyfeed

This is a private gratitude journal app allowing you to record happy moments each day. As well as securely recording these moments as they happen, Happyfeed also writes fun, silly, and informative daily reminders.

The more you use this app, the more valuable it becomes.

Head here to get the app.

6 Podcasts Focused on Gratitude

Podcasts are a convenient way to hear from experts, and can also be a good use of time such as when on public transport. There are some available on the topic of gratitude. Here they are...

1. The Gratitude Podcast is by Georgian Benta. It is devoted to all things gratitude, with over 500, 000 downloads. It includes interviews with successful people and getting them to share fascinating stories about how gratitude has helped them get to where they are now.

2. Episode 18 of the 'Being Well' podcast sees Dr Hanson and Forrest discuss the 5th of 12 strengths to be examined in the series - gratitude. They look at the role of positive emotions generally and especially the value of "thankfulness".

3. This podcast, "Why Gratitude Works" is by Christine Carter and Rona Renner. In it, these experts discuss the science of gratitude and the reasons why consciously practicing gratitude can improve people's happiness so markedly.

4. Featuring acclaimed author and grounded theory researcher, Brene Brown, the topic of this podcast is "On gratitude, vulnerability, and courage". When gratitude and the power of appreciating the smallest moments were discussed, the podcast became emotional.

5. This relatively short podcast, featuring Lewis Howes from the School of Greatness, looks at developing an 'attitude of gratitude'. Howes shares both expertise and personal experience - such as almost losing his father in a car accident, and how he learned not to take things for granted.

6. This podcast is slightly different to the others discussed above. It looks at gratitude as a skill, and how to build this skill. There is a lot covered in the podcast. If you don't have the time, or the inclination, to listen to a podcast a summary of the points covered is available on the site which is accessible from the hyperlink provided.

A Take-Home Message

I hope you have found this piece useful. I'm grateful for you, as a reader, who took the time to process some of these ideas.

The "gratitude muscle" is like any other muscle, in that it must be flexed periodically to remain strong.

Return to this page whenever you need a reminder about why gratitude is important to practice, or suggestions on how to boost your own sense of gratitude. Visit the section on developing gratitude in children to encourage your own children, clients, or students to commit to a lifetime of gratitude and happiness.

Thank you for reading, and please be sure to find at least three things to be grateful for today.

Do you have a regular gratitude practice? Are there other gratitude exercises that work for you? Please let us know in the comments section below.

We love hearing from you!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free.

For further reading, we suggest:

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13 Most Popular Gratitude Exercises & Activities

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We share gratitude exercises for your private practice or for teaching others about the science of happiness. Worksheets included!

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11 Best Gratitude Apps To Increase Your Wellbeing

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Today is a great day to develop gratitude. Take a moment to reflect on what you have, and try these gratitude apps to get you in the habit.

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Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

When we express gratitude, it can fire up multiple areas of the brain that are responsible for delivering mood- and happiness-boosting chemicals-like dopamine and serotonin.

Writing down what one is grateful for each day can positively impact the way the body and mind function-from quality of sleep to boosting immunity and happiness. A gratitude journal serves as a personal outlet to reflect on what one is grateful for in life.

"Gratitude journals may allow individuals to better organize their thoughts and tasks, potentially leading to improved organization and clarity," says Leela R. Magavi, MD, a psychiatrist and Regional Medical Director for Community Psychiatry + MindPath Care Centers.

Spending a few minutes a day or even a week to acknowledge and absorb the positive attributes of life can make a significant impact on one's overall well-being.

Here are the best gratitude journals on the market.

What to Look For in a Gratitude Journal

Many gratitude journals come with a variety of prompts to help the user get started. But, as Manly points out, not all prompts are equally helpful. "If you're purchasing a gratitude journal, make sure that any pre-printed prompts resonate with you," she says. "Some people find pre-selected prompts to be a true benefit, whereas others find them irritating." According to Manly, different types of prompts include romantic relationships, friendships, family, food, nature, free time, and life's unexpected surprises.

There is no single correct template for the structure of gratitude journals, and Magavi recommends choosing one based on your story and personality. "Some individuals fare better with more structure and guidance, while others excel with more space and freedom to be creative and fluid," Magavi explains. "Some individuals enjoy journaling freely, while others prefer completing daily tasks and gratitude worksheets."

A good gratitude journal needn't be costly. "An inexpensive notebook can do the trick for those who enjoy creating their own prompts, or free-association gratitude journaling," Magavi says. And ultimately, what you get out of a gratitude journal depends almost entirely on what you put into it-not whether it has heavyweight paper, a visually appealing cover, or fun fonts.

Why Trust Verywell Mind

Emily Stone's research has led her to a deeper understanding of how the brain functions as well as what feeds into happiness. Gratitude can often be drowned out by the day's headlines or an unpleasant encounter. By taking even one minute in the morning or before bed to reflect on the positive, we can significantly benefit both physically and emotionally.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Yuko.

As a seasoned health writer and editor with a special focus on mental health and well-being, Elizabeth Yuko understands how powerful stress-relieving activities can be for many people-as well as the fact that they're not one-size-fits-all. With decades of first-hand experience dealing with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, she's always on the lookout for new (and research-backed) products, techniques, and services that can help people cope with stress and other mental health challenges.

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Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links. When we express gratitude, it can fire up multiple areas of the brain that are responsible for delivering mood- and happiness-boosting chemicals-like dopamine and serotonin.

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Sleep is your life-support system and Mother Nature's best effort yet at immortality, says sleep scientist Matt Walker. In this deep dive into the science of slumber, Walker shares the wonderfully good things that happen when you get sleep -- and the alarmingly bad things that happen when you don't, for both your brain and body.

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Do you find yourself staring up at the ceiling at night?

If you do, you're not alone. Trying to fall asleep can be a real struggle. Whether you have a lot on your mind or just can't get comfortable in bed, sometimes we need a little extra help to drift off to sleep. Perhaps what's missing from your nighttime routine is listening to a sleep podcast.

Sleep-focused podcasts offer a variety of sleep inducers, like music, stories, and meditation. While we can't guarantee sleep on podcasts like our mattresses, we think these podcasts are worth a listen to help make sleeping a little easier.

So, we rounded up 15 of the best sleep podcasts designed for sleep. Get ready to put on your pajamas, turn on one of these babies, and hang on tight for your ride to Slumberville.

Best Podcasts for Sleep

Not sure which kind of podcast to start? Here are some of our favorite podcasts where you can experiment with sleep-inducing sounds and genres.

Sleep with Me
No sleep podcast list is complete without Sleep With Me. Known as the Sandman of sleep podcasts, this highly praised show is perfect for any insomniac. In each episode, the narrator takes a random topic and fills it with extra tangents, rambling sentences, and a soothing monotone voice, making the show as incomprehensible and sleep-inducing as possible.

Listen here.

Deep Energy Podcast
If listening to people doesn't sound like your cup of tea, maybe a podcast with ambient sounds will do the trick. Think rainstorms, streams, sunsets, drums, and ocean waves, all set to an ethereal, new-age backdrop. Not only do these sounds help with meditation, but this type of ambient noise has been shown to help you fall asleep faster.

Listen here.

In Our Time
Remember those days when you fell asleep during a college lecture? In Our Time is a bit like that. While not designed as a sleep podcast, this well-researched show dives deep into various academics topics to help calm and soothe listeners. One week might have you learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and another week bird migration patterns.

Listen here.

Casper Sleep Channel
Shameless plug: we recently launched a new podcast for sleep! Wind down to a collection of sounds, meditations, and bedtime stories narrated by "June the Moon". Our weekly show will feature big names in the podcasting world like Meredith Goldstein (Boston Globe's Love Letters), Nathan Thornburg (The Trip), and Kathryn Nicolai (Nothing Much Happens: Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups).

Listen here.

Bedtime Stories Podcasts

Ever wonder why children love bedtime stories? Experts suggest that kids like the familiarity of the experience and not having to concentrate hard during storytime. This helps to ease them into falling asleep. There is no reason that adults can't benefit from them too.

Sleepy
This podcast takes us back to our roots, as one is ever too old for a classic bedtime story. Otis Gray reads stories in the public domain, such as Sherlock Holmes, Peter Pan, and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with a warm and inviting voice. The show is perfect for those who like the sound of calming, deeper voices.

Listen here.

On a Dark, Cold Night
Usually, it's the stuff of nightmares that keep us up at night. However, narrator Kristen Zaza tells original scary stories with a slow, raspy voice to put listeners to sleep. Her material capitalizes on the eerie and often sad realm of horror as a way to calm the mind.

Listen here.

Nothing Much Happens: Bedtime Stories For Adults
With no central plot, this podcast walks you through calming experiences with great detail and description. An episode can take you the experience of taking an unexpected nap or that happy moment of baking fresh bread. Nicolai tells each story twice - the second telling with slower speech and longer pauses, the kind of narration that you can fall asleep to.

Listen here.

Stories from the Borders of Sleep
In this podcast, Seymour Jacklin tells original fantasy stories and poems, making this the perfect show to tune in with children. The imaginative stories combined with Jacklin's calm narration and carefully selected background music whisk you off into the realm of sleep.

Listen here.

Meditation Podcasts to Help You Sleep

You're all tucked into bed but you can't fall asleep. The culprit? Most likely, your stress and anxious thoughts. Studies suggest that mindful meditation and breathing can help fight insomnia. Here are some podcasts to help you reach that sleep-ready state of mind.

Tracks to Relax: Guided Sleep Meditations
Having a hard time relaxing? Guided Sleep Meditations provides soothing exercises, directions, and visualizations designed to deeply calm your mind before bedtime. Be prepared to journey through forests, beachsides, and caverns as you make your way into your comfort zone.

Listen here.

The Daily Meditation Podcast
While not specifically designed to make you doze off in bed, The Daily Meditation Podcast offers guided meditations for everyday themes like self-love and negative thoughts. This can help you relieve the feelings of stress that get between you and that worry-free sleep. Hearing all this from a calming voice like host Mary Meckley's doesn't hurt either.

Listen here.

Meditation Minis
Like The Daily Meditation Podcast, Chel Hamilton's show offers brief 10-minute episodes aimed at helping busy minds shut out the noise. Hamilton, a hypnotherapist, uses a combination of imagery and positive self-talk to help you wrangle anxious thoughts, increase confidence, and put you at the edge of sleep.

Listen here.

On Being
The On Being podcast provides a different approach by inspiring you to reflect on your spirituality and existence. Hosted by Krista Tippett, each weekly episode features a well-crafted interview with scientists, thinkers, and artists to help you embrace mindfulness and meditation.

Listen here.

Relaxing Podcasts

What you do before bed is just as important as what you do on it. These podcasts are some of our favorites to help you unwind before you close your eyes. Pair them with a relaxing bedtime routine for maximum effect.

Sleep Whispers
Inside voices only. For those of you with minds that run a hundred miles each night, this show is designed to slow down your thoughts and reset your mind. Sleep Whispers tells everything from various histories to recipes in hushed whispers, which has been shown to help adults sleep.

Listen here.

The ASMR Podcast
If you're hoping to relax before bed, you may benefit from a dose of ASMR. ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response - a calming, pleasurable, and sometimes tingling sensation that can run down your spine when you're responding to stimuli. Not everyone can experience ASMR, but if you're trying to drift off to sleep, this podcast may just be your remedy.

Listen here.

Classical Music Discoveries
Not into the ASMR craze? Try good ol' classic music instead. The benefits of classical music are widely covered, from health and wellness to creativity to -you guessed it-sleep. The Classical Music Discoveries podcast releases new episodes daily.

Listen here.

What is the Best Sound to Fall Asleep To?

We tend to think that we need peace and quiet to fall asleep. However, studies show that sounds can actually aid in getting some shuteye. Even when we're in deep slumber, our brains are still able to perceive and process sounds. The sounds we pick up can be either relaxing or alarming, which varies for each individual.

Sleep podcasts often utilize different techniques for those who crave sleep. Try out some of these sleep-inducing sounds to see which ones are most relaxing for you.

Pink Noise
Pink noise is a type of signal like white noise that mixes high and low frequencies. Small studies have found that pink noise can decrease the time it takes to sleep by 38 percent.

Examples of pink noise include rainfall, beach waves, and rustling leaves. Researchers suggest that water sounds, even when loud, rise and fall smoothly in intensity, so our brains see them as non-threatening. This is why many people swear by rain apps like Rainy Mood and Rain Rain Sleep Sounds to help them fall asleep.

Music
We're not talking about that catchy song on the radio. Instead, listen to music that has a steady rhythm, soft melodies, and lower pitches. Studies have shown that classical music can be a remedy for those who feel restless at night. A podcast like Classical Music Discoveries can be the perfect place to start listening to the classics.

Human Voices
Sometimes, another human voice can just as relaxing as ambient sound. Scientists theorize that soft voices and sounds can trigger that ASMR sensation, helping us to relax and doze off. It's estimated that as many as 40 percent of people can experience mild ASMR. Many apps like pzziz can help lull you into sleep with soothing voices.

With their easy and digestible format, podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. Sleep podcasts take it a step further by incorporating some sounds we need to help us catch some Zzs. The next time you are laying in bed with your eyes wide open, give these podcasts a try.

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15 Sleep Podcasts That Will Help You Doze Off Easier | Casper Blog

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Do you find yourself staring up at the ceiling at night? If you do, you're not alone. Trying to fall asleep can be a real struggle. Whether you have a lot on your mind or just can't get comfortable in bed, sometimes we need a little extra help to drift off to sleep.

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9 JOURNALING TIPS for beginners | how to start journaling for self-improvement + 70 PROMPTS 💫

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Journaling can boost your productivity and well-being in a few minutes a day. Just jot your thoughts down or record what happened during the day-it's a simple way to manage stress, enhance creativity, increase happiness, improve health, and increase work performance.

The trouble is, keeping a journal isn't easy. It takes dedication to this new habit and a willingness to open up when writing on a blank page. What have you done today? Who are you, really? Journaling apps can help you figure this out and help you establish a daily writing routine.

After testing nearly two dozen options, these are the top journaling apps to record your memories this year and in years to come. Click on any app to learn more about why we chose it, or keep reading for more context on journal apps.

The best journaling apps

What makes a great journal app?

How we evaluate and test apps

All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site-we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog.

A paper notebook and pen are fine for journaling, but apps offer more. They give you more context on what you've accomplished and where you might want to go. They also let you include photos from your phone or posts from your social media feeds to make the journaling experience more rewarding. Add in reminders and the ability to search your journal entries, and digital journaling is almost a no-brainer.

I've been testing and writing about software professionally for over a decade. I've also journaled every day for the past three years. It's an important ritual for me, personally, and it's also where a lot of the best ideas in my writing originate. In my experience, the best apps for keeping a journal have a few things in common:

Easy entry: If it takes more than a couple of clicks or taps to add a journal entry, chances are you're not going to do it.

Pleasant interface: A minimalist, uncluttered interface helps you focus on your thoughts and makes journaling a pleasant experience.

Reminders: Perhaps the biggest challenge to journaling is remembering to do it. Automatic reminders help you keep up the habit.

Exporting: In case the app stops being developed or you want to move to a different journaling platform, you'll want to be able to export your entries in a format other programs can read, such as PDF or RTF.

Syncing: Syncing will make sure your journal's up to date no matter what device you're using.

Affordability: We eliminated some apps because of the high price. Journaling shouldn't be expensive.

Other features for a digital journal that might be important to you include password protection, Markdown support, the ability to add more than one photo, location and weather tags, and journaling prompts.

For each diary app, I started by creating a handful of new entries, complete with images. I then spent some time exploring the settings, testing the daily reminders, and ensuring that syncing and exporting worked as described.

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Best journal app for Mac and iOS users

Since its release in 2011, Day One has been one of the most highly recommended journaling apps, landing a spot as Apple's Editors Choice in the App Store numerous times.

It's not hard to see why. The app offers a wide array of features-just about everything you might want or need in a digital journal. You can create journal entries in one click on the Mac from the menu bar, use templates to make journaling easier, and automatically add metadata, such as location, weather, motion activity, currently-playing music, and step count. There are optional prompts, if you're not sure what to write about. You can also tag entries with hashtags, insert photos and videos, password-protect your journal, and format entries in Markdown. And all of this is within an elegant, unobtrusive design. It has one main blue color plus menus and icons in gray-no gaudy toolbars in sight.

Perhaps Day One's best feature is the ability to customize multiple reminders. Most other journal apps only send you one reminder during the day. But with Day One, you can get prompted to write, say, when you start the day, at lunchtime, and then at the end of your workday to keep track of your activities and thoughts throughout the day.

The free app offers pretty much all of the core journaling features, but for syncing, unlimited photos, handwritten and audio entries, and multiple journals, you'll need to subscribe to the Day One Premium service.

Day One pricing: Free version available; $2.92/month for premium features when billed annually

Best cross-platform journal app

Diarium offers beautiful native apps for every platform. The Windows application, in particular, is nicer than any other I could find. But there's so much more to recommend here. You can add multiple media types to your journal entries. If you'd rather speak than type, you can dictate your thoughts with accurate speech recognition. You can attach an audio file, inked drawing, or any other type of file to your entries, as well as multiple photos. Heck, you can even rate your journal entries (perhaps most useful as a way to track how happy you are each day).

Diarium works without any sign-in, or you can sync using your choice of cloud apps-OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or WebDAV. You can also export your entries to DOCX, HTML, RTF, or TXT formats-with separate files for media attachments-so you can rest assured that your data will always be accessible.

To make journaling even easier, Diarium can automatically pull in feeds from Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram; or fitness apps, including Google Fit, Fitbit, and Strava, among others. It can also pull in your calendar appointments and even the day's weather. Combine this with daily reminders and beautiful native apps for every platform, and you've got the best cross-platform journal app on the market.

Diarium pricing: Free version available on Android ($4.99 for Pro), iOS ($4.99 for Pro), and macOS ($8.99 for Pro). Windows 10 version for $19.99.

Best journal app for secure journaling

Writing a journal entry in Penzu is much like writing a blog post in WordPress, with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface, complete with a text formatting toolbar. So why not just use Word, WordPress, or a note-taking app like Evernote? For one thing, Penzu keeps your entries together in one journal online, as opposed to several different files. Custom email reminders help you remember to record your journal entry. And Penzu can send you reminders of what you've written in the past so that you can reminisce about the good old days.

More importantly, Penzu will keep your entries 100% private. You can lock your journal with a special password (which is different from your account password), secure your content with 128-bit encryption, and choose to auto-lock your journal at all times. If you're on the Pro plan, Penzu can safeguard your entries with military-strength 256-bit encryption.

If you want to keep a journal the same way you might a personal blog but keep it private, Penzu is an excellent option. You'll need to spring for the paid Pro plan, though, to get core digital journaling features such as tagging.

Penzu pricing: Free version available; paid version from $19.99/year for advanced encryption, reminders, and PDF export.

Best journal app for social media power users

If you're already documenting your life online on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Medium, you're already keeping a journal-it's just spread across the internet. Momento brings all of your shared posts and interactions from sites like these into one place, helping you keep a digital archive of your online interactions. Momento supports 11 feeds, including your Uber trip history, Spotify saved tracks, and YouTube videos. You can also create new journal entries like you would with a typical journaling app.

Momento excels at resurfacing where you've been and what you've done in the past. You can group separate entries (or "moments") into "events"-so all of the Instagram photos you were tagged in for a family reunion could live together. The app will show you what happened on a specific date in previous years, so you can see how time has flown. And preset reminders-for example, "what did you dream?" at 7:30 a.m. and "how was your day?" at 8 p.m.-make it easier to journal when you're not sure what to write.

Momento pricing: Free for up to 3 social feeds; $2.49/month for the Premium plan, $37.99/year for the Premium Gold plan, which offers unlimited feeds, hourly updates, and the ability to add multiple photos to an entry.

Best journal app for templated journaling

Grid Diary bills itself as "the simplest way to get started with keeping a diary." Instead of a blank slate, this diary app gives you a grid of boxes you can give custom headers to. The defaults are things like "Today's wins," "Heath and Fitness," and "Personal growth," though you can customize these to say whatever you want.

This gives you a detailed and bird's-eye view of what's happening in your life, one day at a time. You can review entries using the built-in calendar, or you can use the Titles view to review all entries for a particular grid. There's also support for attachments, and syncing between multiple devices if you're using the paid version. Instead of wondering what you should write about each day, use Grid Diary to write down simple responses that help you reflect on your days.

Grid Diary pricing: Free version available; paid version from $2.99/month for syncing, unlimited journals, and exporting to PDF.

Best journal app for beginners

If you're new to journaling, writing down your thoughts and feelings each day can feel daunting. It might also be challenging to find time to devote to it. Five Minute Journal makes journaling easy and approachable with timed prompts throughout the day. In the morning, the app asks you three questions designed to instill gratitude and set a purpose for your day. In the evening, two questions ask you to reflect on the positive things that happened and how you could improve for tomorrow.

Based on positive psychology research, Five Minute Journal helps support a gratitude habit and self-reflection, and if you pay for a subscription, you can also turn it into a free-form journal after the prompts-or add your own prompts.

Five Minute Journal pricing: Free version available; paid version for $4.99/month for customizable questions, home screen widgets, and the ability to add photos and videos to entries.

Best journal app for journaling over email

The main problem with journal apps: you have to remember to open them. Dabble Me doesn't have this problem because it works entirely over email. The paid version ($3/month) will email you once a day, reminding you it's time to journal-respond to that email, and you've journaled. The free version doesn't give you the daily prompts, but journaling is still as easy as writing an email-you can find a custom email address to send entries to in the settings.

You also can see the complete archive of your journals on the website, which also offers search, a calendar view, and even a page for reviewing and listening to any Spotify links you've included in your entires. There's also support for exporting your entries to TXT or JSON files, so you can take your entries with you should you decide to shut down your account.

One way to journal is to pretend that you're writing letters to a friend. Dabble Me is great for this because it lives where you're already writing emails.

Dabble Me pricing: Pro starts at $3/month.

Best journal app for non-writers

Journaling has traditionally focused on longer-form writing, but not everyone has a way with words. If you prefer to communicate in visuals, Daylio is the best journaling app for you.

A journal entry in Daylio captures your mood and activities for each day. Best of all, there is absolutely no typing (unless you really want to add supplementary notes). Pick your mood by selecting one of five smiley face icons. You can also choose icons that represent what you did that day (for example, shopping, working, sports, gaming, and reading). Both the mood options and activities can be customized. While it only takes a few seconds to complete each entry, the details add up to form a well-rounded picture of what your day was like.

Daylio also includes standard journaling features, like reminders, exporting entries, and setting goals. As a bonus, it offers a detailed dashboard that aggregates a monthly mood chart, your mood and activity counts, and average daily mood. It can also surface patterns in the Often together section, showing you how you usually feel when you do certain activities (for example, when your mood is "good," you usually read and spend time with family).

Daylio doesn't offer a traditional journaling experience, but the free plan is an impressive way to track how you feel in only a few seconds each day.

Daylio pricing: Free version available; Premium starts at $2.99/month and offers additional icons, reminders, and color themes.
This article was originally published in January 2019 by Melanie Pinola and has previously had contributions from Emily Esposito. It was most recently updated in April 2022.

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Journaling can boost your productivity and well-being in a few minutes a day. Just jot your thoughts down or record what happened during the day-it's a simple way to manage stress, enhance creativity, increase happiness, improve health, and increase work performance. The trouble is, keeping a journal isn't easy.

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Calm - YouTube

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Michael Sealey - YouTube

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Hypnosis | Hypnotherapy | Sleep Meditation | Guided Meditation Hi, my name is Michael and welcome to my channel, where I hope you can stop by to relax, listen in, and see for yourself the power of positive hypnosis. Hypnosis is a completely natural state of often deeply felt relaxation and focused…

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New Horizon - Meditation & Sleep Stories

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We create Guided Meditations and Sleep Stories for both Adults and Kids which are being used by Parents, Teachers and Therapists worldwide. We spend a lot of time writing, performing and producing original content to help you (or your child) to heal, relax or just whisk you off to a place of peace…

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Welcome to the channel I post yoga videos that will help you to understand the movements and postures in yoga so that you can practice safely while at the same time giving you a great full body workout. I'm glad you're here.

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WELCOME to Yoga With Adriene! Our mission is to connect as many people as possible through high-quality free yoga videos. We welcome all levels, all bodies, all genders, all souls! If you're brand-new to yoga, check out my Yoga For Beginners and Foundations of Yoga series.

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Some diets are overly rigid, but the Mediterranean diet is known for its simple guidelines that improve your eating habits without leaving you feeling hungry or restricted. That's mainly why it was named the Best Diet of 2022 for the fifth year in a row by the U.S. News & World Report.

There's no one diet that's eaten by the 21 countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, and instead of drawing on dishes common in the Mediterranean, the diet focuses on the wealth of nutritious foods available in that area.

Because it's near a large body of water, seafood is on the Mediterranean diet menu, as are vegetables, olive oil and some wine.

Are You Getting Enough Fruits and Veggies?

Track the number of fruits and vegetables you eat every day by logging your meals on the MyPlate app. Download now to fine-tune your diet today!

Why You Should Try the Mediterranean Diet

If health issues or weight loss are a concern, the Mediterranean diet may be a great lifestyle choice. According to the University of Pennsylvania Medicine, the Mediterranean diet is associated with:

Prevention and treatment of diabetes

Reduced risk of heart disease

Lower risk of high cholesterol levels

Weight loss

We can thank many of these benefits to the diet being low in animal food sources and high in plant sources, including fruits and vegetables.

How to Eat on the Med Diet

Get plenty of fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains

Make olive oil your go-to choice of fat

Opt for a moderate amount of poultry and fish

Enjoy low-fat dairy such as cheese and yogurt in moderate amounts

Have red meat in small amounts

Enjoy a glass of wine a day with dinner if you'd like

Your 4-Week Mediterranean Meal Plan

Planning your meals for the week is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. The Mediterranean Diet focuses on a range of whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats.

This 4-week meal plan reflects this method with a variety of recipes focusing on a plant-forward approach with some lean protein and dairy sources. It's designed to provide a full week of meals using 12 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert.

So for each day of each week, you'd choose one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner. Feel free to supplement with additional fruits and vegetables as well as nuts and seeds as you make your way through the week.

Once you are comfortable with these dishes, feel free to mix and match them. It's fun to experiment and try new things - and it just might help you stick to the diet longer and feel more satisfied!

​ Tip: Watch Portion Sizes ​

While the Mediterranean diet is healthful, there aren't any specific recommendations for portion size or calorie intake, per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. So while the food you're eating is nutritious, you can still gain weight if you don't monitor portion sizes.

For example, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (found in nuts, olives and fish) in the Med diet are healthier for your heart than saturated fat, but they're calorie-dense. Fat has 9 calories per gram, no matter what kind of fat it is. Because of this, portion size is key when eating nuts or other high-calorie foods regardless of how nutritious they may be.

Click below to pin and save this meal plan for later!

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Your 4-Week Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan, Curated by a Dietitian-Chef | Livestrong.com

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Some diets are overly rigid, but the Mediterranean diet is known for its simple guidelines that improve your eating habits without leaving you feeling hungry or restricted. That's mainly why it was named the Best Diet of 2022 for the fifth year in a row by the U.S. News & World Report.

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What does it really mean to eat clean? In a nutshell, clean eating is about following a diet of wholesome foods that don't contain a laundry list of ingredients, additives, or preservatives and are, at most, minimally processed. (Note that many foods that do undergo processing, like milk and whole-grain crackers, still contain good-for-you nutrients. The processed foods you should minimize are either those you can easily make on your own, like breadcrumbs, or those refined to the point of losing most of their nutritional value.)

Unlike many fad diets that restrict whole nutrient groups or manipulate timing and type of foods, a clean-eating plan features food that is good for you while helping you perform at your best. That means having a variety of choices: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and healthy fats.

To help you get started, we've created a two-week plan that allows you to mix and match your meals. Choose fresh whenever possible, but if it's not available or too expensive, use canned or frozen foods with minimal added ingredients (read: no extra sugar or other additives). Jump-start your healthy eating habits with this game-changing two-week plan and get ready to start feeling great about how you feel, look, and perform!

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What does it really mean to eat clean? In a nutshell, clean eating is about following a diet of wholesome foods that don't contain a laundry list of ingredients, additives, or preservatives and are, at most, minimally processed. (Note that many foods that do undergo processing, like milk and whole-grain crackers, still contain good-for-you nutrients.

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This easy 1,500-calorie clean-eating meal plan for weight loss features healthy whole foods and limits processed items to help you clean-up your diet.

If you feel like your healthy habits have gotten off track, this simple take on a clean-eating meal plan can help you get back to the eating habits that help you feel your best. With 14 days of wholesome meals and snacks, this clean-eating meal plan is a great way to up your intake of good-for-you foods (like whole grains, lean protein, healthy fats and plenty of fruits and veggies), while limiting the stuff that can make you feel not-so-great in large amounts (think refined carbs, alcohol, added sugars and hydrogenated fats). Here at EatingWell, we approach clean-eating sensibly. While all foods can be part of a healthy diet, sometimes you just need to hit reset and focus on eating more of the healthy foods you may be skimping on.

Over the course of this 14-day diet plan, you'll get your fill of healthy whole foods-some that you'll prep from scratch and others that you can buy from the store (see our Clean-Eating Shopping Tips for finding the "cleanest" versions of packaged foods). The meals and snacks in this plan will have you feeling energized, satisfied and good about what's on your plate. And at 1,500 calories, this diet meal plan will set you up to lose upwards of 4 pounds over the 2 weeks. Looking for a different calorie level? See this clean-eating meal plan at 1,200 and 2,000 calories. If 14 days feel like too much, start with our 3-Day Clean Eating Kick-Start Meal Plan and go from there. Once you conquer this 14-day plan, try our Clean-Eating Challenge for 30 days, where you can plan to eat tons of delicious clean-eating foods, like what you'll find in this meal plan.
A little prep at the beginning of the week goes a long way to make your week ahead easy.

1. Make a double batch of the Lemon-Tahini Dressing. You'll use it throughout the week for lunch and dinner.

2. Cook a double batch of the Easy Brown Rice to use throughout the week. Because Day 1's dinner (Kale Salad with Beets & Wild Rice) calls for wild rice you can choose to either prep a bigger batch of wild rice or swap in brown rice in the recipe so you're not having to make two different rices.

Clean-Eating Shopping Tip: When buying muesli, look for a brand that doesn't have added sugars, which take away from the healthy goodness of this whole-grain breakfast.

Daily Totals: 1,483 calories, 70 g protein, 161 g carbohydrates, 44 g fiber, 68 g fat, 1,453 mg sodium.

Clean-Eating Shopping Tip: Use sprouted-grain bread as your bread for these next two weeks as it's made without added sugars, unlike many store-bought breads. Also, if you plan to top your egg toast with hot sauce, look for a brand that's made without added sugars.
Combine greens, cucumber and chicken and top with dressing and sunflower seeds.
Meal-Prep Tip: Save a 1 cup serving of rice to have for dinner on Day 3.

Daily Totals: 1,515 calories, 74 g protein, 173 g carbohydrates, 36 g fiber, 62 g fat, 2,154 mg sodium.

Daily Totals: 1,507 calories, 64 g protein, 230 g carbohydrates, 48 g fiber, 45 g fat, 1,500 mg sodium.

1/2 cup rolled oats, cooked in 1 cup milk

1 medium plum, chopped

2 Tbsp. slivered almonds

Cook oats and top with plum, almonds and a pinch of cinnamon.
Clean-Eating Shopping Tip: Double-check the ingredient list on hummus to make sure you're choosing one without added sugars or excess sodium. You can also try making your own. EatingWell's Garlic Hummus is both easy and delicious.

Daily Totals: 1,504 calories, 68 g protein, 194 g carbohydrates, 40 g fiber, 58 g fat, 1,928 mg sodium.

Clean-Eating Shopping Tip: When choosing a store-bought peanut butter, avoid brands with added sugars and trans fats. Read more about choosing a healthy peanut butter.

Daily Totals: 1,514 calories, 64 g protein, 130 g carbohydrates, 37 g fiber, 88 g fat, 1,551 mg sodium.

1/2 cup rolled oats, cooked in 1 cup milk

1 medium plum, chopped

2 Tbsp. slivered almonds

Cook oats and top with plum, almonds and a pinch of cinnamon.
Daily Totals: 1,514 calories, 64 g protein, 178 g carbohydrates, 39 g fiber, 67 g fat, 1,215 mg sodium.

Meal-Prep Tip: Save a 1-cup serving of the No-Cook Black Bean Salad to have for lunch on Day 9. Store the dressing separately and wait to add until ready to eat. Pack up two 2-cup servings of the Mexican Cabbage Soup to have for lunch on Days 9 & 12.

Daily Totals: 1,506 calories, 43 g protein, 209 g carbohydrates, 56 g fiber, 64 g fat, 1,552 mg sodium.
A little prep at the beginning of the week goes a long way to make your week ahead easy.
Daily Totals: 1,488 calories, 64 g protein, 167 g carbohydrates, 34 g fiber, 68 g fat, 1,870 mg sodium.
Top riced cauliflower with tofu, veggies and drizzle with the vinaigrette.
Daily Totals: 1,519 calories, 50 g protein, 181 g carbohydrates, 51 g fiber, 77 g fat, 1,501 mg sodium.

1 hard-boiled egg seasoned with a pinch each salt & pepper

Daily Totals: 1,482 calories, 82 g protein, 156 g carbohydrates, 35 g fiber, 74 g fat, 1,343 mg sodium.

Meal-Prep Tip: Cook a hard-boiled egg tonight so it's ready for your P.M. Snack on Day 12.

Daily Total: 1,482 calories, 76 g protein, 168 g carbohydrates, 37 g fiber, 60 g fat, 1,608 mg sodium.
Toss greens in vinaigrette. Top with sunflower seeds.
Daily Totals: 1,514 calories, 70 g protein, 167 g carbohydrates, 41 g fiber, 67 g fat, 1,784 mg sodium.

1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1 cup blueberries

1/3 cup muesli

Daily Totals: 1,500 calories, 75 g protein, 183 g carbohydrates, 39 g fiber, 62 g fat, 1,155 mg sodium.

Daily Totals: 1,520 calories, 70 g protein, 160 g carbohydrates, 37 g fiber, 72 g fat, 1,150 mg sodium.

Great job following this clean-eating meal plan at 1,500 calories. Whether you made every single recipe in this diet plan or not, we hope you found it inspiring, exciting and informational. Keep up the good work and don't miss our other healthy meal plans.

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14-Day Clean-Eating Meal Plan: 1,500 Calories

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This easy 1,500-calorie clean-eating meal plan for weight loss features healthy whole foods and limits processed items to help you clean-up your diet. If you feel like your healthy habits have gotten off track, this simple take on a clean-eating meal plan can help you get back to the eating habits that help you feel your best.

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Today is the 10 year anniversary of Blogilates! EEEEEEEE! That's a squeal, btw.

It is so surreal to think, in 2009, I started uploading videos to YouTube for my pilates students that I thought NO ONE would ever see! I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to be a fitness trainer & friend to over 4.7 million of you now!

I hope you guys love this look at the past 10 years! It's crazy to see how much has changed (like my hair, haha) and how much has stayed the same (booty taps for life)!

Thank you to everyone who stayed with me on this journey, and I can't wait to do more amazing stuff with you guys!

My first video: https://www.youtube.com/wat......

Here is where I get all of my music! Epidemic Sound: http://share.epidemicsound....

My outfit & yoga mat are from: http://www.popflexactive.com

******

Cassey Ho is an award-winning fitness instructor, entrepreneur and online personality. As the creator behind Blogilates, the #1 female fitness channel on YouTube, she's transformed millions of lives through helping them achieve their strength and weight-loss goals. She focuses on making fitness fun and the results are evident. Cassey's unique format, POP Pilates©, which launched as a workout video on YouTube in 2009, has become a live fitness class that can be taken at gyms all over the world with over 3,000 POP Pilates classes being taught monthly. Her authenticity continues to shine through, making her one of the most relatable fitness icons online and beyond. She's also the author of the best-selling book, Hot Body Year Round and is the designer of her own activewear line, POPFLEX.

With a wide range of free workout videos available, Cassey's channel focuses on ab exercises, butt & thigh exercises, arm exercises, pilates, cardio routines, fat burning workouts, high intensity interval training workouts (HIIT), stretching and flexibility routines and so much more!

Blogilates and oGorgeous Inc. strongly recommend that you consult with your physician before beginning any exercise program.

You should be in good physical condition and be able to participate in the exercise.

You should understand that when participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Blogilates and oGorgeous Inc. from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Blogilates' and oGorgeous Inc.'s negligence. Show less

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"workout for women" "ab workouts" "total body workout" "lose weight" "free workouts" pilates exercise toning "weight loss" "home workout" "full length workout videos" "free workout videos" "cardio workouts" "how to lose weight" "burn fat" "female workout exercise" "female workout routine" "best workout for women" workout workouts "best workouts" "best workout"

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Full length POP Pilates, PIIT28 and fun Bootcamp Sculpting workouts with certified fitness instructor Cassey Ho aka Blogilates! Send me letters and other goo...

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Loved by over 2 million writers around the world.

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Unlike other journaling platforms, you can write as much and as often as you like, all for free.

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You can write in your journal when not at your computer with our iOS and Android apps.

With you at all times, home or away

Unlike other platforms, Penzu works well on every device. You can write in any web browser or use our custom built apps for iOS and Android.

Perfect for long-form writing, Penzu shines on a computer or laptop where you can enjoy all that Penzu has to offer.

When not near your computer, you can continue to write in and read your journal entries.

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Journaling is life-saving.

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Going to get a work journal this week because I'm really so tired of wondering what happened with my day. I keep trying apps I don't like, but just going to invest in Penzu because I like it the best.

Start your journey today

Journaling is a proven way to completely change your life, especially when you stick with it over time. Each time you write you'll get unparalleled clarity and life perspective.

All you have to do is start. Take 5 minutes to write in your journal about how you're feeling or reflect on the day.

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Penzu is a free online diary and personal journal focused on privacy. Easily keep a secret diary or a private journal of notes and ideas securely on the web.