Episode 22 – Gratitude: The Magic Pill
We’ve all heard people talk about how important it is to be grateful so this concept is nothing new.
However, if you’re anything like I used to be, the voice in your head is saying “I need something more than that to solve my problems.”
Do you know why you think that?
Because gratitude is FREE and readily accessible to every living, breathing human being 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.
Our consumer-driven society has conditioned us to believe that all the answers we need lie on the other side of our wallets (and sadly, quite often in pill form).
I’ve heard it said that gratitude is the greatest asset in human history and I couldn’t agree more.
What you may NOT be aware of is how it works and how to use it to change your life and get real results.
This episode is your answer.
You’re welcome. XO
Featured:
Click here to learn more about the Break Free From Stress & Anxiety Course
Tony Robbins Priming Exercise (15 mins)
Love the show? Please Subscribe and leave a Review on Apple Podcasts.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the My Inner Tiger Podcast. I'm your host, Sidney DeCamella. I'm also a wife, mother, Master Life Coach, Course Creator and Spiritual Sherpa. Over the past few years, I have overcome extreme anxiety, depression, addiction, infertility, and chronic illness. And as a result, I've made it my life's mission to teach other women like you that no matter what battle you're up against, you have an Inner Tiger, a power within, to create and manifest whatever your heart desires. If you are tired of being a victim and ready to be the boss of your life, you have come to the right place. Each episode, I'm going to share tools, teachings, and techniques I have used and taught countless other women so that together we can create a life beyond our wildest dreams. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your Inner Tiger is just waiting to be unleashed. I'm so happy. You've tuned in. Let's get started.
Hello, lovely souls. And welcome back to the My Inner Tiger podcast. Today I want to talk about gratitude and here's why. I'm recording this on black Friday. So the day after Thanksgiving. Yesterday, which was Thanksgiving, I had an interesting experience. It was a beautiful experience and it really got me thinking hard and deep ever since about gratitude and how important gratitude is. Now this is something that I've known for a long time, the importance of gratitude, because I've been a self improvement, personal development junkie for quite some time now. So this is not news to me, but you know, of course I have a podcast and I like to marinate on different things for extensive periods of time, thinking about how I want to share it with the world. So let me tell you a little bit about my experience yesterday. I always get very hyped up and excited about Thanksgiving because I just loved the beautiful representation of what this holiday means, right?
It just helps us get grounded, helps us see what it is that we have. And we spend so much of our days, unfortunately, thinking about what we don't have and what we want, or what's going wrong. Right? So Thanksgiving is just that one special day. We dedicate ourselves to actually being grateful for everything that we have. And as usual I anticipated the day approaching and I woke up and I'm like, it's Thanksgiving. And I'm like, yay. Like it's Christmas, you know, the whole, you get the whole feeling and then you start going about your day and it's kind of business as usual, but even worse than that, you've got a whole list of things to do, to prepare for this meal, right. Especially if you're a mom or if you're hosting this year, I wasn't actually hosting, but I did have some items I brought to our dinner.
So I also had some things on my to -do list that I really needed to do. And the baby was sick. My husband was sick and it just started off Rocky. Okay. So I noticed that this is very familiar. This is how I feel. Every Thanksgiving, I feel thankful in my head, but I often have a hard time, like really living and feeling the gratitude that I want to have for everything in my life, right? For everything that's going right in my life. And so I also, I will throw this little caveat in there. I recently found out if you don't follow me on social media, you may not know. I found out that our surrogacy implantation or whatever, what do we call it? A transfer where we put the embryo into our surrogate a couple of weeks ago did not take.
So I was really working hard on manifesting that and just found out a few days ago that it didn't work and that I'll do another podcast on what that was like most likely it wasn't awful. And that's so interesting that it wasn't terrible for us. It was not a terrible experience. Yes, we were disappointed. Yes, we were sad. And you know, it would be weird if we weren't. Right. So the important thing to point out here is that we kept the faith and we know that our child is going to come when it's meant to come. Okay. So that's a whole thing, but I had extra reason to be a little down on this day on Thanksgiving day is sort of where I was going with that. So I stopped myself in my tracks and I said, okay, this is how the day's starting out.
If I don't do something to interrupt this pattern, I'm going to continue this way for the rest of the day. Okay. And now most days I meditate. I'm not every day because time doesn't always allow it, but most days I do. And instead of meditating, I decided on this on Thanksgiving to do Tony Robbins priming exercise. Now this is something I've done many times and I absolutely love it, but it's something that really gets you into your heart, gets you out of your head and into your heart and starts to think about how much you're like, what you're grateful for. So you think about different moments in your life that are just, you know, the best moments in your life that brought you such extreme joy and happiness and, you know, good feelings and you just marinate in those moments. And it's a whole thing.
It's not just that it's, it's the way he does breath work and just the whole exercise in and of itself. It's about 15 minutes. It's just fantastic. And every time I do it, I always end up crying, just tears of joy, you know, and it really, those tears always break something like they break the chain of the low state that you're in and it always just raises your vibration so high. It does this for me every single time. I don't think I've ever done the priming exercise without crying, like tears of joy. Right. And so it was just the perfect thing for me to do on Thanksgiving. It got me out of my head and into my heart and the whole rest of the day, I was just kind of floating on air. I mean, that's dramatic, but it was just a very easy, smooth day and my energy was fantastic.
I got so much done and I felt really good around my family, even though everyone, but me was sick and it just worked out really well. So let me start by saying I will put the Tony Robbins priming exercise link in the show notes. It's on YouTube and it's only like 15 minutes. Do you want to get quiet with some headphones? But if you're in a place right now, or whenever you choose to, you know, whenever you get into a low place next, I want you to do this exercise, just trust me and do it. It is so amazing. Okay. but so let's talk more about gratitude. So this was just an epic example of how changing my state into a state of extreme gratitude will just change everything for you. Right? So now let's talk a little bit about the science behind how gratitude changes your state.
Now, I don't know the science, science like neurons and, you know, central nervous system and all that sympathetic nervous system, whatever, but studies have shown that practicing gratitude on a regular basis creates more positive emotions helps you feel more alive, improves your sleep, helps you express more compassion and kindness toward others who doesn't need that and really increases your immune system and makes your immune system stronger among other things. I'm sure, but I mean, these are all things we strive to achieve. So if we can be aware of just the power of gratitude, when I say this, I think back to days in my life where they weren't so hot before I can say before, I really came to like, if you've know my story, you know, that I went into kidney failure with the birth of my son. And as a means to heal myself, I dug my heels way, way, way, way, way deep into doing every single thing I could to heal my body emotionally, energetically, mentally, and then ultimately physically.
And so, when I think about how I was pre pre-baby, okay, I say that because it wasn't until this extreme need for me to really hammer down and change my life, right. In order to survive in order to heal my body in order to be a thriving mother for my children before that, I quite frankly, was a mess. My life was a mess. I woke up every single day with tons of anxiety. I didn't have any boundaries. I just didn't have a good grip on my life. Okay. So I remember in those days thinking if someone would have just started talking to me about gratitude, like, oh, the only answer to what your, your, all your problems is to become more grateful. I would have been like, okay, I'm going to poop all over that, because that just sounds, you know, I don't know, what does it sound?
It sounds stupid. I need something more powerful. There's something really wrong with me in order for me to fix or heal myself. I need something big. Right. But the real answer came to find out when I'm now on the other side of that, you know, exhausting life is that gratitude was actually a really big deal. It was actually like the big pill that I needed to change everything. Now, it doesn't happen overnight. You don't just, you know, sit there and say, oh, I'm grateful for this. I'm grateful for this. And then expect your whole life to be different. It can change your state in a moment, like doing the premi exercise, for example, or just really doing a deep meditation on gratitude. Sure. But real change in your life comes from a consistent way of thinking, a consistent way of being grateful. Okay. Now it can include other things as well, but, but gratitude is such a huge piece of that pie.
All right. And so how do we start to change our brain in that way? How do we start to look for what we're grateful for and what we're happy about rather than what we're not happy about? So I want to do a little exercise with you. And I talk about this in my course, the break free from stress and anxiety course, which I'll put a link to in the show notes as well. I talk about this in the course. So if you, you can't see what I'm doing, but I want you to just think, take your hands and put them in a fist. Okay. And loosen them up just a little bit. So that there's a whole going from the front of your fist to the back of your fist. And I want you to put it up to your eyes. So put your fist up to your eyes.
If you're driving, you can't really do this. Maybe try one with a wink, right. Put up your eyes and just look at what you see, what you see is only what you can see through these little hand goggles of yours, right? These little spots. There's a little tiny little area. Now, this is an example of basically how we wake up in the morning as humans and we tend to put on these glasses, these glasses of negativity, right. All we can usually see is what we need to do that day. What we haven't done, what's wrong. What's not going well, what do we need to fix? What do we need to do, do, do, do, do, but to fix, fix, fix, fix, okay. Now this goes for men and women. And so constantly, we're like, we need more money. We need better health. We need to exercise more.
You know, all these things. It's like, oh, we need to improve on all these things in our life. Right? We're all like, we're heading towards something like, what are we really trying to achieve here? Anyway, this is what we see every day. But in reality, if you take your fists away and see everything else, that's in your vision, that's, what's going, right. So this is a perfect example of how we tend to just focus on. What's not going well when all of these other things are going well, but we're not focusing on those. We tend to focus on what's not going right. So you see my point here. It's just so important to point out because we're not, we're not, we don't see this on a regular basis. We're constantly putting on our glasses. So by increasing our consciousness, increasing our awareness and beginning to focus more on gratitude, what we're thankful for helps us be able to see more on a daily basis.
And in turn, when we see more, we feel better. When we can see all the things that are actually going well, we really feel better. And that's the point. You know, we're always aiming toward a feeling. Everything we do in life is trying to get a feeling. That's all, that's all we're ever doing is to achieve certain emotions, certain feelings, because that's all we care about when you're sick, who can relate to feeling sick and thinking, God, when I felt better, I just should have really appreciated all of the things that I was doing or that, you know, I took for granted when I felt better. So like when you're sick and you're stuck in the house, you look outside on a pretty sunny day and you're just like, God, I could be outside doing beautiful yard things or laying out in the sun or just enjoying the day frolicking in the trees.
That's what you're thinking when you're sick yet, the day before you weren't sick, does it, whether it was the same and what were you doing? Is that what you were doing? No, we're not, not usually. And so being sick is just such a great example because it helps us really recognize what we had, what we were taken for granted. And then whenever you start to feel better, you know, you really kind of feel like you're on top of the world because you have a new perspective on life. I mean, can you agree? It always happens for me right now, or whenever you have a chance, start just listing off things that you are grateful for, or you know, what better yet things that are not going wrong. Okay. Like, you know, yes. There's the big things of the roof over your head and your family.
And those are actually really important, especially to start off with, you know, because it's like, geez, look at all this stuff that I have, like, look at, look around, look at all of the stuff that you have purchased with your money. Go look in your closet. What does that look like? You know, think about people who don't have any of those things. Don't have, you know, but one pair of shoes or one, you know, outfit or don't have any shoes for that matter. I cleaned out my closet recently and my 14 year old neighbor was over and I was, you know, trying to give her all my old shoes. And she's like, geez, I only have like two pairs of shoes. Look at all these shoes you have. And I'm just like, wow, this is embarrassing. I had all these old shoes that, you know, I don't ever wear.
And so I'm just getting rid of all kinds of stuff. It feels really good to purge. But back to my point, if you want to start really feeling good and think about your comparing game, okay, we all do this. We all compare ourselves to other people and it's oftentimes, it's what other people have that we want, right? So it's our friends that have a nicer house or a nicer car or a better relationship, or, you know, they're skinnier or they're healthier or something like that. We're always constantly, constantly, constantly comparing. And if you want to take that comparison game, if that's what you do a lot, which is just detrimental, start comparing yourself to people who have less than you. So if you're gonna compare really make it worth your while, start looking at people who don't have what you have. So go the other direction.
And that will change your energy too. That will change your state. That will make you feel incredibly grateful and being grateful, really raging raises your vibration. You know, the last two episodes, podcast episodes I recorded were about changing your energy, raising your energy and changing it, consciously changing it on a subtle surface level and then changing it on a very deep level. And so gratitude is just part of that practice practice. Again, it's a really big piece of the pie and changing, becoming more happy. Okay. And once you start to do these things on a regular basis, your whole dynamic changes. This begins to change in your subconscious, to where you don't just wake up thinking about putting on those glasses or not thinking about it. You don't wake up putting on those glasses of negativity. You wake up and you start to see more of what you have more of what's around you.
You start to enjoy your day better. It just becomes ingrained and rewires your brain. All right. So then you don't have to think about it, but you have to start thinking about it in the beginning. So for example, I used to do gratitude journals all the time. And at some point in my life, I will do it again. It's not part of my morning routine right now, but in the process of me really digging into changing my subconscious, I did them a lot. And, and I would recommend you do the same if this is not something that you do on a regular basis. Now start to implement it whenever you have time. You know, don't do it. If it doesn't work at night because you're too tired, then do it at a time of the day where it does work, maybe on your lunch break or maybe, you know, after breakfast, first thing in the morning, first thing in the morning is ideal.
So it was at night because you go to sleep and you're actually like that higher vibration and it affects your dreams. And all of that first thing in the morning is great because it gets you started right off on the right foot for the day. But whatever you do, start to incorporate it, you know, put a timer on your phone to just go off at noon and say, oh, my timer is going off. I'm going to start thinking about things I'm grateful for. It's always better if you write it down, but you don't have to. And when you're doing this, it doesn't have to be, you know, I recommend you can start with like, you know, I'm really grateful for my house, which is one thing I say a lot, actually, because there was a while there where I did not like my house, all I could think about was how our house was the smallest house of all of our friends.
And, you know, I wanted a bigger house. I wanted a better kitchen cabinet. I wanted different floors and I focused on that all the time, but now I am. So I've learned to become so incredibly grateful for my house in my kitchen. Cabinets are the same, they're outdated and I don't care. It's so funny. I had this, I said to my acupuncturist the other day, see, what did I say? You can judge your inner well being or your level of happiness by your satisfaction rate with your kitchen cabinets. So, you know, back before when I was, you know, in a much worse state than I am now, I was just, I hate my cabinets. We've just got to get new cabinets. We'll spend all our money on cabinets. We never did. And now I could care less. It was, I couldn't care less about what our cabinets look like.
I'm just grateful. We have cabinets. I'm grateful. We have a beautiful kitchen. I'm grateful for this beautiful home. And someday we will get a bigger one when we need one. You know, when we really, really outgrow this one with our family, we'll get a bigger one. And that's wonderful. And I'm so grateful for that. But in the meantime, I'm going to appreciate every single little bit of this house that I possibly can. Right? It's just a different perspective. Everything is perspective. So back to gratitude journals. So start by writing down, you know, big things if you want, but eventually, you know, really get into what it is. The small things really get into what the small things are. Okay. So, like for example, today, my husband took the baby to the park when I had things to do okay. That's something he did for me yesterday.
And I was really grateful for that. And I went to bed thinking about how grateful I was for him taking the baby to the park. Well, I did stuff, right. I cooked some food for Thanksgiving. And so I just really appreciated that. And you know, how many, if we're going to do the comparison game again, how many husbands, you know, just sat on the couch, drinking beer and watching football. You know, my husband took the baby to the park. I mean, that's awesome. I've heard it said that gratitude is the biggest asset in human history. And that sounds stupid if you're, you know, in a different state of mind, but trust me, it really is because it's something that's free. It's easy to do. Anyone can do it. It doesn't take long to do it. And the more you do it, the more dramatic a change you're going to see in your life.
Okay. Another thing I always like to do, just throw this in here is I think every single night when I get into my bed, I wiggle around and like, I call it swimming, Dave, and I call it swimming. It's like, oh, she's swimming. I just rub my arms and my legs and my belly and my face all over my sheets. And I say, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Because I remember when I was in the hospital for a month, all I wanted was my bed. And I kept thinking when I was in there, you know, just miserable. I mean, you guys miserable in that bed was just awful. And all I could think about was how never going to take my bed for granted again, ever. So even to this day, I still, every time I get in my bed, I'm like, I'm so thankful for this bed.
And you know, it just really raises my vibration before I go to sleep, which is great, no matter what's going on, I'm always, always very thankful for my bed. Another thing I do a lot is when I get in the shower, I am so grateful to be able to take a shower. And that's because when I was on dialysis, I couldn't take a shower. I had a big port coming out of my chest for a year and I had to take these, you know, sponge baths. And I had to wash my hair upside down, you know, or have someone else wash it for me because there were certain times where I was too sick to even do it myself. So, you know, I always, always appreciate the shower. I stand there extra long, just feeling the water running down on my body because I really know what it's like to not be able to shower.
And those are just two examples, you know having really hard things happen to you make you really appreciate things. And another thing is just popping in my mind right now. But another thing is, you know, we found out the other day that we weren't, the surrogate was not pregnant with our second baby. And yes, it was devastating, but you know what I did, I spent a lot of time focusing on the two pink lines that I had when I got our first son, right. Rocco. And so, you know, having Rocco and just being so grateful for him and I hugged him extra hard. And I just remember crying that day that we found out I was just crying and holding Rocco thinking like I'm so grateful we have him because I remember what it was like to not know if we were ever going to have children. We went through a couple rounds of IVF that did not work, and those were devastating, but we
Have a baby and he couldn't be more perfect. And I love him so much. So gratitude is just so important to you guys and and really start to incorporate it into your day. And I love you have a wonderful day and I will catch you on the next episode.
Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you made it to the end of this podcast, there's a really good chance you are on a mission to heal your mind and your body. Did you know that healing, your body truly starts with healing your emotions? So I am living proof of this because as a result of doing some really deep work on my trauma, my mindset, my thought patterns, diet, relationships, energy, and so much more--I was able to get completely off of dialysis and cancel a kidney transplant. Now I know I've said this a million times, but I am telling you, I no longer suffer with overwhelming stress and anxiety on a regular basis.
And it used to plague me. The work I've done has created a complete 180 in my life. And so who would I be if I didn't share this with others and how I was able to make such dramatic shifts for myself, that's why I put together the break free from stress and anxiety course, which takes you through the step-by-step process I used to come to a place where I can confidently say I'm fulfilled and genuinely enjoying my life. Now, if you're curious and want to dive deeper into what this course actually has to offer, I put the link in the show notes, or you can go to my website, myinnertiger.com and click on the break-free link in the top right hand corner. Now, if this episode really spoke to you today, please leave your review and tag me on social media @myinnertiger so others can share in this awesome experience too. Okay. My friend, go out into this world and take one more step toward manifesting your dreams because you are so worth it. I will see you in the next episode.