An Invitation to Begin Again: Practicing Gratitude This November

Fall feels like an exhale — the world easing into its slower rhythm. The air cools, the light softens, and the trees begin their quiet work of release. 

Every leaf that loosens and falls becomes an act of embodied wisdom: a reminder that renewal begins with letting go.

This is a season that calls us back to presence. It invites us to pay attention, to rest, to breathe again, to notice the sacred, ordinary moments that hold us — the way morning light drifts across a counter, the warmth of a mug in your hands, the sound of someone you love laughing in another room.

These are glimpses of gratitude — brief, unforced flashes of awareness that remind us life is still happening, even in the middle of change.

They’re small, but powerful moments.

Glimpses don’t require grand moments; they ask only for a few seconds of noticing. When we linger in these moments, the brain releases dopamine and serotonin, calming the nervous system and signaling safety. It’s as if the body whispers, “You’re here. You’re okay.”

This is gratitude as an embodied practice — not something we think about later, but something we feel in real time. It’s less about making lists and more about letting your body remember what peace feels like. 

The Science of Slowing Down

Neuroscience continues to affirm what our souls already know: slowing down changes us. Studies show that when we practice gratitude consistently — pausing even ten seconds to take in something good — we strengthen the prefrontal cortex (linked to empathy and emotional regulation) and quiet the amygdala (the part of the brain wired for alarm).

This is how gratitude becomes renewal.

When we pay attention, our body begins to rest. When we rest, our mind begins to notice beauty. And when we notice beauty, awe naturally follows — that quiet, expansive wonder that reminds us we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.

Gratitude, then, isn’t denial; it’s integration.. It doesn’t erase pain — it creates space for both pain and peace to exist in the same breath. 

Gratitude and Hope in Hard Seasons

For those walking through a heavy season, gratitude can feel out of reach — even unfair. But what if gratitude isn’t the pressure to feel thankful, but the permission to notice what is still holding you?

In times of loss, anxiety, or uncertainty, gratitude becomes a quiet act of hope — a way to remember that your story is still unfolding. You don’t have to force light; you can start with a flicker.

When you find one small glimpse — the warmth of a blanket, a steady friend, a deep breath that arrives after tears — you are already practicing hope.

That moment of noticing tells your nervous system, “Something good is still here.” 

Gratitude then helps us hold the full story. It gives voice to what’s still true and good, even in hard seasons. It reminds us that while pain and uncertainty have chapters in our story, they are not the whole book.

This is what it means to live with an integrated heart — one that can make room for both hard and gratitude, and see that neither cancels out the other. 

And that is enough, for now. 

Gratitude Beyond the Holidays

As Thanksgiving approaches, it’s easy to treat gratitude like a seasonal assignment — a one-day list of blessings or a table-round of thanks. Those moments are good and sacred, but they’re only the doorway.

Real gratitude is not about a single day or a single feeling — it’s about learning to live awake to what’s still holding us, even when life feels uneven.

Gratitude isn’t a performance; it’s a practice of attention. It’s the choice to notice the small, sustaining things that often slip past us — the steady rhythm of your breath, the smell of something baking, the laughter that cuts through a tense day, the sound of leaves underfoot.

When we practice gratitude regularly, we begin to see that life is not all-or-nothing — it’s both-and.

Both busy and beautiful.

Both tender and trying.

Both heavy and holy.

Gratitude beyond the holiday isn’t about staying cheerful; it’s about staying connected — to the moment, to meaning, to hope.

A Final Reflection

Gratitude is not about pretending everything is fine. It’s about remembering what is still good.

This fall, may you practice gratitude as rest. May you find renewal in awe.May you let presence become your way of showing up — even here, even now.

And when it feels like too much, may grace meet you in the middle.

May every glimpse of goodness remind you:

you are still becoming,

you are still held,

you are still here. 

Getting practical: A Gentle Way to Begin

If you’ve fallen out of rhythm with gratitude, fall is a kind time to begin again. You don’t need a journal or a perfect morning. You just need a bit of attention — a moment of presence.

1. Pay attention to glimpses. Notice small anchors of calm — a sound, a color, a smell. Let them land in your body.

2. Let your gratitude be embodied. Feel it where it lives — the warmth in your chest, the loosening in your shoulders, the slower breath. Gratitude doesn’t live in the head; it lives in the nervous system.

3. Rest before you rush. Even a two-minute pause counts. A slow breath, a warm drink, or a glance at the sky — they’re acts of restoration that retrain the body toward peace.

4. Let grace meet you where you are. You don’t have to feel grateful to practice gratitud. You only have to be willing to notice — that in the middle of the hard, something good is still here. 

For the Ones Who Don’t Have Time to Slow Down

Some of us are in a busy season of life. We have small children who wake before the sun, work that demands more than we can give, or a schedule that feels like it never quite lets up. Slowing down can sound lovely in theory — but unrealistic in practice.

Still, rest doesn’t have to mean stopping. Sometimes it simply means noticing. You don’t have to carve out an hour; you can begin with a moment.

• Pause at a red light and feel your breath return.

• Let yourself actually taste your coffee before the next task.

• Step outside for a minute and notice one color that feels like peace.

These tiny pauses aren’t extravagant — they’re essential. Each moment of awareness tells your body, “You’re safe enough to breathe.” Over time, these small glimpses of presence begin to steady your nervous system, helping you return — again and again — to the grounded rhythm of your own life. 

I’ve created a simple life-coaching exercise you can download — a quiet invitation to pause and practice gratitude in real time:

Gratitude.pdf

Download PDF • 491KB

Until next time, may you go gently—trusting the goodness still unfolding.

GO brave. GO strong.

Gaby Ortiz

About the Author

Written by Gaby Ortiz, MA, LPC, NCC.

Gaby is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado who helps children, teens, women, and families grow with resilience, warmth, and hope. She believes that healing begins in safe connection and that every story holds the possibility of renewal.

This reflection was shaped by the wisdom of both research and lived experience — here are a few of the sources that inform my work and writing.

Dana, D. (2021). Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

Emmons, R. A. (2007). Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Fox, G. R., Kaplan, J., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A. (2015). Neural correlates of gratitude. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(1491).

Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. New York, NY: Harmony Books.

Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. New York: Penguin Press.