Meet Catherine Robertson, she is a Reiki Master, Intuitive Counsellor, Gratitude Consultant and author of “How 60 Days of Gratitude Can Transform Your Life”.
Right now, at this moment, what are 3 things you are grateful for?
- I’m grateful for my beautiful husband, who is kind, caring, gentle, funny and the best person I could imagine being in a ‘lockdown’ situation with.
- I’m grateful that I live in Australia and blessed to experience my
morning coffee sitting in the sunshine, listen to the wild array of birds singing their songs and admiring the native trees and flowers around me. - I’m grateful that despite the bizarre times that we’re living through, that I’m able to access an inner space of peace and calm, which keeps me grounded and centered most of the time.
Not who we are expecting you to say but the first person that popped in your head. Who are you grateful for, and why? (For example, it could be, your barista, a mentor, your hairdresser, a teacher, or your Mom…)
I’m grateful to my late father-in-law Bill. The grief I felt just before he died took me to a dark place of feeling completely overwhelmed with life and triggered me to seek some help. From there, my life completely changed and I started to view the world through a more spiritual lens, which has only grown and deepened since then.
I wouldn’t be on this path if it wasn’t for the love and connection I felt with him, so I’m forever grateful to him and can now marvel at the beauty that can come out of deep tragedy and loss.
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What is your morning routine like?
I like to begin with cuddles in bed and then a cup of either hot water and lemon or Chinese herbs. I spend 20 minutes in meditation and then complete a round of 12 sun salutations as part of my yoga practice. From there, breakfast and getting started with my day.
What led you to be a gratitude consultant and can you explain how that works?
Before I had a ‘spiritual awakening’ in late 2012, I wasn’t in a very good place mentally, emotionally or spiritually. My internal dialogue was pretty negative and I often felt dissatisfied and unhappy with life. During 2013 I reluctantly began a gratitude practice, feeling pretty skeptical that something so simple was going to make any difference to my state of mind.
However, as the weeks progressed, something began to shift, and the smallest things started to catch my attention and touch my heart – smelling the beautiful scent of a jasmine bush which stopped me in my tracks and made me cry with appreciation, meeting a strangers eye in the street and sharing a smile, or noticing how good it felt to dance in my car to an upbeat song.
Gradually my gratitude lists became longer and I could feel my mindset change and overall mood become lighter and more positive. It was amazing what the habit of focusing on gratitude was doing to me, and the people around me started to notice and comment on the change in my energy.
Aware of the transformative effect it had on me, I wanted others to feel that good and it became my passion to share the power of a gratitude practice and help others tap into that deep feeling of contentment and peace.
Since then I’ve given talks and interviews, written articles and e-books, 
hosted a world-wide ’60 Day Gratitude Challenge’ and presented the findings of my research into gratitude at an international conference (Science and Non-Duality Conference 2019).
Explaining how gratitude works and coaching others to adopt it as part of their daily routine seems to be my life calling, so I’m just following the prompts of the Universe to keep talking, writing and sharing the knowledge that this practice has to transform your life and level of consciousness.
My work as a gratitude consultant is now branching into the corporate arena and I’m currently teaching gratitude and mindfulness principles through corporate wellbeing sessions to provide a framework to navigate these difficult times.
Please tell us about your book “How 60 Days of Gratitude Can Transform Your Life” and what inspired you to write it?
When planning the ’60 Day Gratitude Challenge’, a friend I was collaborating with encouraged me to share some of my story and describe what I had learned about practicing gratitude through writing a book.
The intention was to create a free handbook, gifted to participants who signed up for the ’60 Day Gratitude Challenge’, as an initial ‘How to…’ guide to gratitude. I’m thrilled that it’s now been shared around the world and helped support many others begin their own practice, and is still available for anyone who’d like to request a copy.
It’s a few years since I wrote it though, so it may now be time to work on Version 2!
Can you tell us about a struggle in the past year that you are now grateful for?
The biggest struggle was probably just a few weeks ago. My husband and I got married at the end of February, which was the most beautiful and love-filled ceremony that we designed together and which felt completely perfect for us. Almost immediately afterwards through I was triggered. The process of being so open, committed and surrendering to another heart was terrifying on one level and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced being so vulnerable.
It wasn’t easy for a few weeks, and especially painful considering it’s a time when we’re ‘supposed’ to be bathing in bliss, but that wasn’t my reality. My deepest abandonment wounds had come rushing to the surface and floored me, which was incredibly challenging.
However, the pain led me to connect with some very young trauma which was an amazing opportunity to bring some awareness and healing to patterns that I had been avoiding for a while.
Since going to those dark places and really feeling the feelings, the pain has lifted, something has shifted for me and our relationship is now better and more connected than ever. Definitely have to be grateful for that!
How do you see gratitude fitting into the interconnectedness of our lives now in this time of world crisis?
The research I presented at the Science and Non-Duality Conference was titled ‘Gratitude as a Catalyst for Spiritual Awakening”, and summarized the experience of the participants of the 60 Day Gratitude Challenge and the impact that gratitude had on their spiritual life.
The group reported a spiritual awakening across four key areas: heart opening, greater self-awareness, an experience of Oneness and an increase in self-responsibility, with the overall conclusion that gratitude attunes us to the sacredness of life and opens our eyes to wonder, awe and the inevitable conclusion that we’re all One.In this current time of crisis, with the world feeling so incredibly fragile, vulnerable and isolated, that experience of Oneness and that we’re all connected is being realized by more and more people every day.
Recognizing that even in the depths of our darkest days, when so much has been taken from our control that we can still choose to feel connected to the beauty of the world around us and find something to focus on and be grateful for, is an anchor and a message that the world needs now more than ever.
It’s my dream to have everyone addicted to a daily gratitude habit and I believe that the more people who live their lives in this way, the greater the possibility that the world will be a happier and kinder place for us all to live in. Gratitude simply makes life better.
In closing, what are some suggestions you can share with our readers to help them incorporate gratitude into their daily lives?
There’s so much I could say about this topic, but to keep it simple, here are 4 steps to bringing more gratitude into your life:-
- Stop Complaining – Unfortunately our human brains are hard-wired to look for what’s wrong in our environment, and it can be incredibly seductive to slip into the habit of focusing on what’s missing, lacking or wrong in our lives and to then complain about it. So the first step is to simply stop it, and become more mindful and conscious of the words you choose and the conversations you engage in.
- Notice the Good – Make a decision to consciously adopt a gratitude practice and commit to incorporating it into your daily routine. Think of yourself as a ‘hunter of beauty’ and develop the habit of scanning your environment throughout the day for things to appreciate. It takes a bit of practice, but with time you’ll train yourself to be looking for the good every day and you’ll notice that the lens through which you view the world starts to change, simply by making the decision to practice gratitude.
- Take in the Good – Let the details of the good things you notice sink in and really absorb them. Stay with the awareness of what you’re grateful for, drop out of your head and into your body, and notice how it feels to be grateful. Gift yourself the time to really savor and marinade in the good feelings and enjoy the process of experiencing gratitude. Thank you to Dr Rick Hanson for this teaching!
- Write it Down – Studies have shown that when participants write down their gratitude items for 21 days, that they reported feeling more optimistic, less anxious and slept better, both immediately and 3-6 months after the study ended. When writing a gratitude list, put as much detail as you can into the descriptions, along with why that experience had an impact on you and how it made you feel. My preference is to set aside time in the evening, reviewing and capturing all the things that touched my heart during the day, and saving the lists in a dedicated ‘Gratitude Jar’. Some people prefer to use a journal or an App but find whatever approach works best for you, stick with it for at least 60 days and I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the impact this subtle yet powerful practice has on you!
Connect with Catherine
http://www.catherinerobertson.org/
60daygratitudechallenge
Catherine Robertson – Reiki Practitioner
