Gratitude for Self: It Ain’t Easy (But So Worthwhile!)

This post is part of the three-week Grounded in Gratitude series — Week One: Gratitude for Self and Body.

Many of us are practiced at self-criticism, but less familiar with self-acceptance. Without it, our efforts toward growth can become driven by striving, discontent, and a sense that we’re never quite enough. To work with this, we’ll explore gratitude in this inward-facing dimension through several approaches.

Gratitude can be practiced through expression (such as an act of gratitude) or reflection (like journaling). It can also be experienced non-conceptually, as direct awareness without words or analysis. As a somatically oriented contemplative practice, yoga offers tools to develop what’s called prereflective awareness: the immediate, first-person experience that exists before reflection, before concepts, and before inner commentary arises.

On the mat, we begin to sense that bodily sensations and mental activity are not separate but exist in a continuous, unparsed field of experience. For example, you might notice the stretch in the side waist, a grounded steadiness at the base of the pelvis, or a tightening flutter around the solar plexus. The heart may feel more open, or energy may lift through the spine. Imagery, memories, or emotions may arise. Through practice, we learn to observe these experiences without judgment or immediate interpretation. Instead of objectifying our experiences, we rest with direct sensations before thought narrows or distorts them. It’s also notable what we feel, what we are conscious of, is really the tip of the iceberg. But this threshold is flexible (and I’ll talk more about this in another article).

This kind of practice is inherently non-dual. When we are thinking, we often treat ourselves as objects in an internal dialogue, speaking to and about ourselves as if from a distance. Prereflective awareness invites us to rest in implicit knowing, where “self” and what is experienced are not two separate things but aspects of a unified experience.

There are several modalities within prereflective awareness. First, we cultivate interoception, the awareness of visceral sensations such as the breath, heartbeat, or gut feelings. We also develop proprioception, the sense of where we are in space and how we move. Finally, we deepen neuroception, the subtle awareness of our mental atmosphere, including mood, attitude, thoughts, and emotional tone. These modalities offer a map for exploration, but they are not meant as rigid categories.

A central skill in this practice is noticing when awareness becomes conceptual, when inner commentary arises to evaluate what we’re experiencing. Rather than elaborating with more thinking, we return attention to body, breath, and inner space. Thoughts lose their momentum without attention and eventually dissolve. This takes practice. We are used to relating to ourselves through conceptual filters: judging what we see in the mirror, categorizing what we feel, and overlaying assumptions on our direct experience. These habits help us function in daily life, but they also obscure the living truth of what is happening within us, and they can limit what we learn from new experiences.

How does prereflective awareness relate to gratitude? Gratitude is found implicitly in the receptive attitude of true listening. When we meet our inner experience with curiosity and patience, a sense of appreciation begins to arise, not as an idea, but as a felt recognition of being alive. Have you noticed that you treat yourself more kindly when yoga becomes a regular part of your life?

By quietening self-objectification and inner commentary, we allow a deeper intimacy with experience itself. We are delicate yet resilient, and this becomes impossible to take for granted. Gratitude manifests as reverence for being alive, an appreciation for the extraordinary, or the beautifully ordinary, reality of our lives.

Although this practice is deeply personal, it is also universal. It is like looking at the stars at night to understand ourselves more fundamentally. Let’s embark on this together.