If you have ever gone to sleep with worries crowding your mind and then woke up the following morning with the same set of worries, you'll understand how the thoughts we take with us when we fall asleep affect our thoughts when we get up.

This simple gratitude exercise is one that you do as you are falling sleep and it will set you up to carry joyful energies through your dreams and to have you awaken joyfully in the morning. To do this exercise, simply think about a few things that you feel grateful for as you are falling asleep. It's important here, though not just to think them but to feel this gratitude viscerally. These things don't have to be many or large. They don't have to be profound. They just have to be genuine. A simple deeply-felt appreciation for the warmth or comfort of the bed is enough. This is a positive energy that you carry into your sleep and is still with you when you awaken so you can take it into the next day.

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