A straightforward, free and effective way to increase alpha brainwaves is to express gratitude. Parents are often telling their children that they ‘need to be more grateful’ but are adults genuinely grateful themselves? We rush from one thing in life to another and rarely take time to be sincerely thankful for the essential elements in our lives. When people report as feeling grateful, thankful and appreciative in their daily lives, they also feel more loving, forgiving, joyful and enthusiastic.

EXERCISE: Daily gratitude practice.

Once per day, sit still with a piece of paper, close your eyes and focus your breathing on the area of your heart, then allow your body to tell you three things that you’re genuinely grateful for that day. Really feel them and then write them down on the piece of paper. When I do this daily, some days I’m grateful for the people I love, and on other days, it’s the small things like feeling the wind on my face or the sun on my back.

EXERCISE: Practice gratitude with your family.

Every evening my wife and I sit with our son in bed, and we all ask each other: ‘What three things are you grateful for today?’ We go first, and he goes last; he calls it ‘doing gratefuls’. He lies in bed, puts his hand on his heart, lowers his breathing and speaks from his heart. The things that he has expressed have amazed us, with responses that we didn’t expect from a little boy, and it has brought tears to our eyes. It’s not because he’s a budding Zen-like master. He’s like any young boy who loves treats, toys and material things. The process of dropping into your heart and expressing gratitude is where the magic happens.