This time of year, we are inevitably exposed to the concept of gratitude. The very word, according to the Oxford Dictionary, means “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”. Thanksgiving is the holiday that most celebrates gratitude for all that we have and enjoy in life. But gratitude, itself, knows no season. We should express gratitude every day.
Expressing gratitude is not only the right thing to do, it also helps our children learn positivity, and provides health benefits. According to neuroscientific research, when we adopt the mindset of gratitude, we can actually create a change in our lives and those around us. Embracing appreciation for what we already have in our lives can improve physical health, mental health, and social well-being.
Physical Health: Exercising a state of gratitude can lower one’s blood pressure, heart rate, and help with breathing. Gratitude can help motivate someone to exercise, can improve immunity, stabilize moods, increase pain tolerance, and provides more restorative sleep quality. A focus on gratitude has even been shown to extend lifespans.
Mental Health: Gratitude boosts self-confidence, improves patience and resilience, can reduce anxiety, battle depression, and helps in dealing better with adversity and grief. While gratitude cannot cure depression, focusing on more positive experiences reduces stress hormones, while increasing “feel good” endorphins. Enhanced cognitive thinking, clearer thinking and better problem-solving are also positive mental by-products of practicing gratitude.
Social Well-being: Focusing on gratitude can strengthen relationships and support systems with colleagues and family members, building a better home life or work environment. Gratitude promotes positivity, can enhance your ability to think of others first, and enhances spiritualism.
Overall, gratitude allows us to feel and experience other increased benefits like satisfaction in life, feelings of optimism, decrease in psychological pain, enhanced productivity, improved decision-making skills as well as a sense of fulfillment.
The science behind gratitude shows us that changing our mindset to appreciate the large and small things we already have in our lives, triggers the release of neurotransmitters and hormones associates with happiness, including dopamine and serotonin. Being in a grateful, positive mindset can help regulate cortisol production in the brain. Having a grateful spirit creates an easier flow in navigating life’s challenges and joys.
Best of all, embracing a daily practice of gratitude can become habit-forming and will grow naturally over time. Gratitude is more than a natural response, it’s an attitude that can help you train your brain to be attuned to and attract positivity. So how do we develop a daily gratitude practice? Here are a few tips:
Keep a journal: Write down positive experiences you have had (whether by day, week, or month) to help condition your brain to be more appreciative of things to be grateful for in your life. Don’t like writing? Before you fall asleep at night, count as many things as possible you are grateful for before you drift off to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, make a mental list of all you are grateful for before you even get out of bed. You’ll have a great start to your day!
Visualization: Remind yourself of the things to be grateful for through visualizations. Create a memory or visual board or save special photos on your phone in a “gratitude” album to reflect on in quiet moments. Close your eyes for a few moments each day to focus on the images that make you happy and reflect on those visual cues when you want to appreciate people, places, or things. Think about how they make you feel as you visualize them.
Share gratitude with others: Practice random acts of kindness with people close to you as well as strangers. Ask someone how their day is, compliment a stranger on their smile, let someone know how much you appreciate something they do for you. Hold the door for someone, bring a coffee to a friend or give up your parking space to a fellow shopper at the grocery store. Little gestures can mean a lot. Say thank you with intention.
Send gratitude notes: Thank you notes may be a form of etiquette for appreciation, but studies have shown that writing a letter of gratitude or sending a small thank you note to at least one person a week helps significantly improve mental health, can be a source of inspiration and can increase levels of happiness and joy.
An important thing to remember is it doesn’t matter what we are grateful for in our lives. Whether it’s something big and impactful in our lives such as a job, friends, family, or a home; or just being grateful for sunshine, seeing a flower, getting all green lights on the way to work, or enjoying a favorite nail polish color. Gratitude holds no limits, has no expiration and is continually expansive. The more things in your life you find to acknowledge, the more you will discover to appreciate. Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving.
We are grateful for our clients, staff, and community partners. If you would like to learn more about our products and what makes our service top notch, call one of our locations or visit our website today!