Gratitude & Appreciation – How gratitude supports our health
When your head finally hits the pillow after a full day of work, family, responsibilities, and everything in between, what's running through your mind?
If you're like most of us, it's the things that went wrong. The conversation we would’ve done differently. The tasks we didn't check off our list. The worry about tomorrow's to-dos.
However, it's not our fault when we get stuck in this pattern. It's actually how our brains are wired!
Our ancestors needed minds that constantly scanned for danger to survive. If they had defaulted to contentment and satisfaction, they wouldn't have been prepared when a predator attacked or food became scarce. So our brains evolved to pick out flaws, search for problems, and stay alert to what could go wrong.
This survival mechanism keeps humanity alive, but it also means we naturally focus on the negative – often almost entirely. We can have an incredible day, but if one conversation at work feels uncomfortable, our minds will replay it over and over, casting aside any and all positive experiences from the day. Our safety mechanisms can turn into hypervigilance, and thoughts can become ruled by fear, regret, or anxiety.
When our basic needs are met and we're living relatively comfortable lives – as many of us in this community are – this constant problem-scanning actually works against us rather than helping us.
But here's the hopeful part: Thanks to neuroplasticity, or the brain's amazing ability to change and adapt, we can rewire the way we think about our experiences, reality, and life as a whole.
We'll always be human (and that's beautiful!), but the more we intentionally focus on what we're grateful for, the more we'll begin to naturally see it. Our brains start looking for the good instead of defaulting only to the problems.
And the difference? It's pretty amazing. Many ultra-successful people like Oprah Winfrey start their day with gratitude or a similar practice. In this blog, we’ll jump into why gratitude is so beneficial and how we can add it to our routines.
As we approach the holiday season and Thanksgiving, it’s the perfect time to incorporate a gratitude practice.
First, what is gratitude?
Gratitude is intentionally recognizing what's good in our lives, no matter how small. This trains our minds to see possibility and hope, rather than fixating on the problems or pain. It's a “practice” that creates a state of thankfulness and appreciation.
And I said “practice” because it doesn’t come easily or naturally for many of us, but with repetition, the brain learns to become more grateful more easily over time. Gratitude is not just something we experience when everything's going well. If we have a “perfect day” (in our books), we might naturally feel grateful for everything going just as we planned.
But building a gratitude practice means that we’re grateful, even if many things aren’t going well.
Imagine a day where we’re late for work because a pipe broke in our house, then we spilled coffee on our favorite shirt. But on that same day, we had a tender moment with our child, we woke up in a warm, cozy bed, and we had a fridge full of nourishing food.
When practicing gratitude, we can acknowledge both the good and bad of each day, being sure to take stock of those precious moments.
What are the benefits of gratitude?
Many of us could probably think of a person who has faced great adversity and difficulty in life, but still managed to remain grateful and happy. We might just assume they’re just built differently than us, but that’s the power of gratitude! And you can do it too!
Gratitude has been shown to:
Boost Well-being: Research suggests that gratitude is associated with an “enhanced sense of well-being,” which logically makes sense. The more gratitude and appreciation we have, the more positive emotions we experience, which contributes to our sense of well-being. There have been many studies about the relationship between gratitude and well-being. (Studies)
Improve Mental Health: Regularly practicing gratitude keeps us in the present, rather than worrying about the future or ruminating on the past. This can help us break negative thought patterns that are associated with depression and anxiety. This can make a significant difference if we’re struggling with our mental health.
Decrease Stress: When we’re replaying stressful events in our head, or thinking about future stressors, our body reacts as if we’re experiencing that stressor in real life! Cortisol will spike when we recount those stressful meetings, or think about everything we have to get done once we get home. On the flip side, by staying present and grounded in gratitude, we’re allowing our bodies to relax into the moment. This decreases our stress levels, which as you know, is incredibly important for our health.
Improve Sleep: On a similar note, when we’re grateful and present, we tend to have less stress, and engage in more positive thoughts and activities, which contribute to deeper, better sleep. If you’re someone who stares at the ceiling recounting stressors or worrying about tomorrow, gratitude could do wonders for your sleep routine. Many of my clients struggle with falling or staying asleep, but if they start listing what they are grateful for from that day, everything changes.
Support our Heart Health: By lowering stress, improving sleep, and boosting well-being, we’re also supporting our hearts! A research analysis in 2021 found that gratitude dropped our diastolic blood pressure, or the force our heart exerts between beats. Many people report that the physical sensation of gratitude spreads from their chest or heart center. How amazing!
What does a gratitude practice look like?
A gratitude practice can be as simple, short, or long as you want. It can be difficult to find quiet space in our busy schedules, but most of us have a few minutes each day to commit to ourselves (and it’s a bonus if we’re replacing screen time!!). Here’s what I personally have done, and I’ve heard my clients do, that supports their gratitude practice daily.
Wake up 5 minutes early and write it down – If you have kids or a busy work schedule, the mornings can be a whirlwind of eating, getting kids dressed, and running out of the door. I’ve found that waking up just 5 minutes earlier than everyone else gives me the space I need. Then I just write down what I’m grateful for that day, no matter how small. You could do it in your own notebook, or follow something like the 5-minute daily journal. I have filled piles of journals with this practice over the years and it’s fun to look back and realize how much I have to be grateful for!
Mealtime Gratitude – this is a great way to get your whole family involved in the practice. Before you eat, go around and name something (or a few things) that each of you are grateful for that day or week. It not only helps us get into a more positive headspace, but it helps our family or loved ones too. Or say grace and literally thank a higher power for the food you have on your plate. I know I’m grateful for that!
Make a mental checklist before bed – Lying down to sleep at night is often a time when we start to replay the day’s stressful events or worry about the following day. If you can, press pause and make a mental checklist of everything you’re grateful for. Go over everything that happened today that you appreciate. This small shift can help our minds relax into a more positive headspace to fall asleep in. This is when our subconscious minds are at work. If it helps, you can also leave a journal next to your bed to jot them down in.
Don’t Forget to FEEL the Gratitude
Lastly, gratitude is not just an intellectual practice. The goal is for you to feel gratitude throughout your body and in your heart. It is the “feeling” of gratitude that changes our physiology and literally floods our bodies with healing neurochemicals - dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin to name just a few.
Most people will describe the feeling of gratitude as a warm, expansive sensation, often in the chest, accompanied by physical relaxation, a slowed breath, and an involuntary smile or teary eyes. Warmth, comfort and contentment are often used to describe gratitude as well. Sounds pretty good to me! And we can bring this on all by making the choice to practice this tool like building a muscle by lifting weights. It may not always be easy, but it is simple.
How will you practice gratitude?
Our mindset is a huge component of the healing process, and one that many of us tend to overlook. If you want support around mindset (and much more), consider joining Health Begins Here with one of our amazing coaches.