Gratitude is a powerful thing! It can make or break your day, week, month, or entire life. There is a deep connection between the mental and physical effects gratitude has on us. Here is what you can expect if you start to make gratitude a daily focus.
The Mental Benefits Of Gratitude
Practicing gratitude helps your overall mental health because you instantly have a better outlook on life. Don’t be surprised to walk away from time spent in gratitude with a big smile on your face. Of course, the benefits don’t stop at increased happiness. Feeling more gratitude has been linked to a better self-image, less anxiety, and even a reduction in depression. This comes as no surprise to scientists who have recorded increased levels of dopamine and serotonin after intentional moments spent in gratitude.
The Physical Benefits Of Gratitude
This is where it gets interesting. It's one thing to feel better emotionally, but the release of these “feel-good” hormones also affects your physical body. Gratitude reduces stress; with it, you will sleep better, your blood pressure will be lower, and you will have more energy. As a result, you move more, leading to even better overall physical health. Maybe practicing gratitude motivates you to go out for a walk, which means getting more oxygen into your body and loading up on Vitamin D. Being able to sleep soundly reduces appetite and less stress helps you make smarter food choices. All these things work hand in hand to turn you into a healthier and stronger version of yourself.
Gratitude is particularly important for heart health. Between lower blood pressure and reduced stress, you are putting less strain on your heart. The added exercise and sleep strengthen your heart muscle and give this most important organ time to recover and heal overnight. With heart disease one of the leading causes of death in modern society, there’s never been a better time to practice gratitude and let go of stress.
How can you tap into both the mental and physical benefits of gratitude? By feeling more of it! Yes, that’s easier said than done, but a great place to start is by creating a habit of thinking of at least one person or one thing you are deeply grateful for each morning as soon as you wake up. It sets the tone for the whole day and gets you off to a great start to reap these powerful benefits.
Choosing Gratitude
How you feel, how happy you are, how stressed you are, maybe even how well you sleep - may seem like it’s out of your hand, but it is actually a choice you make. You can choose to be grateful for what you have and happiness follows or you can choose to focus on what you’re lacking; who has wronged you, and what’s not going your way. And guess what? You’ll feel miserable. You may blame others, circumstances, or fate for your unhappiness, but at the end of the day, it’s all about you and the choices you make. You choose happiness or misery.
How can you make sure you make the right choices throughout life? One of the simplest ways to ensure you live a happy and fulfilled life is to focus on gratitude. Of course, that’s easier said than done. You get upset when your friend stands you up on your lunch date and that’s okay. How you choose to move forward from here is what will make the difference. You can choose to dwell on the slight you think your friend gave you. The more you think about it, the angrier you get. Instead of having lunch at the new restaurant, you were looking forward to trying, you get back into your car, drive home and let it ruin your day. That’s a choice. Now let’s look at a different perspective.
Same scenario. Your friend stands you up. You’re disappointed and maybe even a little mad. You take a deep breath, let those negative feelings go, and choose based on gratitude. What can you find in this situation that you can be grateful for? Maybe you’ve been wishing for some quiet alone time so you can hear yourself think. Maybe there’s a store you’ve wanted to check out or a movie you’ve wanted to see for a while and this is the time to do it. Maybe there’s an old friend you’ve been meaning to visit. Or maybe you’ll simply enjoy a good meal by yourself and grab some takeout for your spouse on the way out the door.
Instead of heading home angry, you’re going home grateful for these few special hours you carved out for yourself. And who knows, maybe you talk to your friend later that evening and find out that she had a family emergency that caused her to miss your lunch date. How guilty would you feel about the anger that you let yourself feel toward her? And how guilty would she feel for having ruined your day? Instead, by focusing on gratitude and making the best of the situation, you created happiness for yourself. If you ask me, that’s some sort of superpower.
Happiness
I’m going to let you in on a little secret I learned years ago that has served me well. What you focus on comes to pass. When you practice gratitude you are training your mind to be more positive and this has some interesting physical implications. Practicing gratitude and positive thinking directly affects your brain chemistry. That’s right, by focusing on gratitude and happiness, you control the release of certain chemicals and neurotransmitters that influence how you feel both physically and mentally. Let’s take a look at how that works.
More Feel-Good Hormones
Focusing on happiness and gratitude leads to the release of two “feel good” hormones - dopamine and serotonin. These two neurotransmitters are responsible for those warm fuzzy feelings. Yes, there are other ways to get them like exercise and chocolate for example, but who wouldn’t want to increase these powerful antidepressants with something as simple as giving and receiving gratitude? This emphasizes the point that you are able to make your own happiness. It’s not just a mental exercise. Focusing on positivity, and making a conscious effort to be more grateful and happier changes the balance of hormones and neurotransmitters in your body and your brain.
In short, practicing gratitude and the subsequent feeling of happiness is a powerful strategy to beat depression and anxiety, often working better than prescription drugs - and without the nasty side effects.
Fewer Stress Hormones
When you are anxious or scared, the body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It helps you react fast when you’re about to be hit by a car and make you run faster when you need to get away from someone, but it works against you and robs you of your health and well-being when it’s a response to something that isn’t a physical danger, like tax day or worrying about what your co-worker thinks of you.
Stress hormones can lead to weight gain, depression, anxiety, and they take a toll on your heart. You know you should do what you can to reduce the stress you feel and as it turns out, one of the most powerful strategies is practicing gratitude and positive thinking. So, choose happiness and know that you are doing wonders for your mental and physical health.
So what’s the bottom line? When you are mindful of all of the things you are grateful for in your life then you can learn to appreciate all the good even in the midst of the bad and cultivate happiness. Stop waiting for the right person or the right circumstances. Don’t wait for happiness to find you. Be happy right now, at this moment, and use gratitude to help you get there.
Comments