Gratitude and Health
As we enter into winter and begin our ritual of holiday gatherings, now is a great time to consider how practicing gratitude can positively impact your health. As members of our holistic community, we know that wellness encompasses the mind, body and spirit. Prioritizing our holistic health has never been more important than it is right now!
“Gratitude is associated with a personal benefit that was not intentionally sought after, deserved, or earned but rather because of the good intentions of another person” (Emmons & McCullough, 2004)
Neuroscience and Gratitude Practice
Expressing gratitude leads to feelings of happiness. This emotional state impacts overall health, as happiness promotes feelings of contentment and well-being.
At the molecular level, gratitude exchange releases dopamine and serotonin, our natural happiness chemicals. This mood enhancement starts a cascade of positive effects for our health.
Studies have demonstrated that at the neurologic level, moral judgments involving feelings of gratefulness are evoked in the right anterior temporal cortex (Zahn et al., 2009).
Research shows a positive correlation with increased grey matter among adults that regularly physically exercise, people who feel gratitude also have a higher volume of gray matter, specifically in the right inferior temporal gyrus (Zahn et al., 2014). Grey matter in the brain and throughout the central nervous system is associated with better cognitive abilities, improved memory, coordination and balance. Imagine! In essence, having an attitude of gratitude may just keep you from falling!
By consciously practicing gratitude everyday, we can help these neural pathways to strengthen themselves and ultimately create a permanent grateful and positive nature within ourselves.
Ways to Practice Gratitude:
- Writing down things you’re grateful for in a gratitude journal, “count your blessings”!
- Savor your experiences
- Relive positive moments, thank someone in your mind
- Writing a letter or card to someone you feel thankful toward
- Telling someone you’re grateful for them in person
- Gratitude meditation and/ or prayers
When it’s hard to be grateful…
Sometimes it can feel very hard to muster up feelings of gratitude. This world can be very cruel. Things happen, bad things, sometimes there are major losses in our lives. It is important to feel your emotions and be true to yourself. I recently have been seeing adds on social media for a
“grievance journal” that touts the benefits of “vent writing” it’s a funny ad and very true that the shadow side of practicing gratitude can be something referred to as toxic positivity.
Wait, what…toxic positivity? I encourage listening to the 2 part interview with Dr. Susan David on Dr. Brene Brown’s podcast “Dare to Lead” for an informative conversation with these two brilliant minds on the topic of toxic positivity. https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-dr-susan-david-on-the-dangers-of-toxic-positivity-part-1-of-2/
Be realistic and validate your feelings when things are difficult. Pretending to be grateful when you aren’t feeling that way won’t magically change your emotional state leading to all that happy dopamine and serotonin. Sometimes it’s just not in the cards and that is okay!
The only moment we have is the present moment.
While it can sometimes be hard to feel grateful, if we consider the Buddhist tradition of appreciating the present moment, ask yourself this question: If you only had today, what are
you grateful for in your day-to day reality? This does not exclude us from feeling sad about things, for being angry at injustice, for deep sorrows and longings for change that feel too big to overcome. We can look around and be grateful for the natural world around us, the people in our lives who we love and dream of the possibilities for a better future.
Practicing gratitude is beneficial and has a place in a holistic lifestyle. Just like eating your peas and carrots, or getting up early to go for a run, it comes easier some days more than others.
Namaste, Emily
references:
Gratitude and Mortality Among Older US Female Nurses | Nursing | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network
McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. A. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 112-127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.112
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-toxic-positivity-5093958
Zahn, R., Garrido, G., Moll, J., & Grafman, J. (2014). Individual differences in posterior cortical volume correlate with proneness to pride and gratitude. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(11), 1676-1683. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst158
