GRATTITUDE
Focusing on gratitude quells anxiety and breeds optimism, writes Carolyn Hansen.
GRATITUDE IS AN ATTITUDE that is good for our health. Consciously cultivating and expressing gratitude rewards us physically, mentally and spiritually. Human behaviour and human biology are related, and amazing scientific research is helping us weave together the story of how our mind and the body operate as one unit. In other words, what we continually entertain and think about/focus on in our mind eventually finds a home/manifests as health or disease in our body.
The mind and body work together as one. This means our beliefs, attitudes and thoughts matter and every moment of every day offers us an opportunity to express gratitude or to live in lack and fear.
One attitude helps to form a deeper connection to our real selves and contributes to our overall wellbeing while the other separates us, creates victims and leads to discord, depression and disease.
It’s all about perceptions and the coloured lens of life we peer through. Gratitude is the attitude that helps us avoid the dark, deep abyss of self-pity because grateful people observe life through a different lens than those who see lack.
Nurturing positive perceptions and expressing gratitude leads them to conscious living and healthy habits/ lifestyles. They love and appreciate the value of their physical body, providing the needed ingredients to keep it running at peak performance. They avoid dangerous drugs, don’t abuse alcohol, focus on healthy food choices and ensure they get ample exercise/movement.
According to Huntsman Mental Health Institute psychiatrist Dr Kristin Francis, expressing gratitude positively changes the brain: “It boosts dopamine and serotonin, the neurotransmitters in the brain that improve your mood immediately, giving you those positive feelings of pleasure, happiness and wellbeing.”
A recently released study done by the University of California San Diego’s School of Medicine supports these claims, showing how the positive effects living a life filled with gratitude has on our heart - reducing inflammation and creating stronger heart rhythms. Depression, anxiety, fatigue and the risk of disease all get reduced while happy moods, quality sleep and immunity get a healthy boost.
In another study on the effects of gratitude performed by Dr Robert A Emmons of the University of California and Dr Michael E Mccullough of the University of Miami, participants were asked to write a few sentences down weekly that focused on different topics. The first group wrote about experiences that occurred during the week that they were grateful for.
The second group wrote about irritations or other things that made them unhappy during the week and the third group about all the differing events that affected them without any emphasis on whether they were positive or negative.
The study’s results after 10 weeks were not surprising. The group who focused on being grateful, felt more optimistic and were happier about their lives. This optimism about being alive motivated them to exercise more and they experienced fewer visits to the doctor than those who focused on negative aspects.
Gratitude, like other habits, can be grown and cultivated through practice. Keeping a gratitude journal is probably the most popular and powerful way to track how we’ve used our energy for the day. Before retiring to sleep is the perfect time to reflect on our day and consciously express gratitude for all that life has given us.
Physically writing in a journal connects us in a more powerful way with our feelings than just thinking about it.
Positive words can soothe our mind and open our heart, allowing us to become more consciously aware of the blessings that are all around us – the things we normally take for granted. The roof over our heads, the clean water we drink, the garden we tend, the fact we can enjoy physical movement and exercise and the warm bed we crawl into at night. When was the last time you consciously gave thanks for the simple things that are life’s greatest gifts?
Living a conscious life means controlling our thoughts and choosing only those that contribute to positive feelings and actions. Living in gratitude helps us do that because it’s not about changing what happens to us (we can only control so much and there will be things happen in our lives that don’t necessarily make us feel good), but rather changing our attitude and the way we think about what happens in our lives. That’s where the real power is.
Thankfulness, mindfulness and kindness are all related. Thankfulness helps us to see correctly and keeps our perceptions aligned with positive action, mindfulness keeps our conscious awareness anchored in the present moment where action takes place and kindness (via our hormonal oxytocin release) is a powerful expression that connects us to others.
Genuine appreciation, whether at home or at work, breeds healthy self-esteem and enthusiasm. It improves productivity and ensures continued success towards our goals. The attitude of gratitude nurtures self-love. Those who espouse its merits and practise a grateful disposition are happier and more psychologically balanced. They experience less stress and are less anxious and more resilient when things don’t go their way.
Remember what Eckhart Tolle says: “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
We can multiply lack or multiply good in our lives depending on the lens of life we look through.