We all know that warm glowing feeling you get when someone does something that you are really, genuinely grateful for. Whether it’s a thoughtful gift, a thank you note or a random act of kindness, we tend to get a little buzz or sense of happiness when we are grateful. That buzz is no accident! Numerous studies have proven that when we feel gratitude, our brain releases more dopamine and serotonin - two of the key chemicals in making us feel good from the inside out!⠀This effect is so strong in fact that when gratitude is practiced on a regular basis, the change in these brain chemicals have been shown to produce feelings of long term happiness, contentment and optimism very similar to what we see with medications.
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Even better than that, researchers are now discovering that our brains love this gratitude high so much that with regular practice our brains actually adapt to feel it more. Effectively lowering the threshold and making that gratitude buzz a more regular occurrence. ⠀
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That’s right! Your brain ACTUALLY CHANGES to find more positives for you to feel grateful for!!!
So how does it work?
Our brains are incredible, complex and changeable organs. They are hard wired to adapt to new environments and needs. Simply put, what fires together, wires together. So when you complete a gratitude practice, you are in fact directing your brain to develop new neural pathways specifically attuned for feeling grateful. The more you practice, the more you strengthen this connection and the pathway becomes an established route in your brain. Take for example a gratitude journal. As you fill in your journal each evening, you are actually thinking back through your day to find the highlights you enjoyed, mentally sifting out the positives to write down. The more you practice this, the better your brain becomes at it, leaving you with a new natural ability to find positives in everyday situations where you may previously have struggled. You physically create yourself a new, more optimistic outlook on the world and this can lead to greater resilience to when things go wrong. Shawn Achor found that completing a gratitude journal for just 21 days can lead to a greater sense of wellbeing, better social connections and even turn naturally pessimistic people into low level optimists! Another study asked a group of patients to complete letters of gratitude as well as undergo traditional counselling. These patients reported feeling better and recovering quicker than those who wrote letters on neutral subjects.
And the benefits don’t stop there. When looking at the brains of people who practice gratitude, it seems there is a lot going on. fMRI brain scans have shown changes in activation and even a greater volume of brain cells in areas understood to be important in moral decision making, feelings of bliss, reward and connection to name a few. But importantly these scans also repeatedly show that greater overall gratitude results in higher activity in an area called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a big deal! It is responsible for a wide mix of our essential functions, like eating, drinking and sleeping and is even a key player in our responses to stress and emotions. All of a sudden, it becomes much easier to see how a simple daily gratitude practice, can have such a powerful impact on so many physical measures. Researchers have now shown that regular gratitude practitioners experience a reduction in stress hormones, improved emotional regulation, greater reports of contentment and satisfaction, better quality of sleep, reduced anxiety, lower pain scores and an overall sense of wellbeing! Pretty incredible stuff for a habit that can take just 2 minutes a day!
Social Connection
Despite so much evidence on it’s physical effects, many scientists believe that gratitude is primarily a social emotion, evolved to show appreciation instead of threat to others. A way to build and sustain social bonds. Regardless of its origins, it is hard to ignore the fact that gratitude often takes us outside of ourselves. Often we find that the things we are grateful for each day might come from another person, relationship or for some, even a higher power. It could be as simple as a stranger opening the door for you, an unexpected note from a loved one or even a crisp sunny day. But noticing and acknowledging the impact these simple interactions had on how you felt can build positivity and social connection. Studies have even shown that couples who frequently express thankfulness to each other are more likely to have longer lasting relationships and have higher ratings of their sense of trust, loyalty and happiness together.
With a wealth of long term studies out there now siting social connection as the most important predictive factor in long term happiness, this seems to be another superpower of the humble gratitude practice!
How to get your gratitude high
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The best thing is that this practice is so simple and can be done for little or no money in very little time! Personally I use a gratitude diary, writing down all of the things I'm grateful for each day before bed. But studies show it works just as well when you verbalise your gratitude too. You could make it a regular topic at the dinner table asking each other about the best bits of your days. Alternatively, Shawn Achor suggests taking just 2 minutes a day to write a thank you message to someone. Not only do you enjoy the gratitude high as you consider and write your thanks, but they get a big hit of it too, and when they reply, your social connection improves. Bingo! And on it goes!
Summary
Thanks to a recent explosion of research in the area its now pretty hard to argue with the benefits that gratitude can offer our physical wellbeing, emotional resilience and social relationships. Gratitude practices force us to look for the positives around us, changing our brains to make us more optimistic and hard wiring this outlook into the way we interact with the world. Despite being simple, free and time efficient a regular gratitude practice can be profound. Arguably one of the most exciting parts to this is the opportunity it gives us to impact others too. Whether it’s your more optimistic outlook rubbing off on colleagues, or making the day of a loved one with a thoughtful thank you message, gratitude appears to work whether we say thank you or receive the same and by consciously practicing gratitude on a regular basis, we can not only improve our own happiness and contentment but give others a helping hand too! The effects of gratitude are not instant, but once we have a regular practice it can continue to benefit our physical and psychological wellbeing for years to come.