Creating a Gratitude Practice
We are often told about the benefits of practicing gratitude. With study after study showing the impact that gratitude has on both physical and emotional wellbeing, implementing a gratitude practice could be in our best interest.
While practicing gratitude has many benefits, at times it can feel like we are just being asked to “look on the bright side”. In truth, gratitude must be held in tension with the reality of life. It is crucial to lean into moments of both gratefulness and suffering.
This week we will look at the importance of gratitude and how to cultivate it. But stay tuned, next week we will explore authentic gratitude in difficult seasons.
(Special Note: If you are in a difficult season and the thought of starting a gratitude practice makes you want to scream, you may want to read next weeks blog first! You can always come back for the details on the benefits of gratitude and how to start a gratitude practice after considering how to honor your suffering in the process.)
The Benefits of Gratitude
Feelings of gratitude are good for our brains, activating the hypothalamus and flooding our brains with the feel-good hormone dopamine. Some studies have found it to decrease the prominent stress hormone cortisol and blood pressure, while increasing heart rate variability.
Robert Emmons, the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, found that people who consistently practice gratitude report many physical, psychological and social benefits such as:
Physical
- Stronger immune systems
- Less bothered by aches and pains
- Lower blood pressure
- Exercise more and take better care of their health
- Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking
Psychological
- Higher levels of positive emotions
- More alert, alive, and awake
- More joy and pleasure
- More optimism and happiness
Social
- More helpful, generous, and compassionate
- More forgiving
- More outgoing
- Feel less lonely and isolated.
Brene Brown On Joy & Gratitude
Researcher Brene Brown has stated that “there is no joy without gratitude”. Listen as she discusses what her research taught her about the importance of establishing a gratitude practice. (Hint: she expected to find that joy led to gratitude, but found it was the other way around!)
How to Cultivate a Gratitude Practice
There are many things that you can do to create a practice of gratitude. The key is to establish habits that help you focus on something you are thankful for on a regular basis. It is important that these habits feel both fresh and authentic.
While it may not feel natural at first, it’s important to focus on being genuine. This means being completely honest with ourselves. We get more benefit from focusing on small things we are truly thankful for than from pretending we are grateful for larger things that we think we should be thankful for.
We receive the most benefit from practices that are fresh and have not grown mundane. If we start to feel like we are doing our gratitude practice to check it off our to-do-list, it may be time to switch up our gratitude practice. And with so many ways to explore gratitude, there is no reason to get stuck in a rut.
- Create a gratitude journal.
- Write thank you cards or letters of affirmation to people in your life.
- Meditate on things you are grateful for each morning for 5 minutes.
- Help someone that doesn’t have all the advantages that you do.
- Find something to look forward to each week.
- Think about someone who has influenced your life and write them a letter.
- Pray to express thankfulness for the good things in your life.
- Choose one word that brings up feelings of gratitude (hope, life, family, friends, health, etc.) each day. Write the word down and think about it throughout the day.
- Listen to a song you enjoy and take time to really appreciate it.
- Practice mindful eating to really appreciate the gift of food.
- For more ideas check out 40 Simple Ways To Practice Gratitude.
If you are ready to jump into a gratitude practice that it great! But if you are in a difficult season and can’t imagine how to develop such a practice, be kind to yourself this week. Next week we will look at how to be open to gratefulness in authentic ways during difficult seasons!
Dr. Jamie
A recent survey found that 74 percent of mothers are already looking forward to their kids going back to school less than a month into the summer break. While these moms love their kids, the summer can be an overwhelming time, making the school bus a welcome sight. But going back to school can also be stressful for parents! 
This summer has been an extremely busy time for my family. While we have routines in place to keep us on track nutritionally, physical activity has been a different story! Other than the occasional walk, I am not getting much physical activity. 
Throughout history, opportunities for solitude were built into a person’s daily life. There were no cell phones to look at while waiting for appointments or social media accounts to keep connected with friends when they were home alone. Solitude was often a person’s default mode. 
With the beautiful days of summer ahead of us it’s time to get outside! Enjoying the weather can naturally lead us to be more physically active, which is good for both our minds and our bodies. Let’s intentionally embrace these opportunities and find pleasure in our movement this summer!
Think back to the end of the school year when you were a kid and had the entire summer ahead of you! For many of us it was an exciting time to dream of all the fun things we would do and adventures we would have during our break. As we get older, responsibilities tend to crowd out the childlike wonder that comes with summer, but what if we could reclaim just a bit of it?