The Power of Gratitude
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This week is all about the power of gratitude.
Gratitude has become something of a buzzword over the past few years. You might have heard the word through social media or heard of friends or family members practicing it. But what exactly is gratitude? Gratitude is simply what it sounds like - being thankful. Practicing gratitude means noticing the positive aspects of the world, as opposed to focusing on the negatives.
The science behind gratitude and its positive effect on mental health is overwhelming. Over the past couple of decades, researchers have learned that gratitude can reduce stress, improve sleep, build stronger relationships, strengthen resilience, and has even been shown to reduce mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Gratitude has also been shown to improve physical health. Not only are grateful people more likely to take care of their health, but the practice of gratitude itself is linked to all the benefits that come from lowering stress and anxiety, such as improved cardiovascular health.
Practicing gratitude is shifting attention and focus from what’s not good or going well in your life, to focusing on the good aspects of your life. This is important anytime - but especially right now. Taking time to step back and appreciate what you do have, is a very powerful exercise.
If you’ve never tried gratitude before, not to worry! Here are some easy ways you can incorporate gratitude into your life:
1. Appreciation of other people.
E.g. “I’m lucky to have David as a friend/teammate/brother.”
2. A focus on what you currently have.
E.g. “I’m thankful for my family/for the healthy food available/for a safe and warm home.
3. Feelings of awe when encountering beauty.
E.g. “This waterfall is a wonder!”
4. Focusing on the positive in the present moment.
E.g. “I’m going to sit here on this park bench for a moment and take in the autumn colours.”
5. Appreciation arising from understanding that life is short.
E.g. “I will die and people I know will die, so this day matters so much.”
6. Positive social comparisons.
E.g. “There are so many people who have less than I do.”
Gratitude is such a simple, easy, and effective practice that you can incorporate into your life - and it only takes five minutes out of your day!
What are we finding in the research?
Recently, a team of researchers at Duke University were interested in studying the effects of a one-week gratitude intervention on health-care workers. The researchers had health-care workers perform a gratitude intervention in which they wrote a letter to someone who has positively affected their lives. The writing exercise took about 7 minutes and the workers had to perform this every day for a week.
The researchers found that after just one week of gratitude writing, the healthcare workers had significantly improved measures of emotional exhaustion (a component of burnout), happiness, and work-life balance.
The researchers suggest that this extremely simple and time-and-cost effective tool could have drastically positive affects on well-being and happiness - even in one of the most stressful industries.
Check out this link to read the full article!
