Your Brain and Gratitude
Understanding the neuroscience behind our behaviors is endlessly fascinating. (At least I think it is!) As it's November and many of us are considering what we are thankful for, let's take a dive into gratitude and how it affects the brain.
You've likely been told to "count your blessings" or "be grateful", but other than a catchy phrase for a throw pillow, why does this matter?
It matters because:
Gratitude helps relieve stress and pain.
Gratitude can improve our health over time.
Gratitude helps with depression.
Gratitude can change our brains.
This article, "What Science Reveals About Gratitude's Impact on the Brain", reviewed studies of the impact of gratitude on our brains and found that our feelings of gratitude show up in our pre-frontal cortex, where our executive functions live. This area of the brain is associated with understanding other people’s perspectives, empathy, and feelings of relief. This is also an area of the brain that is massively connected to the systems in the body and brain that regulate emotion and support the process of stress relief.
And, couldn't we all use a bit of stress relief right now?
So, how do achieve the benefits of gratitude?
First, you have to recognize it.
You could buy any number of fancy systems to help you really dive in, but I'll recommend this one:a notebook and a pen. Any kind will work. Pick your favorite. Buy a new one. Use what you have. It doesn't matter. Each day, write down three things you are grateful for. You can do this in the morning as your day get going. Or, at night before you go to sleep.(This is my personal practice in a journal on my nightstand.)
Don't overcomplicate it. Just get started.
What I expect you will find, over time, is that the things you list you are grateful for deepening and become more meaningful. Maybe you'll start out with being grateful for your family, your job, your health...and over time that might evolve into being grateful your daughter grabbed your hand in the store, the gorgeous pink sunrise you saw on the way to work, and even the beautiful latte art on your coffee this morning.
And of course, when you recognize the benefits of gratitude, you will want to share it with others. For the people you work with, you can use the language of Emergenetics to express your gratitude:
Analytical: Be Factual
Structural: Be Specific
Social: Be Relational
Conceptual: Be Creative
Put your brain to work for you! It's not fluff, it's fact.