Thankful Thursday! (DAY 18)
Today’s lesson discusses the neuroscience and benefits of developing a gratitude practice and is from Educational Neuroscientist, Staci Danford. Being thankful for the little things helps shift our mindset from one of negativity to positivity and can have lasting effects on our mood. Research shows gratitude isn’t just a pleasant feeling—being grateful can also support greater health, happiness, and wisdom in ourselves and our communities.
According to Mindful.org, “Gratitude is more than just a momentary good feeling. Scientists who have studied written gratitude interventions, such as gratitude letters or journals, have found benefits for an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. Gratitude practices also appear to help you feel more satisfied in life and can boost your self-esteem, according to peer-reviewed research.”
In the book The Gratitude Project: How the Science of Thankfulness Can Rewire Our Brains for Resilience, Optimism, and the Greater Good, Robert Emmons explains, “practicing gratitude magnifies positive feelings more than it reduces negative feelings. Gratitude helps you see the bigger picture and become more resilient in the face of adversity.”
In this video below, “Building Little Habits of Gratitude,” Staci Danford describes several gratitude habits that you might consider adopting for yourself!
Spend 10 minutes every morning being grateful for the little things.
A nightly gratitude journal to encourage you to think of things to be grateful for. Focus on one thing to be grateful for that happened that day, and write about it, including why you’re grateful for it. She explains you have to really feel the positive emotions to experience the benefits on a neuroscience level.
Practicing gratitude before you go to sleep helps you sleep better and even aids in the digestion process! And it changes the way you wake up in the morning.
“Be happy, spread happiness to the world and be grateful in only ways that you can be! Absorb your own gratitude. Live your life in a state of constant awareness of all the things you have to be grateful for.”
Do YOU have a gratitude practice that you want to share with the group? Add to the comments below!
JOURNAL PROMPT: What are some of the “little things” in your life you’re grateful for?
