It's November and the North American human race is celebrating Thanksgiving. As a kid I never really cared about Thanksgiving - to me it was just the start of sugar season, I mean Christmas, where all the really great stuff happened. I never really felt grateful on Thanksgiving - actually, the holiday was more annoying to me than anything because we had to clean the house, drag all the good china and silver out, cook for days, clean for days, and watch a dumb Macy's parade.
Personally, I would rather order takeout and binge the new season of Arcane with my family than cook and clean, but that's just me.
While I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving dinners, I AM a huge fan of the practice of gratitude, and I am thankful that we have a holiday to celebrate this incredibly powerful practice. In this blog post I geeked out on all the cool things gratitude does for your brain, body, and mind. Hopefully by the end of this post, you will be so inspired that you will start or restart your own gratitude practice.
Review of the Benefits of Gratitude
I know you know that gratitude is important, or have read studies (check out this paper from Berkeley) that show that gratitude has many benefits including:
These are all great things, but the real power of gratitude is that if you engage in it long enough, over time it changes your default mindset. (aka rewires your brain) When you practice gratitude, you are training your mind to scan the world around you and look for the good. Over time, looking for the good is what your mind starts to do as your neural pathways change.
This is powerful because we don't see the world as it actually is, we see it as we are. Perception, for humans, equals reality. And if your perception is trained to look for and be grateful for the good, then guess what? Your perception of your world will follow suite.
Gratitude and the Brain
Gratitude held significant importance in ancient philosophies and cultures. In Roman society Cicero revered it as the 'mother' of all human emotions. Despite its historical reverence, gratitude remained an uncommon focus in neuropsychological research until recent decades (Emmons & McCullough, 2004). Turns out, practicing gratitude regularly actually changes your brain.
Brain studies have actually pinpointed neural mechanisms associated with feelings of gratitude, highlighting the involvement of the right anterior temporal cortex in moral judgments linked to gratitude (Zahn et al., 2009).
Furthermore, individuals who regularly express and experience gratitude exhibit a greater volume of gray matter in the right inferior temporal gyrus, as evidenced by studies (Zahn et al., 2014).
Expressing and receiving gratitude triggers the release of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, two key neurotransmitters vital for regulating emotions and inducing feelings of well-being. This release immediately uplifts our mood, fostering an internal sense of happiness.
Through consistent gratitude practice, we can effectively reinforce these neural pathways, fostering a lasting disposition of gratitude and positivity within ourselves, aka changing our default mindset like I mentioned above.
Gratitude and Psychological Well-Being
In addition to fostering self-love and empathy, gratitude profoundly influences both bodily functions and psychological well-being, particularly in managing stress, anxiety, and depression. Let's dig into the science, bitches! 👇👇👇👇
👉 Gratitude Releases Toxic Emotions:
Feelings of gratitude activate key regions of the limbic system, including the hippocampus and amygdala, which play crucial roles in regulating emotions, memory, and bodily functions. Research indicates that individuals who incorporate gratitude practices alongside counseling sessions experience faster recovery and improved well-being compared to those who focus solely on negative experiences (Wong et al., 2018).
👉 Gratitude Reduces Pain:
Studies, such as "Counting Blessings vs. Burdens" (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), suggest that maintaining a gratitude journal can lead to reduced pain symptoms and increased willingness to engage in physical activity. This effect is attributed to gratitude's regulation of dopamine levels, which enhances vitality and diminishes subjective pain perception.
👉 Gratitude Improves Sleep Quality:
Acts of kindness, whether received or expressed, activate the hypothalamus, a brain region responsible for regulating essential bodily functions, including sleep. Gratitude-induced hypothalamic regulation promotes deeper and healthier sleep, resulting in increased energy and vitality upon waking (Zahn et al., 2009).
👉 Gratitude Aids in Stress Regulation:
Research, such as that conducted by McCraty and colleagues (cited in McCraty & Childre, 2004), suggests that gratitude practice leads to reduced cortisol levels, improved cardiac functioning, and greater emotional resilience. By cultivating gratitude, individuals can develop enhanced stress coping mechanisms and a more resilient mindset.
👉 Gratitude Reduces Anxiety and Depression:
Gratitude's ability to modulate stress hormones and regulate autonomic nervous system function contributes to reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression. Neurochemically, gratitude is associated with increased neural modulation in the prefrontal cortex, which manages negative emotions. Consequently, individuals who regularly practice gratitude exhibit greater empathy, positivity, and emotional well-being.
Hopefully I now have you convinced into trying out gratitude as a wellbeing practice, but you may
not know where to start. I got you boo. Here is a blog post that shares gratitude dos and don'ts, and how to use gratitude to powerfully transform your mindset, thereby positively transforming you life.
Want a practice right now without clicking to another post?
Try Nibbling at Gratitude
If your mood/mental state is in the dumps, then set your phone alarm for 1 minute and start appreciating all the things in your life NOW. It doesn't have to be big things - small things work too.
Once the timer goes off, reset it for 1 minute. Do this a total of 9 times.
YES. I said 9 times. I know you have 9 minutes to shift your mindset, and it might be the most important thing you do all day.
So go on, get drunk on gratitude. 🍷
Thank you for just being the freakishly amazing humanoid you are. Thanks also for reading this blog and supporting Vets Against Insanity. We love you. 💞
From our slightly scandalous hearts to yours,
Sarah J. Wooten, DVM, CVJ and the Vets Against Insanity Crew 😆
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