Why practice gratitude? It is a very powerful way to be and research shows that there are many positive mental as well as physical effects that it can have on us.
Here are several ways that gratitude can make a difference in our lives when we focus on gratitude daily.
The Mental Benefits When We Practice Gratitude
When you practice gratitude you have a better outlook on your life and as a result, your mental health improves.
It is not unusual to have a smile on your face after a gratitude meditation.
There are more benefits besides creating a level of happiness. We are able to find ways to create the best life for ourselves.
In fact, when we feel more gratitude we have a better self-image, a lower level of anxiety, and even depression gets reduced.
In fact, scientists report that when we feel more gratitude in our lives, dopamine and serotonin levels increase in our brains.
Practice Gratitude For The Physical Benefits
There are actual physical benefits associated when you are able to practice gratitude! When you release feel-good hormones (dopamine and serotonin), there is also an effect on your physical body as well as your mental side.
That’s because gratitude is responsible for reducing stress. As a result, you sleep better, your blood pressure is lowered and you have a lot more energy. All good things.
You end up moving more which in turn leads to greater overall physical health and well-being.
Perhaps you will decide to take more walks as a result. When you do that, your body gets more oxygen, and being outdoors means you are exposed to more Vitamin D.
Another result is that you sleep better, your appetite is reduced and you have a lot less stress in your life so you make better choices for food and exercise.
Because of all of this, you end up a stronger and healthier person all around.
Did you know that gratitude plays an important part when it comes to heart health? Because you lower your blood pressure and have reduced the amount of stress in your life, you end up putting less strain on your heart.
Also, because you are exercising more and sleeping better, your heart muscle is strengthened. As a result, your heart has a chance to do its recovery process overnight.
Since one of the leading causes of death is heart disease, it is important to practice gratitude as one of the ways to reduce stress.
The Best Way to Tap into the Benefits of the Practice Gratitude
The answer is simple: you just need to feel more gratitude. That may be easier said than done.
However, a good place to start is by creating daily habits to practice gratitude for a person or thing in your life. Do this each morning when you first get up.
This will set a tone for your whole day and you will start to reap the benefits in both your mental and physical health.
Choose Gratitude!
Perhaps it seems too simple to just choose gratitude. Or, perhaps it feels hard and you don’t know how to start.
You can, however, just make a choice. You can choose gratitude! Everything we do in life is a choice.
When it comes to how happy you feel or how stressed out you are, or even whether to go for a walk, it is all about choice.
Did you know that when you choose gratitude, happiness will follow?
You can always choose to focus on what is lacking in your life, how many people have been mean or disrespectful to you, and what you have to put up with in life.
But what results do you get from that? You are miserable and experience will tell you that it doesn’t stop and more things go wrong.
If you are constantly blaming others or circumstances you are doomed to feel unhappy. You can choose to feel happy or feel miserable! Which do you choose?
How to Make the Right Choices
You can make the right choices by ensuring that you have a happy and fulfilled life. One that is focused on gratitude.
That may not seem too easy, but with a little practice, you will be able to accomplish a fulfilled life based on how grateful you are for what you have.
That doesn’t mean that you won’t get upset from time to time over misunderstandings with friends or someone who is rude or disrespectful to you.
You have a choice to make. You can decide you are going to dwell on the misunderstanding or focus on the rudeness of another person.
Or, you can think about all the great things you have in your life. All the wonderful friends and family members that love and respect you.
Even when a friend upsets you there is going to be a disappointment and you could get upset. But perhaps the better way to deal with this is to take a deep breath, let go of the hurt, and choose based on gratitude.
What do you think would be the reason for being grateful? Maybe there is a lesson here about how you communicate with your friend.
Or maybe it is a time to reflect on the relationship. Is it serving you? Are you grateful for this person in your life?
There are lessons in everyday scenarios. Sometimes, we need to stop and take a look.
Instead of remaining upset over your friend, you could take some time for yourself. Maybe it is a chance to see other people and enjoy an evening or meal with them.
Or, you could take some time to catch up on some reading, go to a restaurant by yourself or get some takeout and go home to enjoy a meal with the people there.
Don’t let the small hurts in your life take you out and let them ruin your day.
Instead, take the time to focus on what you are grateful for and make the best of a hurtful situation.
You can create happiness in pretty much every situation. You just have to one to make the choice.
How to Show and Share Gratitude
How about living a life that is abundant with much happiness and contentment. Does that sound like a great idea?
You could have a life where you enjoy excellent mental and physical health!
How do you do that? By sharing and showing gratitude.
Something as simple as being able to practice the art of thankfulness and show how grateful you are to all the people you have in your life will have a powerful impact.
Here is a list of some of the simple things you can do to practice gratitude:
- Tell the people you love how grateful you are for them. We often take the ones closest to us for granted. Make a point to do it regularly and be specific to make it meaningful.
- Think about the people who challenge you. Express your gratitude for how they help you grow and make you stronger.
- Take a few minutes each week to write a letter or email to a person who has made a difference to you at one point or another. This could be a teacher, a mentor, an old friend … anyone you can think of.
- Give the gift of your time to someone to show without words how grateful you are to have them in your life. This is particularly important for elderly people in your life. Your time with them is limited. Make the most of it.
- Start writing a gratitude journal and take the time to write down three things you are grateful for every single day. This can improve even those days when you can’t see anything good and put things into a better perspective.
- Forgive yourself when you don’t reach all your goals, or things don’t go your way. Try to be grateful for everything you have in your life and look at what you are learning from each and every experience.
- Remember to honor the people around you. You have no idea how much happiness you can bring to them when you compliment them. This is an important way to display gratitude indirectly. As well giving small but meaningful gifts or acts of service will have the same effect.
- Paying it forward. You could do something special for someone you work with or even a total stranger. Random acts of kindness are an excellent way to grow gratitude and bring more positivity into the world.
- Giving a hug and saying a kind word to someone who is struggling. By showing them physical affection it shows that you are there for them and that you are grateful to have them in your life.
- Show your body and mind gratitude for what they do for your day in and day out by taking care of yourself and investing in regular self-care.
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