Have you ever looked at your life and simply felt thankful for everything you have?
That feeling of thankfulness is what we call gratitude—and this emotion can actually help improve your health.
In celebration of National Gratitude Month, let’s review how to practice gratitude and explore why doing so can help improve your health and life.
How to Practice Gratitude
Practicing gratitude is quite simple and doesn’t need to take a lot of time. Here are six simple ways to incorporate gratitude in your daily life.
1. Reflect daily: Whether it’s through prayer or meditation, take a few silent moments each day to reflect on what you’re thankful for. It doesn’t need to be anything big or deep. It could be something as simple as a pretty sunrise or a sighting of your favorite bird.
2. Keep a gratitude journal: Take your reflections a step further and write down at least one thing you’re thankful for each day. Do it in the morning to get your day started right—or at night to cultivate a peaceful feeling before bed.
3. Practice mindfulness: Strive to be present and appreciate simple moments like a good cup of coffee or an evening stroll.
Related: How Mindful Eating Can Help Your Waistline As You Age
4. Shift your perspective: When facing challenges or unpleasant circumstances, it can be difficult to feel gratitude. But shifting your perspective can help. For example, rather than thinking, “I hate vacuuming,” instead think, “I get to vacuum my comfortable home where I’m thankful to live.”
5. Share at the dinner table: Saying what you’re thankful for is a Thanksgiving tradition for many families. Why not extend that practice year-round? Choose a night to go around the dinner table and say one thing you’re thankful for that week.
6. Express gratitude to others: Whether it’s through a note, text, or in person, telling someone you appreciate them will give you both a boost of happiness.
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How Gratitude Can Benefit Your Health
Sometimes the daily grind of life can leave you in a negative headspace. This can create stress symptoms in your body such as headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, upset stomach, sleeping problems and a weaker immune system.
Practicing gratitude, on the other hand, cultivates positive feelings that can trigger the reward center in your brain and release “happy hormones,” dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
- Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that’s associated with pleasurable sensations, learning, memory and more.
- Serotonin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, sleep, appetite, digestion, learning ability and memory.
- Oxytocin is called the “love hormone,” and it helps promote trust, empathy, and bonding in relationships.
Related: The Loneliness Epidemic: How it Impacts Health, Weight and Early Death
Gratitude: The Bottom Line
Practicing gratitude is a simple act that not only helps improve your relationships but also triggers a real biological response that can help improve your health. So, what are you waiting for? Begin practicing simple acts of gratitude today!
Want more? Check out our blogs, Music and Aging: How Good Tunes Can Boost Your Health and 7 Tips to Handle Anxiety & Depression During the Holidays & Beyond
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