THE BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE
Gratitude is the appreciation for experiences, relationships, deeds, and so forth. People have felt thankful before, but the idea we will be exploring is practicing gratitude where one consciously decides to be grateful (Ackerman, 2021). There are many ways to practice being grateful, sitting in a quiet place and thinking about what you are thankful for, writing thank you notes (whether you send it or not), or journaling, but in this post, the focus will be on journaling (“Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier,” 2021).
A gratitude journal is a journal solely to write down the things you appreciate. Try to implement writing in it, into your daily routine. It helps to place the journal somewhere you are bound to see daily to remind yourself to do it. It also helps to have a set number of points you aim to jot down, such as 5. However, do not get fixated on the details. It does not matter when you write in the journal, or how many points you write. You want to be honest with yourself, and some days you may find plenty to write and others not much (Ackerman, 2021).
Now, you get to decide what to write in it as it is about you and what you appreciate there are no right or wrong. But, if you feel that it is hard to think of the positives in your life, your therapist at Vaughan Counselling and Psychotherapy can help you identify the good you have. It can be as little as the Starbucks coffee you got, to something you learned, or something you accomplished. When writing these points whether it is 1 or 5 points, really feel it, feel the gratitude, and joy it brings, to get into the moment, it can help to explain why you are grateful for the point you have written down (Ackerman, 2021).
The benefit of a gratitude journal is that you can go back and reread it. During adverse times therapist at Vaughan Counselling and psychotherapy will be there to assist you. But when you are alone, you can reread the words you wrote in your journal to give you a new perspective, the problem will still exist, but you will notice it is not all bad in life (Singh, 2018). It has been shown that non-materialistic points and points that reflect unexpectedly positive events will be more helpful during adverse times (Ackerman, 2021). It is also shown that the benefits derived from gratitude journals it not due to the positive words written in the journal but more because of the lack of negative words written (Brown & Wong, 2017). Moreover, when rereading your gratitude journal, you will also learn more about yourself as you will recognize the things that matter to you enough to be written down and therefore seek more of that in your life (Ackerman, 2021).
Gratitude has numerous long-term benefits. There are health benefits, gratitude has been proven to decrease blood pressure, individuals exercise more, and get better overall sleep. Gratitude is shown to increase self-esteem, lower depressive symptoms, lower stress, lower thoughts of suicide, and increase resilience. All because you are no longer focusing on the negative and internalizing the negative events, but rather seeing the positive. The increased awareness of positivity around us also increases the chance of one reaching out when things are bad. Finally, gratitude in a relationship has also been proven to help, all parties feel better about themselves, and will feel more open to discussing conflicts. Similarly, gratitude shown in workplaces has been proven to be useful. Bosses can use gratitude to motivate workers and make them feel like they have a purpose in work (Ackerman, 2021). You will also notice that gratitude starts within but becomes external (“Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier,” 2021). With gratitude people become more empathetic as well, they are more giving, and it is proven through fMRI images of the brain, that after feeling gratitude, people are not giving because they feel that they must but rather because of this sense of abundant blessing (Brown & Wong, 2017).
You won’t feel the benefits instantaneously, be patient. Counselling offered by Vaughan Counselling and Psychotherapy plus the practice of gratitude is ideal.
For more information on gratitude or to book an appointment please give us a call 647-267-9853.or email us info@vaughanpsychotherapist.com
References
Ackerman, C.E. (2021, May 20). Gratitude Journal: A Collection of 66 Templates, Ideas and Apps for Your Diary. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-journal/
Ackerman, C.E. (2021, June 22) 28 Benefits of Gratitude & Most Significant Research Findings. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-gratitude-research-questions/
Brown J., & Wong J. (2017, June 06). How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain. Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain
Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier. (2021, August 14). Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
Singh, M. (2018, December 24). If You Feel Thankful, Write It Down. It’s Good For Your Health. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/24/678232331/if-you-feel-thankful-write-it-down-its-good-for-your-health