Its seems that at this point in history more than any other society is at the pinnacle of “self-help”. Everyone wants to be fitter, healthier, happier, richer, and more successful. Self-help books can barely stay on bookstore shelves and many are in a panic to avoid gluten and embrace an extreme vegan or paleo diet.
University of California psychology professor Dr. Robert Emmons insists that rather than a fad diet or strategic investing, practicing gratitude can majorly impact one’s physical, mental, and emotional state. Emmons believes that practicing gratitude is so effective that he wrote several books about it titled Gratitude Works, Thanks, The Psychology of Gratitude, and Words of Gratitude for Mind, Body and Soul, and has given seminar studies on it. But what exactly does Emmons mean by gratitude? Is regularly tipping our servers or always saying “thank you” good enough?
Emmons stresses the need for a daily gratitude ritual. While always remembering to thank others is definitely necessary, one must go deeper in reflecting on gratitude. This can be accomplished by getting in the routine of reflecting on the day’s blessings before going to sleep or meditating on them in the morning including the immense event of being able to wake up. Another daily ritual Emmons recommends is a gratitude journal in which one can keep track of all their blessings.
Participants in a study carried out by Emmons were instructed to write down one thing that they were grateful for everyday and reported a 25 percent increase in happiness in the next 6 months. While in college I took an elective class called Death in Perspective. One of our assignments was to write someone, dead or alive, a letter of how grateful we were for their contributions to our lives. Those who felt comfortable enough read them out loud in class, others called the people they wrote the letter to and read it to them. The emotional release was immense. A study where participants did the same thing at the University of Pennsylvania reported that their symptoms of depression had significantly decreased.
“Gratitude heals, energizes, and transforms lives. We are engaged in a long-term research project designed to create and disseminate a large body of novel scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences for human health and well-being” wrote Emmons on his faculty website.
It has also been noted that practicing gratitude positively affects a person’s physical health. Reduced blood pressure levels, improved kidney functions, a stronger heart as well as an overall reduction in stress hormones are all attributed to gratitude. A person who is consciously appreciative of their health is more likely to take better care of himself, exercise more, and even get more sleep at night.
According to Emmons, practicing gratitude helps a person deal better with loss and trauma and therefore become more resilient. When one is consciously mindful of the blessings and kindness they have received and thus benefited from, their brains become wired to seek out the positives in every situation.
“A grateful stance toward life is relatively immune to both fortune and misfortune,” said Emmons.
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