5 Health Benefits of Showing Daily Gratitude
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
by Mia Barnes
Anyone who’s practiced gratitude regularly knows the sense of peace it brings. Whether you meditate on what you’re grateful for, list your top three each morning, or journal about it before bed, you feel an immediate sense of happiness and contentment. What you may not realize is the other benefits of your practice. For example, the hormones you release with daily gratitude can affect your whole body for the better.
Possible Health Benefits of Gratitude
The possible health impacts of regular gratitude practice are astounding, affecting physical and mental health.
Research Limitations — A Quick Note
Researchers have shown that people who regularly practice gratitude lead healthier lives. However, they can’t always prove this mindfulness technique is the reason for the positive outcome. In scientific terms, they have plenty of data to support correlation but not causation. While this shouldn’t deter anyone from practicing gratitude, it’s important not to overstate what’s actually been proven in the research. (See: Three Challenging Questions About the Benefits of Mindfulness)
1. Improve Your Sleep
A racing mind is often the biggest hurdle to falling and staying asleep. A study of 1,4000 young adults found those with higher mindfulness usually sleep better than those living with negativity and neuroticism. An attitude of gratitude throughout the day or right before bed can overcome adverse thoughts. You’ll rest easier with happy feelings coursing through you.
2. Lower Stress and Anxiety
Gratitude is a mindfulness technique that may lower stress and anxiety by jumpstarting your parasympathetic nervous system. A recent study asked 231 people to document their experience for two weeks during the height of the pandemic. They wrote about their feelings of gratitude and perceived stress levels, among other things. The researchers found a correlation between people who practiced gratitude and those who rated their stress lower.
Slowing down and positively reframing negative experiences can make you feel better in times of great stress or anxiety. Combine gratitude practice with 5–10 minutes of deep breathing to enhance the stress-busting benefits.
3. Increase Happiness and Lessen Depression
A meta-analysis covering 70 studies with a total of 26,427 participants found a significant correlation between feelings of gratitude and severity of depression. Subjects across the majority of studies found they were more likely to be happy and have fewer symptoms of depression when they used this mindfulness technique.
Researchers are still unclear on why gratitude improves these markers. Some think it may be due to the feel-good hormones — serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine — your brain releases when practicing gratitude. Others believe people prone to thankfulness and positivity are naturally less likely to have depressive symptoms.
4. Make Healthier Food Choices
Research has also found that gratitude can have a positive correlation to one’s diet and food choices. A study with over 1,300 teens and young adults assigned participants to two groups — one kept a gratitude journal and the other listed their daily activities. Over time, the group who practiced gratitude reported healthier food choices and behaviors.
Regular thankfulness exercises can encourage you to be grateful for the food you have rather than craving what you don’t. It also grounds you in the present, increasing your patience and improving impulse control.
5. Ease Chronic Pain
Conditions involving chronic pain are challenging to treat naturally. Patients continually turn to medications to help them cope. Mindfulness practices like gratitude may offer an alternative or supplemental approach.
A new arthritis virtual pain management program asked 81 participants to participate in mindfulness activities and gratitude practice. Overall, people experienced lower pain anxiety, pain interference, pain intensity and fear of movement. Research is still new in this area, but it is clear that gratitude won’t cause extra pain and may help offer some relief.
Daily Gratitude Serves You and Others
The best part about daily gratitude is its effects are even more far-reaching than personal health. Your sunny outlook has a way of rippling out to those around you.
Be sure to share your thankful heart with those who bring you joy and contentment. Thank the kind employee at your favorite coffee shop, buy a small gift for your kids’ teachers or plan a date for your partner. The benefits of practicing gratitude magnify and spread when you share your thankfulness with others.
About the Author
Mia Barnes is a writer specializing in mental health and wellness. She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Body+Mind Magazine and has also written about gaining clarity through mindfulness and meditation for The Mindful Word. She is a frequent contributor to Mindful Teachers.
Related Posts
There are many more resources here at MindfulTeachers.org on practicing and teaching gratitude, including the following posts: