Change your brain with Simple Gratitude

How would you like to change your brain by simply using gratitude?

Daily deliberate acts of gratitude have been shown to improve:

Happiness
Higher-order thinking
Motivation
Decision-making
Digestion
Immune response
Sleep
Anxiety
Depression
Emotional resilience

The psychological and health benefits of regularly focusing on what you are thankful for are vast. It can reorganize our neuron signaling pathways, increases the volume of gray matter in our brains and improve heart rate variability (HRV).

When we focus on gratitude regularly we trigger activity in our medial prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. As a result our serotonin is boosted to signal our brain to produce dopamine. This enhances a consistently positive outlook and feelings of being content. It also affects the amygdala which reduces the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) by activating the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This counteracts the stress response "fight-or-flight" (the sympathetic nervous system). Sign me up!

Where to start:

on waking, or before falling to sleep, take a minute (or five!) to reflect on what you are feeling grateful for, who you are thankful for in your life, and what your grateful to have to look forward to. You can also journal on micro joys you experienced recently, goals you have accomplished or things that inspire you.

I have found that shifting my focus--even briefly--to a couple things I'm grateful for can lift me out of a challenging, stressful, or upsetting moment. This has had a profound ripple effect.

Give it a try. What have you got to lose!

Gratitude Journal Digital/Printable