November is National Gratitude Month and as we gather for Thanksgiving it is a good time to reflect on our many blessings. Saying thank you is nothing new, but practicing gratitude for just 15 minutes a day, five days a week, for at least six weeks can enhance mental wellness and positively affect your physical health.
According to UCLA Health, you will reap the biggest health benefits of gratitude when it becomes a regular part of your life and thought process. Dr. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, has often been called the “guru of gratitude.” He has conducted numerous studies that show people who practice gratitude consistently have higher levels of positive emotions, are more alert, alive, and awake and enjoy more joy and pleasure in life.
Emmons, author of Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, says that simply keeping a gratitude journal, regularly writing brief reflections on moments for which we are grateful, can significantly increase well-being and life satisfaction.
Here are some science-backed health benefits of taking time to be thankful:
• Reduces depression. A review of 70 studies that included responses from more than 26,000 people found that higher levels of gratitude are linked to lower levels of depression.
• Lessens anxiety. According to UCLA Health, gratitude can be an excellent coping tool for anxiety, helping to eliminate unnecessary worrying and negative thinking. If you find yourself focusing on negative thoughts of the past or future, challenge yourself to find something you are grateful for now.
• Supports heart health. A 2021 review found that keeping a gratitude journal can cause a significant drop in diastolic blood pressure ─ the force your heart exerts between beats. Having grateful thoughts appears to slow and regulate your breathing to synchronize with your heartbeat.
• Relieves stress. Gratitude can help calm the central nervous system and moderate the fight-or-flight response to stressful situations. Take a thankful moment and you may find your parasympathetic nervous system, the rest-and-digest system, kicks in to help bring down your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing to promote overall relaxation.
• Improves sleep. Thinking grateful thoughts before bedtime promotes better sleep. It also causes people to have more positive thoughts about their life, social support, and social situations.
According to Mindful.org, Emmons says there are two key components of practicing gratitude: We affirm the good things we’ve received and we acknowledge the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness. The Mindful web site offers a wealth of information on the science of gratitude and ways to train your brain to be more grateful. Experts say it is especially important to pay attention to the little things in life ─ the little moments that can change the tone of your whole day.
Whether you hope to boost your mood and mental health, protect your physical health, or improve your personal relationships, a rich body of research in the field of social science has found that gratitude offers significant benefits. Cultivating gratitude can open the door to a different perspective — one that values the goodness in our lives. With practice, we can learn to see the bigger picture and navigate adversity with greater resilience, says Mindbody.org.